Quote of the Day

[telerib]

"Many witches will complain that we are taking them out of context and that magic is not evil, only the intent of the caster is evil. Fine. We believed Charlton Heston when he said something similar, we'll believe you too."

- Cracked.com lists dubious magical services available on the Internet.

Comments

[telerib.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry - I didn't mean to be upsetting. I didn't mean to support or unsupport the Cracked.com article itself. I liked this one quote, because of the way it juxtaposed magic as a tool - not innately good or evil - with Heston's iconic "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" quote. Because you don't often see the NRA and Wicca mentioned in the same paragraph.

I'm not sure what you think I think of all religions. :) I think you're right, and there are sincere practitioners and frauds in just about every branch of every faith.

I have too many neopagan friends to dismiss it as a path to truth. There's a lot about the symbolism and ritual that I like very much about it, and there have been times when I've wished it was a faith path that worked for me. It doesn't, but that doesn't mean it can't work for other people.

But I am a theist. I draw heavily on Biblical teachings, because I'm so familiar with them, but have rejected the concept of original sin (and hence the need for salvation). I'll take Jesus at his word when he says we're all sons and daughters of the Divine - that there is something eternal and holy in each person, and that love is recognizing that holiness.

Other than that, I'm still working on it. I intellectually can grasp the idea of a Monadic Divinity that exists beyond binaries of good and evil or love and hate - and that appeals to my analytic brain, which says if the Divine encompasses all, it must encompass all - but I don't spiritually grok it yet. I'm comfortable with "God is Love" and not so much with "God is Hatred." I'm not sure if I should be - I need to think and reflect and somehow come to know what I really believe to be true, rather than what I would prefer to have be true.

And there's bunches more stuff, some of which are on my radar as things I need to think and pray about and some of which I'm sure isn't. And I'm dragging my feet on a lot of it, because corporeal or mental "to dos" always seem more pressing than starting to collect and read some of the stuff I want to get a grounding in.

That was a vague assumption...

[beatrixherald.livejournal.com]

So I knew what I assumed you thought, but did not articulate it very well. Basically I figured you for a New Jersey Recovering Catholic who is more or less agnostic.

I think I was pretty close in my assumptions, based on what you wrote here.

That was a good quote. And I agree with it (as well as what Charlton Heston said) For the most part.

I just hate that Vodou gets a bad rap. I am just pushing back against anti-vodou propaganda.

Nothing personal!

Re: That was a vague assumption...

[telerib.livejournal.com]

Basically I figured you for a New Jersey Recovering Catholic who is more or less agnostic. I think I was pretty close in my assumptions, based on what you wrote here.

The closest label I've found so far that fits is "Unitarian Universalist Christian." But it's not very useful, since "Christian" is a very loaded word (and is being used in a rather iffy way in this case) and "UU" generally needs explaining too. But yeah, I've even been going to UU church and everything. It's a lot better fit for me than Catholicism, even if the DIY bits that make it attractive also make it difficult.