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Christianity Vrs. Wicca: Brothers on the Battlefront
16 years ago
General
I grew up in a christian home, mostly. My parents never were strongly practicing so religion was never a huge part of my life, specifically christianity. I know a few stories in the bible, can pull a dozen quotes out of my ass, even know one of the ten commandments, at the very least.
In high school, I heard of wicca. When I first heard of it, I was (wrongly) under the impression that is was the religion of witchcraft. However that was quickly cleared up when, being who I am, I first researched the history of wicca before the actual religion itself. After my research into the history (though not as complete as I want it to be, it's better than nothing) I did delve into the practice.
While this is nice and dandy, through my research and practice I have noticed that as much as christians tend to have a bone to pick with non-believers, wiccans are flying the same colors yet are most strongly against christians that it is a fad for wiccan practitioners to bash on christians left and right. They spend hours and hours reading and researching everything they can about christianity specifically so they can be more knowledgeable than a christian about their own religion.
But why? While yes, I have always held a strong belief that people should research and even participate in other religions to broaden their worldly knowledge (I am still waiting for the day I am asked to celebrate Hanukkah with a friend!) such knowledge shouldn't be used just so a couple disgruntled and jaded pagans can spread the seeds of hatred among the impressionable and gullible. Which is exactly what ends up happening
There is another place this happens: in the christian church. In KKK rallies. In neo-nazi biker bars, or wherever there is an extreme feeling of malice towards others unlike.
Yet in the end, this very mindset and practice, shared by us equally, hurts us equally as well, and blinds us.
On the internet and in the bookstore are many sources of information mutilated by the media and our own stupidity. Because of this, like christianity there is a schism a mile wide in wicca that pits very 'traditional' wiccans against the truly 'new-age'. The younger, more liberal crowd of the wiccan people are vast and growing exponentially. And it's true, they are extremely uninformed and just as stubborn. The older, more traditional crowd has tried to teach the youth properly but are speaking to closed ears.
However, the youth are not all that are at fault. The traditional wiccans have such a fiery, blind hatred towards any who "desecrate" wicca that they wind up patronizing, belittling and attacking their own youth for not following a specific tradition perfectly.
What it comes down to is a very much shared problem within all religions, and I have yet to see an exception: Holding tradition in an ever changing world. Tradition, in religion or otherwise, gives us structure, gives us a starting point in which to grow. The very foundations of our central beliefs. It is something that has already happened, it is our past, and because of this tradition is a great place to start learning about who we are. Who are we as a people, what is our culture, why are we the way we are today?
But despite how many answers can be gathered by looking into the past and adhering to tradition, there is one thing that it will teach us and is so commonly ignored: everything changes. Cultures change, climates change, powers change, atoms change, records change, your clothes change, opinions change, ideals change, beliefs change, the lands change; everything that exists will never be exactly the same now as it was a few moments ago, or months, years, decades, millenia. Thus, the very act of keeping all that will be as it once was is a rat race of ridiculous proportions.
I believe this is what religion in itself is about. Finding not only morals and lifestyles, but a means to find balance in everything. Even christianity talks about balance somewhere. There needs to be compromise.
These things Wicca and Christianity share. Each is under great amounts of internal struggle and outside attacks, and all for exactly the same reasons. The traditional practitioners who refuse to accept change, and the new-age practitioners who refuse to accept their very roots.
Which begs the question: why do we not accept the change? Why do we not try to open our minds and accept the teachings from those who follow a traditional path? Why must we be at odds with one another, when neither is right without the other?
Christians and Wiccans are brothers in arms against the same exact enemy, which is corruption. Corruption from the infighting, corruption from the maliciously faithless. Wicca, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Satanism, Islam... all are on the same battlefield fighting the same enemy. I wish that the war would stop, because everybody is at fault. Everybody is a casualty, believer and non-believer alike.
In high school, I heard of wicca. When I first heard of it, I was (wrongly) under the impression that is was the religion of witchcraft. However that was quickly cleared up when, being who I am, I first researched the history of wicca before the actual religion itself. After my research into the history (though not as complete as I want it to be, it's better than nothing) I did delve into the practice.
While this is nice and dandy, through my research and practice I have noticed that as much as christians tend to have a bone to pick with non-believers, wiccans are flying the same colors yet are most strongly against christians that it is a fad for wiccan practitioners to bash on christians left and right. They spend hours and hours reading and researching everything they can about christianity specifically so they can be more knowledgeable than a christian about their own religion.
But why? While yes, I have always held a strong belief that people should research and even participate in other religions to broaden their worldly knowledge (I am still waiting for the day I am asked to celebrate Hanukkah with a friend!) such knowledge shouldn't be used just so a couple disgruntled and jaded pagans can spread the seeds of hatred among the impressionable and gullible. Which is exactly what ends up happening
There is another place this happens: in the christian church. In KKK rallies. In neo-nazi biker bars, or wherever there is an extreme feeling of malice towards others unlike.
Yet in the end, this very mindset and practice, shared by us equally, hurts us equally as well, and blinds us.
On the internet and in the bookstore are many sources of information mutilated by the media and our own stupidity. Because of this, like christianity there is a schism a mile wide in wicca that pits very 'traditional' wiccans against the truly 'new-age'. The younger, more liberal crowd of the wiccan people are vast and growing exponentially. And it's true, they are extremely uninformed and just as stubborn. The older, more traditional crowd has tried to teach the youth properly but are speaking to closed ears.
However, the youth are not all that are at fault. The traditional wiccans have such a fiery, blind hatred towards any who "desecrate" wicca that they wind up patronizing, belittling and attacking their own youth for not following a specific tradition perfectly.
What it comes down to is a very much shared problem within all religions, and I have yet to see an exception: Holding tradition in an ever changing world. Tradition, in religion or otherwise, gives us structure, gives us a starting point in which to grow. The very foundations of our central beliefs. It is something that has already happened, it is our past, and because of this tradition is a great place to start learning about who we are. Who are we as a people, what is our culture, why are we the way we are today?
But despite how many answers can be gathered by looking into the past and adhering to tradition, there is one thing that it will teach us and is so commonly ignored: everything changes. Cultures change, climates change, powers change, atoms change, records change, your clothes change, opinions change, ideals change, beliefs change, the lands change; everything that exists will never be exactly the same now as it was a few moments ago, or months, years, decades, millenia. Thus, the very act of keeping all that will be as it once was is a rat race of ridiculous proportions.
I believe this is what religion in itself is about. Finding not only morals and lifestyles, but a means to find balance in everything. Even christianity talks about balance somewhere. There needs to be compromise.
These things Wicca and Christianity share. Each is under great amounts of internal struggle and outside attacks, and all for exactly the same reasons. The traditional practitioners who refuse to accept change, and the new-age practitioners who refuse to accept their very roots.
Which begs the question: why do we not accept the change? Why do we not try to open our minds and accept the teachings from those who follow a traditional path? Why must we be at odds with one another, when neither is right without the other?
Christians and Wiccans are brothers in arms against the same exact enemy, which is corruption. Corruption from the infighting, corruption from the maliciously faithless. Wicca, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Satanism, Islam... all are on the same battlefield fighting the same enemy. I wish that the war would stop, because everybody is at fault. Everybody is a casualty, believer and non-believer alike.
