Why can you never post a question about religion without...

I agree that most pagans don't need to prove they are right, they don't need to evangelize. Many are either part of small local groups or solitary. Christians are part of an evangelistic religion. They come right out and say, the only way to heaven is through Jesus. They think they are a tolerant group, but they are not. If you don't believe then by their religion you are going to hell. The pagan feels that the path they choose is just that, their own path, it may not be for everyone. The christian believes that they are the only path, and if you don't agree, then you are going to die and burn in hell. I admit I am not tolerant of some things. I am not tolerant of self righteous people who think just because they believe something, whatever they do is ok. I am not tolerant of people who do not allow others the freedom to think and be what they are. I am especially not tolerant of those who judge without knowing all the facts, only the propoganda and bigoted points of view.

I am Agnostic, I do not believe in religions. I believe in a higher power, I just do not believe in religion, now, I respect those who do, but I ask those who have a religion not to preach to me about it. I will answer things about religion, I used to be a Catholic, but I will never preach religion and I do not want religion preached to me.

blessed be, i too have chosen a pagan path but have not found too much antaganism from christians as such. ok they tend to wag the finger at the naughty pagan but when i gently suggest that they have moved on so much, its not that long ago that they wanted to burn me they seem ok

I am Christian in that I follow the teachings of Jesus. I respect all faiths as long as no human being is harmed; Jonestown and the People's Temple comes to mind when I state this. I am fascinated by all Pagan paths. There are sooo many "denominations"(i don't know if that is the right word)and it intrigues me greatly. By the way, Christians often try to "save" Christians as well.

I'm a christian but please believe me that i must say that a lot of christians are hypocrits always pointing their fingers at others but don't look at themselves. We should respect others believes also The Pagan.You should be free to talk about what you want.

I love to discuss religion and I am a christian but I have no tolerance for intolerance and I find that christians are the most intolerant people on mylot, they attack anyone whos concepts and beliefs are different then there own, it makes me a little ashamed , I am a christian but I believe pagans, muslims, jews, hindus, mormons and buddists are all equal.

Thank you slaveeva,I totaly agree with you. I was brought up both as a Catholic and Ptotestant at the same time,my fathers family are Protestan and my mothers side,devout Catholics. I myself am now a Pagan,and as such,I believe every one has the right to believe as they wish. The one area that I do not like is the act of trying to shove ones religious beliefs on people that have no interest in them. I am not going to post any paticular religion as almost everyone knows who they are. Please enjoy the religion you have with people of the same beliefs. Blessed Be.

I am Christian but I would love to better understand pagans and what they believe. I don't know of any who live in my area so I would be interested to know where you are coming from.

Well, I too am a devout pagan. I do NOT believe in the arguementation that comes about over religion. It is almost ridiculous. I believe that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and followings, and that of which others of diffenent religions say should NOT matter. As long as you truly believe, then no matter what anyone else tells you to contradict, you will STILL believe in your own faith and followings, then you are set. I believe that it is NOT important in which religion you follow, just as long as you follow your religion faithfully and religionsly, then you are destined to good things. It is NOT important to follow the Christian faith if you are not prone to it. It is not important to follow ANY religion if you are not prone to it. It IS important though to find your spiritual path in order to coincide with the waking world. Even Atheists have a spiritual path,although it may be completelly different from what others believe, they still have faith in the fact that there is nothing to praise (so how can they be wrong if they have pure faith in their beliefs of no Gods or Goddesses). Athiests have a pure faith in the fact that there is NO God of Goddess, no eternal damnation,and no eternal heaven. If someone truly believes in this, how can you prove them from it? You cannot, of course. Everyone has a different religion and for those who like to start debates about it and argue as to the way it REALLY is, they need some intellectual guidance. Religion plays a different role in everyone. To some it is a means to escape the real world, to calm yourself and relax (to meditate). To some it is a way to revitalize your energy and feel at tune with your environment, nature(speaking generally to pagans). To some it is a way to get to know yourself competelly. Religion can play a big role in someone's life and can become very important. To some it is the most important thing, although I admit, it is NOT the most important thing for me. My family and their health and well being is the most important thing to me. Religion, although it causes many debates and arguements, is still a great topic to bring about because everyone can relate to religion, their likes or dislikes, their agree ments, or disagreements.

I agree with you slaveeva, many people claim for respect and tolerance, which they don't practice themselves. They need to reassure their beliefs by putting others' down. It makes no sense and i think that it has a lot to do with a big lack of self esteem.

Well, I have tried to make discussions about many different religions, and in general I got peaceful answers, except for the muslims, but the "jumpers" were deleted by mylot staff, so you can come and express yourself freely in them all lol. I am specially proud of my "Pagan" discussion, since I didn't know about it before Lecanis teached me a little. I thought that "pagan" was just a despective way for romans to call stranger religions. So I would love if you come there and write a little about your own paganism. I think we can make a place for this tolerance, if we present things the correct way so that anyone has to agree with others' values, at least as culture.

I agree whole heartedly with slaveeva. I choose religion as an interest knowing that I would not originate any discussion, I simply listed it to comment on discussions like this. Religion is an extremely emotionally charged topic. I have studied many religions and most claim to be respectful, tolerant and "THE way" but after four decades, I have yet to see this in the actions of their followers regardless of what "God" they say they worship. It makes me wonder what "God" it is that they worship which emboldens them to verbally (and sometimes physically) attack other people, when this is clearly contrary to the claimed charter codes of their religion. Long ago, I considered myself to be a fundemental "born again" believer but even then I had trouble understand how or why it should be up to me to decide who is and is not "saved". It always seemed to me that it was God's job to judge and even says in scripture, "judge not lest yee be judged". I also seem to recall reading, "many will come unto me saying, Lord, Lord, and I will not know them". The situation got so bad I could no longer stand going to a church to learn about religion from people that were clearly hypocritical of their own belief structure. I think each of us need to ask ourselves a very simple question, what power is it that I worship that enables me to attack others yet feel justified in doing so? Am I truely worshipping the created of the universe or some other power that thrives on strife, discord and grief?