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"Pagan"
May 25, 2007 12:03:07 GMT -5
Post by Marcus on May 25, 2007 12:03:07 GMT -5
Ive been becoming more and more dubious about using the word "pagan" of late.
The Christian church used the word pagan to describe anyone who was non-christian........therfore the word pagan was a word that the christian church tagged onto religions and cultures that they thought they were better than.
Why then do many 'pagans' today use this word when in fact it is more of a racist/insult word that was used against their ancestors who were persecuted for their beliefs?
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Finn
Philosopher
Posts: 153
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"Pagan"
May 25, 2007 12:15:32 GMT -5
Post by Finn on May 25, 2007 12:15:32 GMT -5
Ive been becoming more and more dubious about using the word "pagan" of late. The Christian church used the word pagan to describe anyone who was non-christian........therfore the word pagan was a word that the christian church tagged onto religions and cultures that they thought they were better than. Why then do many 'pagans' today use this word when in fact it is more of a racist/insult word that was used against their ancestors who were persecuted for their beliefs? You have good reason to be "dubious" of it, but I might suggest for other reasons. The origin of the word has largely (now) been cast aside by Neo-Pagans. They ignore the evolution of most words. Wicca for example comes from an Saxon word but most stop there. It was a derogatory term Saxons used for, well, a witch. It was never "craft of the wise" or any such nonsense. Pagan, likewise, has a rather mundane origin. However, today (for better or for worse) it has a new context. I would argue you should be dubious for a different reason. The word is worthless, and almost meaningless. All "Pagan" means today is that a person is NOT a member of the mainstream faiths. That is like trying to define a cat only by saying it isn't a dog. You cannot define something accurately only by what it isn't. You must at some point define what it is in and of itself. I would argue that isn't happening.
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"Pagan"
May 25, 2007 23:48:22 GMT -5
Post by Senbecc on May 25, 2007 23:48:22 GMT -5
Ive been becoming more and more dubious about using the word "pagan" of late. The Christian church used the word pagan to describe anyone who was non-christian........therfore the word pagan was a word that the christian church tagged onto religions and cultures that they thought they were better than. Why then do many 'pagans' today use this word when in fact it is more of a racist/insult word that was used against their ancestors who were persecuted for their beliefs? You have good reason to be "dubious" of it, but I might suggest for other reasons. The origin of the word has largely (now) been cast aside by Neo-Pagans. They ignore the evolution of most words. Wicca for example comes from an Saxon word but most stop there. It was a derogatory term Saxons used for, well, a witch. It was never "craft of the wise" or any such nonsense. Pagan, likewise, has a rather mundane origin. However, today (for better or for worse) it has a new context. I would argue you should be dubious for a different reason. The word is worthless, and almost meaningless. All "Pagan" means today is that a person is NOT a member of the mainstream faiths. That is like trying to define a cat only by saying it isn't a dog. You cannot define something accurately only by what it isn't. You must at some point define what it is in and of itself. I would argue that isn't happening. Have you ever read the article "Why Wicca isn't Celtic"? The author there seemed to feel that the word Wicca evolved from a word meaning "creepy crawly"...Heh, I can't help but wonder how true that is.
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Finn
Philosopher
Posts: 153
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"Pagan"
May 29, 2007 7:06:27 GMT -5
Post by Finn on May 29, 2007 7:06:27 GMT -5
Have you ever read the article "Why Wicca isn't Celtic"? The author there seemed to feel that the word Wicca evolved from a word meaning "creepy crawly"...Heh, I can't help but wonder how true that is. Yes. It is a well-written article. The simple fact is the word "witch" and a hundred words like it come from derogatory origins.
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