Bad Interpretations of Wicca (rituals, beliefs, churches, pagan, worship)

[fabbers]

im sorry i shouldnt have said cult. christianity is deffinatly not a cult but it is less flexable than wicca

[fabbers]

a cult doesnt have to be in one place.

[Jaymes]

Originally Posted by fabbers

im sorry i shouldnt have said cult. christianity is deffinatly not a cult but it is less flexable than wicca

Less flexible? I can't think of a religion off the top of my head that has more denominations than Christianity!

[Lycan]

Less flexible? I can't think of a religion off the top of my head that has more denominations than Christianity!

:Pokes head in:

The high number of denominations doesn't signify flexibility, it displays the inability to agree. I would also have to agree on christianity being less "flexible" than wicca, due in part to the monotheist/polythiest difference. Wiccans choose from a number of different pantheons (Celtic, Norse, etc.). Not to mention the mingling of customs and traditions from different faiths. Where as, all christians believe in the same single god and generally (not all) practice the established traditions and customs (even with eclectic roots)

[Circle_One]

But Flabbers, you aren't exactly proving the flexibility of Paganism, as all you've posted so far are the bad things people think about Wicca and why they make you mad. That's not very flexible. Again, I wish you peace within yourself and towards others. Forget all that's made you angry about Christianity or other religions and be positive about your beliefs. It will generate more positive feelings towards you by others, including the Christians on here.

[Prima]

The Church. capital letters. like christianity

The Church, capital letter, refers generally to the Roman Catholic church. Are you thinking of any particular denomination?

Flexibility does not necessarily have anything to do with whether it's a cult or not. Islamic rules can be very rigid, and it's certainly not a cult. I recommed reading a listing of cults - this can be found at your local library's reference section. They're very interesting.

I can definitely say that not all Christians are the way you say. There's a bad apple in every bunch/barrel, as they say - but that doesn't make the rest bad!

[kreeden]

Originally Posted by FeathersinHair

I hope that I might one day be wise enough to have another learn from my beliefs, as I know every day I am learning from those here.

Others are Feathers . You just don't realize it . Everytime you meet someone , everytime you stop to chat , they carry away a little more of what it is to be you , as you carry away a little of their experiences . Cool , isn't it ?

{ sorry , a little off topic , but had to say that }

[crowdog66]

The word "cult" can mean many things to many people. Personally, I find the Isaac Bonewits Cult Evaluation Framework useful for evaluating the "cultishness" of any given group, where "cult" is defined in terms of the level of control exerted by the group over its members. Each factor is rated on a scale of 1 to 10, and the higher the overall rating, the more cultish the group.

Crowdog66

The Advanced Bonewits’ Cult Danger Evaluation Frame
(version 2.6)


1 Internal Control: Amount of internal political and social power exercised by leader(s) over members; lack of clearly defined organizational rights for members.

2 External Control: Amount of external political and social influence desired or obtained; emphasis on directing members’ external political and social behavior.

3 Wisdom/Knowledge Claimed by leader(s); amount of infallibility declared or implied about decisions or doctrinal/scriptural interpretations; number and degree of unverified and/or unverifiable credentials claimed.

4 Wisdom/Knowledge Credited to leader(s) by members; amount of trust in decisions or doctrinal/scriptural interpretations made by leader(s); amount of hostility by members towards internal or external critics and/or towards verification efforts.

5 Dogma: Rigidity of reality concepts taught; amount of doctrinal inflexibility or“fundamentalism;” hostility towards relativism and situationalism.

6 Recruiting: Emphasis put on attracting new members; amount of proselytizing; requirement for all members to bring in new ones. 7 Front Groups: Number of subsidiary groups using different names from that of main group, especially when connections are hidden.

8 Wealth: Amount of money and/or property desired or obtained by group; emphasis on members’ donations; economic lifestyle of leader(s) compared to ordinary members.

9 Sexual Manipulation of members by leader(s) of non-tantric groups; amount of control exercised over sexuality of members in terms of sexual orientation, behavior, and/or choice of partners.

