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    New (mostly) Lurker here :-)

    I'm here to read and learn. I'm undecided about my personal religion, and am an ex-Christian.

    I'm a sociologist by trade, and am interested in how minority religions (like pagan-related ones) are treated by the larger Christian society, and the challenges that their members face. I'd like to write an article about that -- if you'd be interested in being interviewed by email or PM for that, feel free to PM me.

    Otherwise, I'll be lurking more than posting, and thanks to all those who post....

    Thanks,
    Orbit

    #2
    Re: New (mostly) Lurker here :-)

    Welcome to the forum!
    Anubisa

    Dedicated and devoted to Lord Anubis and Lady Bast. A follower of the path of Egyptian Wicca.

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      #3
      Re: New (mostly) Lurker here :-)

      'Lo, Orbit!

      Personally, I'm treated just fine 'cause I don't tell other's things they don't need to know, or that they can't handle.
      Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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        #4
        Re: New (mostly) Lurker here :-)

        I find that most people are tolerant as long as you don't go into detail. If you start using pagan terminology and talking about your belief system, they tend to react as they would to a crazy person. Even if the overall ideology isn't that strange. People are used to thinking in terms that they're used to. You have to couch the language to suit their outlook if you want to get anywhere. When I talk about totemic or personified abstract concepts, they often can't mentally translate. So I say, "The presence of the Raven was over me all last week. I really felt the Stillness in the air and water." and I get nothing but weird looks. Whereas if I were a Christian saying, "I felt the holy spirit all week. It felt like an angel of death. You could feel God's Grace and sadness in the park last Sunday." people would just think I was being really spiritual. So there is a lot of programmed bias. It rarely bothers me, but I'm the sort that cut a lot of ties and rarely socializes with the people from my childhood outside my family and a couple close friends. It can be a lot worse when you share your spirituality with someone you want to be close to, and they aren't open to it. Though I'm sure that's common with many different belief systems when people come from different backgrounds and understandings. Paganism is so eclectic too, so it's hard to nail down any definitive description of common experiences aside from being different, or being lumped in with satanism or "devil worship" by the more ignorant vein of judeo-christianity. I think the biggest common factor is that many pagans feel drawn to basic Concepts in nature that are difficult to describe. So we use personifications in the form of deities, spirits, etc. in the same way Christians personify God. Except most pagans I know do so less literally. It's generally understood that the Concept or Concepts are more important than the name. Many ancient civilizations have similarities in their impressions of deities and nature spirits. The Truth in those concepts is adaptable and changes with circumstances. Though some of the broader concepts change very little. You find these trends a lot. Like common patterns in a tapestry. I think that's what modern pagans try to capture. Using different representations from the past to build a mosaic of the pattern of the universe. It's recognizing the pattern that's important. Not ensuring that every thread or stone comes from the same place and fits perfectly together.

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          #5
          Re: New (mostly) Lurker here :-)

          Welcome to Pagan Forum. I'm sure you'll find some interesting perspectives here.
          �Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.�
          ― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
          Sneak Attack
          Avatar picture by the wonderful and talented TJSGrimm.

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            #6
            Re: New (mostly) Lurker here :-)

            Thanks for the warm welcome! :-)

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              #7
              Re: New (mostly) Lurker here :-)

              Welcome Orbit, I actually have had a lot of Christian friends who tried to convert me over the years, it ranged from annoying to entertaining!

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                #8
                Re: New (mostly) Lurker here :-)

                Welcome.

                Personally I don't consider myself being a "minority" (nor I think the term should actually exist) because I do not limit the definition of myself to certain labels. I'm unique, and so is everyone else, so everyone is a minority in my point of view.

                Have a good research, and don't hesitate to go "off the grid" with your findings. What makes a sociology article interesting is the fact that usually its conclusion differs from perceived "truth".

                Check out my blog! The Daily Satanist

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                  #9
                  Re: New (mostly) Lurker here :-)

                  If anyone's interested, PM me for a link to the interview questions. Feel free to spread it around!

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                    #10
                    Re: New (mostly) Lurker here :-)

                    Most here may have had this happen,When I wear a pent many Christians end up doing the sign of the cross thing a LOT,one person got very upset in a halfway house,and only made the pagans start to flash them with giant pents.. Early pents were considered as a holy symbol,and not a "Dark" symbol at all.
                    MAGIC is MAGIC,black OR white or even blood RED

                    all i ever wanted was a normal life and love.
                    NO TERF EVER WE belong Too.
                    don't stop the tears.let them flood your soul.




                    sigpic

                    my new page here,let me know what you think.


                    nothing but the shadow of what was

                    witchvox
                    http://www.witchvox.com/vu/vxposts.html

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                      #11
                      Re: New (mostly) Lurker here :-)

                      Hi Orbit, Welcome to the forum.

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                        #12
                        Re: New (mostly) Lurker here :-)

                        Hello. Welcome to Pagan Forum.

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                          #13
                          Re: New (mostly) Lurker here :-)

                          Hello and welcome!
                          Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
                          sigpic

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