Why do Wiccans, Neopagans, etc.m think they are more "scientific" than Christians???

Question

I'm an athiest, can't see whay Wiccans think they're less superstitious than Christians. I've read books by Wiccans, and they say things like the "science of witchcraft"...since when was witchcraft a science??? I've also read a book where Wiccans claimed scientists were studying the "technology of withcraft", althought it failed to mention what scientists. Some Wiccans I've met said their "powers" are the same thing as ESP, but scientists don't believe in ESP either. No scientist has ever been able to prove ESP exists. Witchcraft involves, sorcery, astrology, ghosts, spirits, necromancy, etc., any scientist would call superstition. Plus, Wiccans, from my take on it, ignore history and archeology that prove their religion is a hoax created in the 1950's. The Moon isn't a goddes, it's just a hunk of rock in space. Wiccans also seem to believe in superstitions. I knew one Wiccan who had spiders all over her house because they were "lucky".

So how are you more scientific???

I don't buy Wiccans learning things through "experimentation and personal experience." makes them scientific. Everyone learns through personal expirence, including athiests and Christians. And exactly what expirements? If you can prove you have magic powers, then why don't you take Randi's $1,000,000 challenge and make some quick money and prove you're right once and for all???

Dowsing has been debunked, it's not scientific. Some herbs have chemicals in them that can heal. Chemistry isn't witchcraft. Shamans believe the herbs have "magic spirits" in them...they don't. Dream analysis is part of psychology, telling fortunes with dreams is not.

Creating a zombie is done by drugs, not witchcraft. There is no magic involved.

If scientists didn't want ESP to exist, Parapsychology departments wouldn't waste thousands of dollars to trying to prove it exists.

No one can be a "Pagan & Athiest", that's an oxymoron if ever there was one. And primitive people do think the moon is some kind of god, wiccans just try to make sound less superstitious by saying it's a "symbol"

So what if Paganism was popular for thousands of years??? It's just superstition. And the people burned during the witchtrials weren't Pagans or Wiccans, read Ronald Hutton.

Kendall, your story sounds very suspect at best. All the Wiccans I know work at dead end minimum wage jobs.

The stories about Elvis, flat earth, etc., don't have anything to do with the question. Most Odinists (Pagans) don't believe the holocaust happened from what I see.

bastets there are Christians that believe in evolution. The Roman Catholic Church has even accepted it, so at best your equal to them evolution wise.

Dark Hollow if you believed in what you saw, you wouldn't believe in magic. There are no magic spells, no invisible gods and goddesses. And if you didn't care what I thought about it, you wouldn't have answered the question.

"Just Pagans believe there is more - something that can not be measured by scientific means"
Translation: We believe in magic. In other words, you're supertitious. You're not anymore scientific than a Christian or Jew that believes in Evolution.

As for asker "Me", I seriously doubt you're an agnostic. LOL! Obviously you're a Neopagan.

Dark Hollow whatever you expirenced in "meditation" is Irrelevant, those are just your personal feelings. It's no different from a holy roller telling me about how speaking in tounges is just as real to him. Besides, if your religion leaves you filled with hate as your bio indicates, I don't see much good in it.

Oh, and Kendall C, I didn't say I hung out with them, I said I personally know Wiccans with dead end jobs, like the guy that delivers my pizza, a girl that waits tables, etc. Just because you meet someone doesn't make them your life long friend. LOL!

Asker "Me" if you had any logic about you, you wouldn't be defending superstition. I haven't seen one arguments that was able to answer the question.

Answer 1

Well, I guess when you put it that way, were not. LOL!

It boils down to faith. I'm happy with my faith.

Blessed Be!

Answer 2

“Wiccans think they're less superstitious than Christians.”
I am Wicca/Pagan and I am not “superstitious”.

I only believe in the things I see and experience.

“I've read books by Wiccans, and they say things like the "science of witchcraft"...since when was witchcraft a science???”

Figure of speech. Nothing more.

“I've also read a book where Wiccans claimed scientists were studying the "technology of withcraft", althought it failed to mention what scientists.”

So? Does it matter who? Where did you read that?

“Some Wiccans I've met said their "powers" are the same thing as ESP, but scientists don't believe in ESP either.”

Some? Every experience is different for different people.

“No scientist has ever been able to prove ESP exists. Witchcraft involves, sorcery, astrology, ghosts, spirits, necromancy, etc., any scientist would call superstition.”

