pagans only please?

Question

i'm a "neo-wiccan" and my friend has been reading silver ravenwolf books and he has been telling me that our kind has been killed by the christians and we should stick together, now i dont dissagree with that but he is being rude to the christians, and i cant take away or convince him to give me the book, he calls it his "Bible" what should i do? just hope he grows out of it? as his friend i will not leave him over this but it makes me mad that he acts like they try and burn him at the steak, i know he gets made fun of at school and it hurts alot but thats no reason to act the way he is, please give some advice

Answer 1

The behavior of your friend is unfortunate. There are many that get a hate on for Christians when they first come to the path. He will eventually outgrow it or be ostracized at his own hand. He should really learn the history of Wicca and the history of Witchcraft. Wiccans were not killed by Christians. In fact very few of the people that died during the burning times were actually Witches and the number printed in most new age books is blown way out of proportion. I do not say this to diminish the fact that it happened, I say it to educate.
As Pagans, Wiccans, Witches, it is imperative that are behavior reflect who we are. I may be the only Witch someone meets, therefore I am a living example of how they are going to judge all Witches. This may not seem fair, but it is the way of the world.
If I were you I would make very clear to your friend how you feel. If anyone says things to you about him simply tell them he (your friend) does not represent you.
His actions are the very thing that people are persecuting him for, not his religious choice.

Blessings )O(

Edit: A book by Silver Ravenwolf would hardly be considered a Wiccan bible. Besides the bible is a Christian sacred text, he shouldn't refer to a book as such if he dislikes Christians so much. You may need to take the horse by the reins so to speak.

Answer 2

She did not base anything she wrote on historical fact, and as far as the dates are concerned she is all so wrong. Modern Paganism has only been around for about 50 years, but we are trying to bring back some of the old faiths. I worship Gaea (a.k.a. Ge, Mother Earth, The Holy Mother, and The All Mother) and The Creator (no not the Christian God but the being that brought Gaea into existence), but that does not mean that my religion is over 5000 years old because I have no idea how they worshiped Gaea or what holy days they observed etc. etc. A lot of that particular knowledge was lost during the dark ages and in all the wars that have occurred in that time, but with what little records that survived I do the best I can. There is no "Bible" for Pagans nor should there be, and your friend taking such a text at its word is dangerous no matter who writes it. That would be like me taking a Harry Potter book as a sacred text when it is clearly fictional. Not that Silver Ravenwolf is a fiction writer it is just that if you read most of her stuff carefully and then look at the history books you will find most of her stuff unreliable. If any one burned some one at the stake in today's world you can bet they will either be going to the insane asylum or prison, and besides to do some thing like that to some and they manage to live through it is classified as a hate crime. To cause harm to any one whether they killed some one in the process or not is a serious hate crime in most countries. I live in the Bible Belt of the United States and I do not feel like my life is in danger. Though I am careful most of the time who I talk to about my religion because there are religious zelots out their who if you do not follow their particular faith or will not convert will threaten you with harm. Though where I live that is very rare (hopefully). If you would like to know more here is a good site to check out (in my opinion it is a good site).

http://wicca.timerift.net

I hope this helps you out.

Blessed Be To All

Pagan College Student

Answer 3

Depending upon which Ravenwolf book it is (and I've got a good guess), there's actually a section in it that more or less encourages that sort of behavior, unfortunately. It can come across as rather snarky or advocating that Pagans are *so* much more special than Christians.

I agree with having your friend do some real research on the Inquisition - the numbers are most certainly not the 9 million that gets tossed around. And, honestly, the people who died? The vast majority were Christians of one stripe or another.

I supposed you could always remind him of the whole Rule of Three thing - if he's being rude, surprise, folks are going to be rude back to him. Either that, or have him look up the Witches' Pyramid - "To know, to dare, to keep silent."

