2006-10-30 08:33:03 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Stupid question. I do not beleive that anyone should be killed for what they believe.
Ok, one exception. I beleve that those that beleive others should die for their beliefs...THOSE PEOPLE should be killed for thinking like that....
2006-10-30 08:34:57 · answer #1 · answered by YDoncha_Blowme 6 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Why don't you do some research before you start blathering BULLSH*T about something you have NO idea of? Wiccans (or "witches", which they prefer not to be called) are among the oldest religions. Their goal is not to harm, but to protect, unlike, say Christianity!
If you REALLY care about learning and getting more informed, rather than BURNING, then go to the site below. Somehow, I doubt you will! Still, here is an excerpt from that site, for those who DO care: "Paganism, and particularly Witchcraft, suffers from a great deal of prejudice from the uninformed, and from fundamentalist followers of other religions. The early Christian church turned Pagan deities into the devil, and the more narrow-minded Christians still sometimes believe that Witches and Pagans are devil-worshipers. We are not. We don't believe in the devil. We have our own moral codes (the Wiccan Rede states than Wiccans should "harm none"), and our religion celebrates life and love."
As for the burning? Maybe you should want to burn CHRISTIANS instead? This country is supposed to be on religious tolerance, but there's little to be had, these days, with Winger-rethugs in power. At any rate, if you burn ANYBODY, that makes you a murderer!
NOTE to luvdallz68: Re: Catholics not believing in the "Christian Bible"? You need to get a clue as well! Catholics were the FIRST CHRISTIANS (why do you think they call it "Roman Catholicism"?! It was brought to Rome from Palestine, by Jews and others who had converted.) The other Christian groups only came after the various protestants splintered off over centuries. Get your facts straight, please!
2006-10-30 16:48:41 · answer #2 · answered by SieglindeDieNibelunge 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think it's sad that in this day in age anyone would believe that someone should be burned for their beliefs. Look at what the "Christians" did to Joan of Arc...and then they made her a saint. Most people that are accused of witchcraft have never claimed to be anything of the sort. They were outcasts or simply accused by those who did not like them. Anyone not believing in Christianity could have been burnt as a hieratic or a witch.
The Old Testament says many things that "Christians" do not live by today, like those who wear multi-blended clothes are sinning and that unclean animals should not be eaten, but you don't see many Christians that follow those beliefs. Yet many condemn those who claim they are witches, pagans or followers of any other religion.
I am a Pagan, and proud of it, I do not take the title of witch but I will stand up for anyone's right to do so. Religion is a choice you cannot make someone follow yours. Everyone has their own path to Deity.
2006-10-30 16:45:01 · answer #3 · answered by pelenpuppy 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Many women who were labelled as witches were often just very good herbalists but the people back then didn't want to accept the fact that your body can heal itself with the use of natural products. They're knowledge was stamped as devil's work. Thousands of innocent women were burnt at the stake. I think it should never have happened. People are afraid of things that don't fit into their little box and then look for ways to get rid of it.
2006-10-30 16:38:48 · answer #4 · answered by jade 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
To answer that question, take a look at the life of Christ. Did He ever burn people at the stake? Of course not. He probably would have warned her, but you must remember that Christ was "burned at the stake" instead of her. He took the punishment for the sins of everyone in the world. If she accepts his sacrifice on her behalf, she will be in Heaven. If she does not accept it, she will be expected to pay for her own sins via eternal death.
The OT did tell the Israelites that witches were to be stoned, because they corrupted the pure faith and led God's people astray, teaching them false doctrines like the dead exist in spirit form after death and can be contacted. The "spirits" that these mediums consult - both then and today - are actually fallen angels (demons). The Bible is specific that the dead are in a state of sleep until Christ returns, and they have no consciousness after death.
The practice of burning witches at the stake occurred mostly during the Middle Ages by the Catholic Church, not the church of the Bible. Also, most of the people burned were not actually witches, but Bible-believing sabbath-keepers who did not hold to the doctrines of the Catholic church.
2006-10-30 16:45:45 · answer #5 · answered by FUNdie 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Of course not. It is inhuman and cruel. Although there has been a lot of exaggeration of the extent of these crimes (neopagan sources cite ridiculously exaggerated numbers like nine million, where most historians think a number between 50,000 and 100,000 is more approrpriate), it is unacceptable for human beings to have their lives taken for their faith, or lack thereof.
I like to think my church has learned a lot from this, since the Vatican II declaration on Religious Liberty states, "This Vatican Council likewise professes its belief that it is upon the human conscience that these obligations fall and exert their binding force. The truth cannot impose itself except by virtue of its own truth, as it makes its entrance into the mind at once quietly and with power."
Only if you are free can the truth "set you free." And you certainly are not free, as people of those times were not, if your religion is determined by fear of being burnt at the stake!
2006-10-30 16:49:13 · answer #6 · answered by evolver 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Witches were the female healers of more primitive times. They sought natural means for the healing of people before medicine was developed. They were burned, not because of their gifts, but because of misunderstanding and ignorance. Also, a patriarchal church was not going to condone leadership by women, so they demonized them in order to remove all threat from the patriarchal(male) leaders.
2006-10-30 17:00:11 · answer #7 · answered by Buffy 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
They really didn't have any beliefs, it was people accusing them of something they didn't understand or simply because they wanted them out of the way that led to them being called a witch and then having a gruesome death.
2006-10-30 16:36:20 · answer #8 · answered by tucksie 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
no, it was stupid unfounde lies in the case of the Salem Witch trials. There was just a show on the History Channel about them. Again, leave it to religious zealots who try to play God on their own.. Little did they know that they were practicing everything Jesus was aginist.. I mean heck, in their eyes you were a witch if you wiped backwards...
2006-10-30 16:38:18 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
"Witches" weren't burned for their beliefs. They were burned because wise female village healers were competition for the nascent medical establishment.
2006-10-30 16:36:11 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Well only if they were proved to be witches by not drowning when thrown into water
2006-10-30 16:53:03 · answer #11 · answered by albert_rossie 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