You can’t prove or disprove it. I don’t need you to. Wether you believe in it or not does not matter to me. Unlike Christians, I don’t care if you do or not.

“Plus, Wiccans, from my take on it, ignore history and archeology that prove their religion is a hoax created in the 1950's.”

Different branches of Paganism and Wicca have been created at different times. Thats the nice thing about it. There is no “wrong way” to be a Pagan or Wiccan.

“The Moon isn't a goddess, it's just a hunk of rock in space.”

Duh! It is a symbol of the Goddess. It makes the “invisible” visible.


“Wiccans also seem to believe in superstitions. I knew one
Wiccan who had spiders all over her house because they were "lucky".”

He does? Hmmm Good for him! I don’t!

Ok so there is a possibility that what all we experience is not real. It works for us. We don’t bother anyone. There are idiots in ever religion. Don’t tell me there are not some atheists that don’t have a stupid idea once in a while. We are humans. All of us are different.

EDIT: What I have experienced through meditation I have no other explination than it being a god or goddess. The first time I ever meditated I didn't even know what I was doing. I felt drawn to something. I did not even believe in supernatural stuff. I had no idea what to expect. Afterward, I was so blown away I had to find out what just happened. Finally I found on a Wiccan forum what had happened. Others had wrote about similar experiences. And no. Just because I have something to say about this does not mean I care wether you believe me or not. Just hope to answer a question directed at Pagans.

Answer 3

If your an atheist, why do you care?
About the moon science has affirmed that it effects the tides, (among other things) and if it has such an effect on the murky waters of the ocean what do you think it does to the fluids in your body? Take the religion out of it and take a look without labeling everything, let it be what it is.
As for witchcraft I studied the religion and although I didn't think it was for me, I do understand why so many have chosen that path. Most Christian holidays derive from pagan celebrations. I know this because I studied that religion as well. I think you should read more, and quit being so angry at the world. No one can make you feel, your anger is your own. Open your mind and your heart to this world, even if the only reason is because your stuck here. Enjoy it.

Answer 4

Well I for one, do not view my mythology as literal facts, or infallible or inspired documents; to me they are merely symbolic and allegory tales.

Personally, I do not practice ESP, necromancy, astrology, etc.. Nor do I claim to believe in ghosts.

Also, I'm not a Wiccan; however I am know that some Wiccans (typically the new ones who haven't really studied their religion in deepth yet) sometimes like to claim their religion is ancient when it's not. Most serious Wiccans are well aware that Wicca started in the 50's. I think what you may be running across is "Fluff bunnies".

There are some Pagans who practice reconstructionalist religions, trying to revive and practice ancient pagan religions as they were practiced back in the day. These have nothing to do with the Neo-Pagan or New Age movement.

I have never heard of anyone claiming that the moon was an actual Goddess. I know that in mythology the moon is a symbol of various Goddesses.

I have spiders on the outside of my house...but not because they are "lucky", but because its an excellent deterrent of Jehovah's Wittinesses ;-) The local JW's are afraid of the spiders.

Answer 5

I am Pagan. I don't consider myself more scientific, per se. I am simply willing to alter my beliefs in the face of scientific evidence. For example, I don't hold tightly to the belief that the planet is only 6000 years old despite strong scientfic evidence to the contrary.

I do hold the belief that science hasn't discovered everything about the universe yet. Phenomena such as ESP may operate on a carrier wave that is as of yet undetectable. Astrology is a useful tool in that it gives insight into the human psyche.

I think that the idea that Pagans are "more scientific" than Christians comes from the fact that we Pagans realize that our myths and legends are just myths and legends. They are allegories, not actual events. When science comes up with new knowledge, we embrace it, because knowledge does not threaten us. When new facts come to light that contradict our myths and legends, that's perfectly fine, because myths and legends aren't supposed to be accurate anyway. It's when those myths and legends are taken as fact that people become threatened by new knowledge, and what is the Bible but a book of myths and legends? Sure, there's archeological evidence to support the geography, but don't forget that there's archeological evidence to support the geography of Greco-Roman and Egyptian mythology as well.

Lastly, you need to be more informed about your subject. Even though every Wiccan is Pagan, not every Pagan is Wiccan. The two terms are not synonymous. Paganism has been around since before the Pharaohs ruled Egypt. Paganism was the first religion, the religion that made prehistoric man paint his cave walls. Wicca was started by Gerald Gardener in 1950's England as a revival of some of the old ways. Wicca has it's own rituals and requirements. Think of it this way: Paganism is to Wicca what non-denominational Christianity is to Catholicism.