Answer 4

It is my opinion that that woman should have never been allowed to put pen to paper. Much of what she's written as far as history goes is based on shoddy research and a bunch more is just made up hearsay and her arrogant "we are cool and they all suck" attitude is just shameful. I know she's done alot of good for improving Pagan self-image, but the violent anti-Christianity is rediculous. Shall we have a Pagan KKK? Is that not a horrible thought?

Pagans do not have a Bible, and there is a reason for it. True enlightenment cannot come from books because it cannot be transmitted into verbal or written form. Instead it must come from personal revelation and communion with the Divine. Getting all your information from a single source and considering that source infallible is cult activity. Stay away from it. It's not what Paganism is about.

Discrimination is an anti-Pagan value. So is hate and rudeness. The mantra I chant to my children, and yes they get teased at school to, is "Rise above, not rise against." What would the Goddess do? She's far to refined to be acting like a bigoted fool. Besides that, Christians can't kill us. It's illegal. It's a hate crime. Likewise, we can't abuse them. It's illegal. It's a hate crime. If you hate something because it's bad, why would you seek to become it?

My advise? Let him make his own mistakes. You may change him by example, but you'll never change him by force so don't waste your time and risk being dragged into his negativity. Love him, but step away when he's acting a fool.

Answer 5

There are a few things you could do, but if your friend doesn't have an open mind, then he may not hear. You are learning--you can share with him the things that you are learning in a non-offensive way. To get respect from others for your beliefs, you must first respect other's beliefs---even though you do not agree. I know this can be difficult, but it will be a wonderful lesson to learn. Listen to what he says and ask him questions, but do it politely. Share with him the things that you are learning and hopefully he will give you the same respect.

It is a shame that publishers allow authors to print blatantly historical inaccurate books. I've read those books and then had to go back and try to unlearn all of that garbage. It's frustrating and I hope that others can avoid that pitfall. I wish it weren't necessary, but here is an excellent essay on critical reading and pagan publications:
http://www.tangledmoon.org/critthink.htm

Answer 6

You are obviously a much wiser person then your friend. He has taken one single idea, from an author with a bad reputation among pagans for just this kind of intolerance and hatred for non-pagans, and run way too far with it. If you continue to be his close friend, perhaps suggest some other reading material, something less fluffy and hateful then Ravenwolf, like Margot Adler or Scott Cunningham, both great authors for beginners. And be prepared for ridicule from both him, and the others at school who are already torturing him. I would suspect he'll soon tire of the hate, and move on, either away from his "bible", or even away from paganism itself. Just don't let his negativity drag you down - constantly being exposed to so much hate and anger makes for one very poor, very drained witch! Namaste, Young One!

Answer 7

He needs to broaden his horizons. Silver Ravenwolf is not the be all and end all of Wicca or Witchcraft. In fact, by many, she is considered rather fluffy, and doesn't get down to the nitty gritty. There are plenty of good authors out there - Raymond Buckland, Scott Cunningham, Janet and Stewart Farrar, Marion Green, Raven Grimassi... too many to name...

BB
)0(

Answer 8

You need to tell your friend he should do a little research on ancient history and religion. With the beginning of monotheism came a book..and all three religions 1st being Judaism 2nd being Christianity 3rd being Muslim all incorporate a book by which they base their religion....Tell your friend to get out of the backwaters of mysticism....Wicca, Christian, Muslim, Judaism...it's all the same....Tell him to stop waisting his time on being angry at the Christians and do something even more blasphemous and appalling....educate his mind!! Look to reality and the use of science such as quantum physics to aid in his argument that religion is a farce...science and religion don't mix all that well....and science as we all know explores reality and not the fairy tales of books and bibles....lastly if he insists on staying ignorant of the truth..then tell him his attitude is the same as the Christians so what makes him any better?

Answer 9

Epona Willow is a smart woman.
Tell your friend that returning ignorance and hate with ignorance and hate is never the answer, especially in Wicca.

Answer 10

being afraid of the christians you encounter today because of historical violence would be like me being afraid of Labradors because a Labrador once bit a guy about my age...
treat people well and see what happens... if they're rude to you, leave them alone... it's a big enough world.