How it is Supposed to Work

[The Grand Nudger]

One all on it's own. The best thing that's ever happened to theistic religion has been the fall of theistic religion. Far more secular and skeptical people have reinterpreted these beliefs in a way that may be their closest approach to decency and wit...and in the process...convinced just about everyone else that what they always were, or were always meant to be that way. Nonsense. Disbelief has improved belief and this is the best it gets.

[Paleophyte]

The reason why I say this is that religion is not “evil” in itself.

You can't have religion without people, so there's no such thing as religion "in itself."

In most cases it is seen as something “good” that you want to teach your children before they get to puberty if you can.

When I see, for instance, an adult encouraging some younger kid to come to the Friday prayer if possible, I don’t see an act of evil. I think it’s a good thing if parents do their bests to come to the church etc. especially when they are small children.

Let's give that the sniff test. I'm going to take some curly-haired tots and instruct them on the wonders of the Vedas. You think that their parents will be cool with that? Or are we going to have a lot of shrieking about indoctrination and abuse the instant that it turns out we're spoon-feeding the kids bullshit of a very slightly different flavour?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

^’Very slightly different flavour’ nails it perfectly, I think. All religions, without exception, are rooted in othering, and I can’t imagine a situation in which othering is anything less that dehumanizing and evil.

Good people are good people in spite of their religion, not because of it.

Boru

[The Grand Nudger]

Wicca is a candidate for exception, showing that religions didn't have to be about othering, that's a choice that abrahamic monotheists made and continue to make. If we wanted to insist that othering occurs in wicca we would have to acknowledge that wiccans other themselves in order to empower marginalized identities. Polytheism..while ridiculous and often downright unwell in it's own right, actually has that as a broad trait distinguishing it from monotheism. Probably bound up in the psychology of the whole thing..where...when you can conceive of more than one divine authority or guarantor, it's difficult to insist that such things are or should be singular in the mundane world.

Not just a contemporary pagan thing either. Pre-christian romes idea of how to deal with christianity was to put up a statue of the new christian god in their temples. They offered community and inclusion. The christians spat on it while engaging in a street war with jews as they vandalized and desecrated pagan religious objects and sites. A trend that would continue for centuries. Muslims haven't been slouches on that count either.

[Angrboda]

Wicca is a candidate for exception, showing that religions didn't have to be about othering, that's a choice that abrahamic monotheists made and continue to make.  If we wanted to insist that othering occurs in wicca we would have to acknowledge that wiccans other themselves in order to empower marginalized identities.  Polytheism..while ridiculous and often downright unwell in it's own right, actually has that as a broad trait distinguishing it from monotheism.  Probably bound up in the psychology of the whole thing..where...when you can conceive of more than one divine authority or guarantor, it's difficult to insist that such things are or should be singular in the mundane world.

Not just a contemporary pagan thing either.  Pre-christian romes idea of how to deal with christianity was to put up a statue of the new christian god in their temples.

Wicca has a tendency toward "paranoiaizing" reality. Wiccans spells are fundamentally about controlling their environment with the result being an adversarial mindset.

On the outside of Wicca, witchcraft has often served as an excuse for persecuting minorities and disfavored groups, thus an us v. them dynamic results from outside pressures.

[Leonardo17]

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

@Leonardo17

   But you are right. This level of fanaticism isn’t even compatible with the idea of “holy war” if you ask me.  

You may have misunderstood me, because that’s not what I said or implied at all. The examples of fanaticism I mention are not merely compatible with the idea of holy war, they are perfect examples of holy war. But at least they’re out in the open. Far more insidious are the legislative holy wars being waged by governments.

This is probably what Norseman described as the Ragnarök. It cannot be anything else

It is absolutely nothing like Ragnarok.

Boru

[awty]

All those smiley faces don't make things correct. In fact, they make the wall of text look more ridiculous.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

@Leonardo17

Most spiritual people are either directly scared of occult practices. Or (as it is my case) will dismiss it as something that is completely irrevelent to you spiritual growth and progress.

While not all spiritual practices are occult, all occult practices are spiritual. Don’t be too quick to dismiss the occult - it’s practically a first cousin to spirituality.

Boru

[Leonardo17]