Your rules don’t apply to me
So I finally decided to write down my thoughts on The Druid Podcast that I posted about earlier.
It’s recently been plastered all over the pagan community news (LJ especially, I’ve never seen an article spammed so much), about a current incident where a fundamentalist Christian group called “Way of the Master”, illegally recorded and filmed an ADF Druid Ritual this past weekend for the Fall Equinox.
Now beyond the audacity of the act itself, be it by a Christian or whatever, I would consider it rather devious to not only lie, but to purposefully record a group or persons unknowingly, for the sole purpose of what I would define as a “Hate Crime.” And yes, it is a “Hate Crime”, which is defined as A crime motivated by prejudice against a social group by the American Heritage Dictionary.
But the fact that a “Christian” organization, who obviously considers themselves a “higher quality” and dare I say “non-sinner”, would commit what the majority of what “Christians” consider a crime and immoral, is beyond laughable.
I’ve listened to this particular podcast, along with a few others I noticed on their website that mention pagans. One was so completely fanatical, you could compare the preacher to a fanatic pre-teen daring someone to hit him.
So honestly, is it “Christian-like” to go to undercover for the sole purpose of ridiculing another faith? Is the act of lying and deceitfulness the path to righteousness in the name of Jesus? Or are these things “okay” because the Lord Savior died for our sins and will forgive us when it comes time for our judgement? So we can do whatever we want in the mean time.
It seems pretty convenient to me.
What I find the most boggling about Christian Fundamentalists in general, is their purpose. You harass other religions, you chide them, insult them, lie to them, hurt them, sometimes even kill them. From what -I- was taught, growing up a baptist for the first 16 years of my life before reaching in and finding my inner pagan, was that you were to spread the word of God. You try to convert people. Fine. But you haven’t converted anyone. Hell in that podcast, they didn’t even -try- to convert anyone. And that’s the -only- reason that I know of that any Christian would have a purpose to go to one of these alternative events.
Kurt, you and your friend did not do this. You did not spread the word of God, your sole intent to attend this peaceful ritual was to hurt and insult people. You did not talk to these people as human beings, you did not talk about your religion, you didn’t even tell them why you were there. These people welcomed you with open arms, and you spat on them, as human beings. This shows that this entire organization is nothing but a farse looking for a way to make another quick buck.
If this is the “Word of your God” in your eyes, I’d be more than willing to spend my eternity in hell.
What is also ironic about these situations is that Buddhists, Hindu’s, Pagans, etc follow a different philosophy than Christians. You can yell, scream, etc about how we’re going to Hell because we’re not following the word of Christ, and it’s fine that you believe this. But we don’t. We hold ourselves responsible for our actions (karma) rather than blame a mythological being (satan) for all the evil in the world. We believe in reincarnation rather than an eternal destiny in heaven or hell. So why do you feel that threatening us and attempting to convince us of your beliefs is going to phase us? We don’t believe in those things. Your rules don’t apply to us.
And why would I want to spend eternity in heaven with people like you.
Regardless, some issues I’d like to address in the podcast specifically:
How ancient are these manuscripts?
I suppose I could go into detail about how ADF is a reconstructionist organization, which means that we are attempting to duplicate (though with a modern twist) ancient Celtic rituals and the sort, but I imagine that the explanation would only fall on deaf ears. Completely ignoring the fact that Christianity itself is based off a book written by mere mortals over a thousand years ago. In addition who knows what has been lost in the translation over those many years, or if this single solitary book is even solid proof of the existance of what’s contained within. There’s absolutely no grounds for argument just because you have a book and we have traditions.
I could also write about how many pagans practice(ed) in secret and didn’t/don’t record much of it because bastards used to hang them and stuff and maybe that’s why we don’t have a big fancy book, but whatever.
It’s just another pagan hooplah
It’s difficult to filter through the load of arrogant and uninformed remarks, though some of them do make me laugh, just because they’re that ignorant. But it seems there is concern about how inclusive a lot of pagan groups seem to be. Because we are accepting of all traditions, because we believe that every human being has the right tho choose their spiritual path, because we like to make sure that we aren’t shunning anyone and welcoming everyone to our church, this is apparently a bad thing.
…..
Moving on..
It’s ironic that they don’t want to be called Wiccans
You go to a Druid ritual and make fun of them because they say they aren’t Wiccan? What is that?
The Devil is behind what they are doing
Satan is a being that, for lack of a better term, influences people with evil thoughts and to do evil things. We’re not doing anything evil, and as I mentioned we believe in holding ourselves accountable for our actions instead of blaming a hidden being, so…….how is it again that the Devil is making us do anything?
There was no mention of Sin or doing right
Karma: action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation. (I feel like this is always something that has to be repeated to these people)
It allows you to have a little touch of religion and then go on with their daily life (he accuses baptists, lutherens and other Christian denominations of this too)
Obviously they’re in touch with their inner Christian while doing these shows? Is podcasting a new component to Christian religious ceremonies that I’m not aware of?
Pagans don’t have a “holy day” each week to celebrate and honor. We kinda do it everyday.
There’s a great sexual component to Wicca (he says he’s learned a few things about Wicca)
I don’t even know where this comes from. Sexual orientation is not a religious thing. We don’t look at sex as something that’s considered an “evil” act or anything like that. But what can be expected from those damn liberals!
They’ve created a religion that satisfies their conscience
Pot, meet Kettle. Kettle, meet pot.
At least he’s consistent and doesn’t JUST attack Pagans, but other Christians too.
Entry viewed times. Posted in Religion and Spirituality
3 Responses to “Your rules don’t apply to me”
October 3rd, 2006 at 10:36 pm
DAMN!!! I love it…you hit the nail on the head with this one. I am very much in agreement with what you’ve said in this rant. Thank you for writing it up! The only other point I would make is about the whole Wicca thing…would he like someone calling him Catholic? Or maybe Lutheran?? They were just looking to be identified correctly. No offense was received by the comment of being Wiccan other than it’s not what he is. DUH!!! Stupid, Kirk.
October 4th, 2006 at 1:38 pm
One of the strangest points that was brought up, in my opinion, is that they seemed bewildered that they “made up” the ritual they were using. Isn’t that true of most sermons and some prayers used by a church?
I also wasn’t sure what was so “ironic” about not wanting to be called a Wiccan. And it’s not like they were particularly defensive about it, either.
October 4th, 2006 at 2:06 pm
I think they thought it was ironic about being called wiccan because druids accept people of all faiths- I don’t think they realized that accepting other faiths does not mean identifying with those faiths. It just shows how ignorant they truly are.
Some Christians are wrapped up in sex. They are obsessed with evil. I believe if you look for evil, you will find it; it is what you want. Christians struggle because they deny themselves -they think it’s godly- but they confuse denying things for themselves with denying who they actually are. I spent many unfortunate years as a confused, depressed christian.
Over all I enjoyed your post, you clarified your points well.