10 Sexual Favoritism: Advancement or preferential treatment dependent upon sexual activity with the leader(s) of non-tantric groups.

11 Censorship: Amount of control over members’ access to outside opinions on group, its doctrines or leader(s).

12 Isolation: Amount of effort to keep members from communicating with non-members, including family, friends and lovers.

13 Dropout Control: Intensity of efforts directed at preventing or returning dropouts.

14 Violence: Amount of approval when used by or for the group, its doctrines or leader(s).

15 Paranoia: Amount of fear concerning real or imagined enemies; exaggeration of perceived power of opponents; prevalence of conspiracy theories.

16 Grimness: Amount of disapproval concerning jokes about the group, its doctrines or its leader(s).

17 Surrender of Will: Amount of emphasis on members not having to be responsible for personal decisions; degree of individual disempowerment created by the group, its doctrines or its leader(s).

18 Hypocrisy: amount of approval for actions which the group officially considers immoral or unethical, when done by or for the group, its doctrines or leader(s); willingness to violate the group’s declared principles for political, psychological, social, economic, military, or other gain.

Copyright © 1979, 2001 c.e., Isaac Bonewits. This text file may be freely distributed on the Net, provided that no editing is done, the version number is retained, and everything in this notice box is included.

[Felix]

I'm Very Aware It Sounds Pompous To Think That People Would Actually KILL Because Someone Was Openly Wiccan, But Unfortunately There Are Extremists Out There.

In Fact, A While Back, Maybe Ten Years Ago, There Was A LYNCHING Of A Wiccan, Just Because Of Their Religion. Every Month There Are Reported Shootings, Attacks, And Robberies Of Witches, Just Because Of Their Beliefs.

One Of My Sisters In My Coven Was Verbally Attacked About A Month Ago In The Local Store, Some Big-Headed Christian (I Don't Mean To Point Fingers At A Specific Religion) Was Babbeling On About How She Was A "F***ing Witch" And She Was Here To "Conjure Up Satan."

People Do Get The Wrong Ideas Of Wicca.

And Jensa, Your Comment On The Pentagram, Although It Was Created Before Wicca Was A "Religion" Pursay, The Wiccans Have Adopted It To Show The Different Elements.

Satanists inverted the pentagram and used it as their religious symbol, but it more frequently appears with a goat's head inside it, which forms the symbol of Baphomet.


Religious Tolerance With Wicca Is An Issue And Should Be Taken More Seriously.

[john63]

Originally Posted by fabbers

being wiccan these are my beliefs.
In the environment i am in at the moment there have been three bad interpretations of Wicca.
1)That wicca is a brainwashing cult
ok that is just ridiculous. just because there are spells and rituals and something called a book of shadows doesnt mean that Wicca is a cult. in my mind The Church is more of a cult than Wicca.
2)That Wicca is just a womans religion.
that in my mind is almost more ridiculous then wicca being a cult. because of course women can join (all beings are equal) and of course men can join. Wicca DOES NOT discriminate against gender.
3)That Wiccans Worship The Devil (Satan)
that just like the top two are ridiculous. wiccans do not even believe in Satan. Satan is part of the christian pantheon which wiccans dont use much. so that is utterly ridiculous that wiccans worship the devil.
4)that wiccans can conjure demons
someone said to me, after i said that i was wiccan if i could conjure a demon for him. i found this very insulting. i chose to ignore him. but he kept saying and then said he was serious. i obviously knew that he was being silly.


those are only four of the many of the lies being spread agaisnt wiccans. our job is to heal and to teach, not to destroy. we do not harm beings. we are a peaceful kind. we do not mean to destroy christianity like christianity and the church sought out (and still does) to kill wicca and the pagan religions. that is why a simple design like the pentagram


that has been the wiccan symbol since wicca was created was made into the devil sign. that is why the swastika was turned into a sign of evil by hitler. both were non harmful, non evil designs turned evil.

Persecution isn't exclusive to Wicca. I get profanity all the time because I'm a Christian. You can see just in this forum alone that Christians are the most disliked group in the world. People hate us worse than they hate terrorists!