Question to Pagans :?

Question

The way I understand it, the term "pagan" was first used by early Christians to describe any member of a religion not their own. It described any "cult" or it's member as being opposed to Christ. By using this term for yourselves are declaring that your opposition to Christianity? When I describe myself as a Christian, I am not saying I am opposed to other faiths, only that I follow the religion of Christ. Are you a "Pagan" only because you oppose Christianity or do you oppose other faiths as well? Would it not be more true to call yourselves Wiccan, Celtic, Druid, etc? Other faiths that have been called pagan, Hindu, Buddist, etc, do not refer to themselves as pagan. They seem to have faith in their religion as it stands not just how it might seem to stand in relation to Christianity.

Bad Cosmo - Dude! then why did you answer the question?

I appreciate most of the answers so far, I asked the question because it seemed like most of the most hateful or derogatory things directed towards Christians on here were stated by self-described Pagans.

Answer 1

It's not really a case of "opposed to Christianity" - more simply a case of "just not Christian." Any opposition to Christianity would be on an individual level - while there are a number of Pagans who do have issues with Christianity, it's not on an institutional level.

As for why we call ourselves Pagan? That's actually been debated amongst ourselves plenty of times. Some of the Pagan religions are close enough to be cousins, and so having an "umbrella term" to lump them together for certain purposes can be useful, much like referring to the Abrahamic religions. But others can be pretty diverse, with the primary shared feature being "not Christian" - which can make shared dialogue somewhat difficult.

In the end, the consensus seemed to be that identifying as the individual religions was more specific, but the category of "Pagan" was useful for numbers and name recognition. (For example, most people are unfamiliar with the term "Celtic Reconstructionist", and even generous estimates put us at less than 5,000. However, if I say that I'm Pagan, people have a vague clue what I mean, and there's some 100,000+ Pagans running around.)

Answer 2

Which term I use depends upon the context. If I am talking to someone who is unfamiliar with individual neo-pagan paths, I will use the umbrella term "neo-pagan" (Neo- simply means new). If I am speaking to someone who is familiar with different paths within neo-paganism, I say that I am a Celtic Reconstructionist, or CR for short.

I know that there are some neo-pagans who have an open dislike for Christians/Christianity. I am not one of them. Although I have never practiced that religion, I have some friends who find it very fulfilling. I suppose that every religion has their fanatics and the neo-pagan movement is no different. But this doesn't mean that they represent the whole of the movement--or anything more than a small fraction. Seldom have I ever met a person who has practiced long-term who has been hateful towards other religions. It is usually the people who recently changed their faith or who claim the faith yet have no idea what it really is to practice it. It is a shame that the vocal minority casts such a shadow on all of us, but this happens in every religion. Any ideas on what we can do about it?

Answer 3

Actually, the word Pagan was originally used by Romans (before they'd ever heard of Christianity) to signify the common folk of he country side who did not follow the fashions of the city, including, but not limited to, the state religion. Christains (and Pre-Christian Abrahamics) would have been speaking Aramaic or Hebrew for the most part when this word first came into common usage. It was a word that referred to folks as being earthy, and not necessarily in a good way. Country hicks, if you will. Only after the conversion of Constantine and the continued use of the word regarding unfashionable people, did it begin to relate to Christianity in any way.

The religions of these people, those called Pagan, did not have an official name, and neither do most of our religions. They were simply the folk beliefs of the people. Some of us have given names to our Pagan, i.e. folk religions, Druidry, Wicca, etc. but most of us have not. We are simply walking a non mainstream path and many of us are seeking a closer connection to the Earth, that which the Pagans of the past, those country folk out of touch with city fashions, would have had as a matter of course. So, the word fits, really.

Answer 4

Randi gave already a great (correct) answer to your question.

There are basically two terms defining "non-abrahamic worshippers" that have survived, and both mean the same: "pagan" (from the latin "paganus"), and "heathen" (from the germanic "Heide"), both mean literally country-dweller or (more modern) "Hillbilly", rural Hick.

The roman people spoke a romanic language, therefore their term "paganus" was kept alligned with deities of the greek/roman pantheon.

The norse and saxons spoke not romanic, but instead germanic, and their word for "country hick" was Heide, with turned into the english "heathen" over the centuries. Nowadays we call "Heide" a person who worships one or several norse or saxon gods.

Due to the older definition, some people still think that either "pagan" or "heathen" means "Atheist" (non-believer), which is of course not true. Pagans and Heathens have a belief system, they do worship deities of their choice. An atheist does not believe in any deity at all.

Now, all this has nothing to do with christianity. Why should we oppose it? You can believe whatever you want, and so do we. Both kinds of religions (monotheistic like all three abrahamics) or polytheists (like pagans and heathens) have a right to exist, and in my opinion any threatening and opposing is ONLY expressed and done by either muslims or christians.

I never feel the need to go out and burn christians' churches down. I just leave them alone. On the other hand, the bible is full of bragging about how they destroyed holy places of other religions (temple of Ephesos for example, which was said was built with the help of Athene herself). These people were so proud of their evil deeds, they actually wrote it down what they did, and still today you can read it in your own language (whatever that might be) in your own bible what they did.

