Pagan/Animists (Buddhists, Egyptian, Muslim, worship)

[Trebek]

Are Pagans the same religion as primitive Animistic tribesmen/women? I really have no idea what the Pagans believe, could someone enlighten me and possibly others?

[maniac]

Originally Posted by Trebek

Are Pagans the same religion as primitive Animistic tribesmen/women? I really have no idea what the Pagans believe, could someone enlighten me and possibly others?

Well, the word Pagan traditionally means somebody who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim. So the "primitive Animistic tribesmen/women" could be considered Pagans, but so could Buddhists if you go by the traditional defenition, now it is generally meant to refer to someone outside of the big, major world religions, often used to refer to the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Celts, etc. Sometimes people use it like a synonym to a cult or a satanist, but that is not the official defenition so I wouldn't go by it. I have a friend who professes to be a Celtic Pagan and a Witch, but I think he just does it to draw attention he told me he's only cast a spell on two occations and he is really just a big fan of anything that is anti-Christian. Pagan is sort of a scary word to many Christians though, it's on the list right there next to athiest and evolution. Hope that clears things up for you. So in short, there is no official "Pagan" belief, Paganism is a very broad category, almost as broad as religion in general (just subtract the major ones) so asking what pagans believe is like asking what the teachings of religion are.

[Trebek]

It seems to me that the primative "animists" are religions before technology (including agriculture). The Celts, Aztecs, Egyptians, and so on, where often very complex religions, sometimes with incredible monuments.

So all you Pagans out there: Let me hear your opinions on this. Are you merely anti-Christians?

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by Trebek

Are Pagans the same religion as primitive Animistic tribesmen/women? I really have no idea what the Pagans believe, could someone enlighten me and possibly others?

I know people who are neo-pagans. They believe they are practicing the pre-historic religions (mostly of Europe).

The roots of the modern neo-pagan movement actually go back no further than the late 19th century though.

Take Druidism for example. It died out completely well before 700 AD, a combination of heavy persecution by the pre-Christian Roman Empire, and later because so many druids (especially in Ireland) converted to Christianity. Druids left no written records of their faith. The only texts we have concerning their practices were written by the Romans who were in the process of wiping them out. Hardly a reliable source. So modern druids base many of their beliefs on what historians and archaeologists believe about the ancient druids.

[Predos]

Originally Posted by Trebek

It seems to me that the primative "animists" are religions before technology (including agriculture). The Celts, Aztecs, Egyptians, and so on, where often very complex religions, sometimes with incredible monuments.

So all you Pagans out there: Let me hear your opinions on this. Are you merely anti-Christians?

I have no problem with others following any religion that they choose, as long as they return the favor.

[stretch00]

My ex-wife was a neo-pagan based on the celtic pantheon.

She was not anti-christian at all. She did believe that there were many paths to enlightenment, christianity was one, neo-paganism another. Christians would obviously disagree with that point of view, but it worked for her.

As much as I can relate, the spirituality of it all was focused on recognizing a greater universal force. Worshiping that force was important (although I have no idea why), and (some) neo-pagans do this by recognizing the seasons. The seasons are then related to the stages of life.

As an example, the spring festival celebrates the end of winter, birth, life, all that stuff.

I believe in that stuff as much as I believe in christianity, which is to say not at all.

[GCSTroop]

What I love is that the Christian's were so P*ssed off about [i]"The Da Vinci Code"[i] and [i]Angels and Demons[i] because they finally found out that some of their most sacred worship practices come from a pagan background. They refused to believe any of it is true. What Dan Brown, the author, did was research the actual histories of these things and simply write a fictional story about them. All of the symbologies and worships he talked about, are in fact true. However, he simply based the story of Mary Magdalene being Jesus' wife and the culminating story as a work of fiction. The problem with the book is that the Christians took the disclaimer at the front that said there were certain "truths" to the story and tried to discredit the entire thing. Have fun putting up your Christmas tree this year!

[maniac]

Originally Posted by Trebek

It seems to me that the primative "animists" are religions before technology (including agriculture). The Celts, Aztecs, Egyptians, and so on, where often very complex religions, sometimes with incredible monuments.

So all you Pagans out there: Let me hear your opinions on this. Are you merely anti-Christians?

Well, I didn't mean that Pagans were anti-Christians, just my friend who happened to be a Pagan hated all things Christian, claimed Christianity was perverting society and had been for thousands of years. He drew his conclusion from studies of history, his own experiences, and some rather biased books (Letter to a Christian Nation and similar books, as well as testimonials of people who stopped believing) so it was simply a personal bias that I talked about, not the beliefs of all practicing pagans, I appologize if I wasn't clear enough.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by GCSTroop

What I love is that the Christian's were so P*ssed off about [i]"The Da Vinci Code"[i] and [i]Angels and Demons[i] because they finally found out that some of their most sacred worship practices come from a pagan background. They refused to believe any of it is true. What Dan Brown, the author, did was research the actual histories of these things and simply write a fictional story about them. All of the symbologies and worships he talked about, are in fact true. However, he simply based the story of Mary Magdalene being Jesus' wife and the culminating story as a work of fiction. The problem with the book is that the Christians took the disclaimer at the front that said there were certain "truths" to the story and tried to discredit the entire thing. Have fun putting up your Christmas tree this year!

Are you seriously claiming Dan Brown is a serious historian?

Hey, I got a bridge to sell you.

[ADVentive]

My understanding is that Pagan is like an umbrella term that describes any earth-centered religion, but that the religions that fall into that category are not necessarily otherwise related to each other. I see it as a descriptive term, like monotheism.