You will not find that in pagan/heathen cultures.
We just leave you alone, and we want to be left alone. Just like you want to worship the deity of your choice in the way you feel is right, the same we want.

Answer 5

Not all Pagans are Wiccan, Druid, etc. I do not use the term to oppose Christianity. I don't oppose Christianity.
Let's look at the word Pagan.
Everybody has their favorite definition of the word "Pagan." Most people are convinced that their meaning is the correct one. But no consensus exists, even within a single faith tradition or religion as to what a pagan is.
Origin of the term:
There is general agreement that the word "Pagan" comes from the Latin word "paganus." Unfortunately, there is no consensus on the precise meaning of the word in the fifth century CE and before. There are three main interpretations. None has won general acceptance:
Most modern Pagan sources interpret the word to have meant "rustic," "hick," or "country bumpkin" -- a pejorative term. The implication was that Christians used the term to ridicule country folk who tenaciously held on to what the Christians considered old-fashioned, outmoded Pagan beliefs. Those in the country were much slower in adopting the new religion of Christianity than were the city folks. They still followed the Greek state religion, Roman state religion, Mithraism, various mystery religions, etc., long after those in urban areas had converted.
Some believe that in the early Roman Empire, "paganus" came to mean "civilian" as opposed to "military." Christians often called themselves "miles Christi" (Soldiers of Christ). The non-Christians became "pagani" -- non-soldiers or civilians. No denigration would be implied.
C. Mohrmann suggests that the general meaning was any "outsider," -- a neutral term -- and that the other meanings, "civilian" and "hick," were merely specialized uses of the term. 17
By the third century CE, its meaning evolved to include all non-Christians. Eventually, it became an evil term that implied the possibility of Satan worship. The latter two meanings are still in widespread use today.
There is no generally accepted, single, current definition for the word "Pagan."
Now Paganism.
Paganism encompasses beliefs and practices associated with the worship of nature; and may take many forms, including pantheism (belief that the whole of reality is divine), polytheism (belief in many gods), and animism (belief that natural features of the world are invested with divine power).
In its simplest form, Paganism is a religion based on Nature worship and ancient indigenous traditions, with the number of Pagans, particularly in Britain and North American, growing at a considerable rate.
Religions that fall under the Paganism classification include, but are not limited to: Asatru, Druidism, Chaos Magic, Witchcraft, Goddess Worship and other Nature Worshippers.
From another source:
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word pagan comes from the Latin pagus meaning "from the countryside" and from the Latin paganus meaning "civilian". The truth be known, it was the "Christians" that gave the initial negative connotation to the word paganism (i.e. anyone who does not follow the Christian religion is godless and somehow involved with Satan - a totally Christian concept).
What do we believe?
Practiced in this context, the three main principles reflecting the basic beliefs of many Pagans is as follows:
Love for, and Kinship with, Nature as opposed to the more customary attitude of aggression and domination over Nature. Pagans hold a reverence for the life force and its ever-renewing cycles of life and death.
The Pagan Ethic of "Do what thou wilt, but harm none". (Wicca) Paganism is a positive morality, not a listing of thou-shalt-nots. Each individual is responsible for discovering his/her own true nature and for developing it fully in harmony with the outer world.
The Concept of Goddess and God are expressions of a Divine reality and provides for an active participation in the cosmic dance of both the female and the male entities, rather than the suppression of either the female or the male.

Blessings )O(

Answer 6

Actually, pagan is an ancient Latin term, meaning "Country-dweller". It has nothing to do with opposing Christianity, as the term itself is OLDER then Christianity. It only took on the connotations of being something else after Constantine converted the Roman Empire to Christianity - at that time, most of the people of the outlying provences(the "pagans") of the Empire were still practicing their old religious ways. And the term has stuck, to mean anyone not of the abrahamic beliefs.
Ask a pagan, we don't care who or what you worship, we just want to be left in peace to worship our way. We don't oppose anything about christianity, except perhaps the oft-times contradictory nature of itself, and the hatred and violence done in your god's name.

Answer 7

I am a Paganus. I am a country-dweller. I worship the Gods and Goddesses of the country, the rural place that I live in. I pray to them for prosperity and to look over me, my family, my crops, and my livestock.
I had started to write a lengthy response to the whole Paganus vs. Christian thing but the link below should suffice. If you think about it, there are some similiarities to the growth of Christianity and neo-Paganism in a broad sense.

Answer 8

I interpret pagan as one who sees the numinous in nature. Those who need gods seem also to associate it often with all kinds of un-necessary surrogates such as the devil etc. It ain't necessarily so, as it says in the song. Personally, as an atheist I'm not opposed to Christianity. Just religion and everything that goes with it.

Answer 9

Dude, I'm a Christian of Celtic ancestry. Being a Celt does not automatically associate one with Wicca and paganism.

/ 2 cents

Answer 10

Randi is correct. Specfically, it's from the Latin "paganus", meaning a rustic or country-dweller.