Answer 6

rofl. They don't. But Wiccans and Pagans accept science and don't see science as comflicting with their belief system.

Science is simply the explanation of it all to Pagans. A kind of "how it works and how it started" thing.

Pagans will generally tell you that science does not conflict with their belief in the gods.

I, personally, am an eclectic Wiccan. But I'm very different from many others in that I don't believe the gods are personifications of anything, or even the duality of all things like many others.

I think that the gods are simply the way our limited minds understand the unlimited universe.

I also think that everything is made up of energy and that people use it every day to accomplish what they want. Science has already taught us that everything is made of energy and its forms and that it can't be created nor destroyed.

But a god? I hesitate to call it a god. I don't think it has any conscousness or anything. Its just there.

Therefore, science doesn't conflict with my belief system at all and I can easily argue on the Atheists side because the Atheists make sense.

In my way of thinking, Wicca is simply a way to help us live with others and in respect of all nature since we've become rather disconnected with our surroundings with our increase in technology.

So, quite honestly, no Wiccans or Pagans think they're more scientific. They just accept science.

Unlike Christians.

Btw, any Pagan or Wiccan you talk to will tell you that all the stuff about the sun and the moon, the times of the year, the meaning of colors and herbs, etc, ALL of it actually means NOTHING. They are symbols and serve to help heighten your own focus. Nothing more.

Answer 7

Most pagans especially neo pagan paths are more into the "big picture". While keeping the old ways alive they embrace science, knowledge and enlightenment. The wonderful things about the pagan religions is that they allow for free thinking and do not threaten eternal damnation if you question. Most of my friends are pagan, they are scientists, computer programers, psychologists and such. My christian friends talk about football and drive trucks for a living. By the way there are books that say that the trip to the moon was a hoax, the holocost did not happen, Elvis is still alive, and there are a few people that believe the earth is still flat. This is why we call the pagan religions "beliefs" and we call science fact. They should not contradict each other, there is no need for that.
In response to my story sounding suspect I would expect you to know a lot of people in dead end jobs. Choose those in your circle of associations a bit more carefully and Im sure you will have a better class of people hanging around. By the way. My one atheist friend would not engage in such an argument as you are. To him it would be like arguing who would win in a fight superman or mighty mouse.

Answer 8

Most Pagans I know, even most Wiccans, totally accept the scientific finds of how the universe and life came to be. Atheists do not have a monopoly on science. We, unlike Christian fundamentalists, do not work to disprove scientific finds at all. As has already stated you will find some of us staunchly defending evolution and such. Just Pagans believe there is more - something that can not be measured by scientific means.

Answer 9

the individuals who call themselves Wiccan or Pagan are actually not evil. no person is. The be conscious 'evil' in Christianity is in no way used to describe human beings. Evil describes issues which lead human beings faraway from God. in this way, by using residing as a Wiccan or Pagan, you're sinning interior the main mortal way obtainable. you're at as quickly as denying God and on an identical time, you're maximum well known others from Him by using your occasion. this would not make you evil, yet your strikes are evil. it must be perceived from the exterior that we are traumatic approximately human beings being pushed faraway from the church, and this feels like one in all those conspiracy. even though it is via the fact we have confidence that the Church is Jesus' physique in the international. If everybody is pushed from his physique, then they are inevitably pushed from Him. So no conspiracy! in simple terms actual situation. As for our leaders mendacity to us: we are properly conscious the place the belief-approximately easter eggs, the timing of the gala's, and very much of the symbols come from. They have been used by using the early Christians to help clarify the recent faith to the pagans, romans, egyptions, greeks, and so on. there is not any cover up. Its there for all to work out. We in simple terms appreciate custom. so as a Christian (particularly a Catholic) you need to be enjoying all the ritual and mysticism on an identical time as loving God!

Answer 10

Please document your source(s). All Wiccans, "Neopagans", etc., do not think they are more scientific than Christians. I am a Christian and I do not think you should lump one (or many) categories of people into one category. Others often lump Christians into one category and I do not appreciate it when they do. I'm sure some of these individuals may think this way, however, not all do. I have my beliefs, they have theirs, but, as a Christian, I do not judge. Nor, do I believe others should judge.

Answer 11

Because - as a rule (though not always) You don't get fundamentalist pagans. This means Pagans are almost always free to take their faith symbolically, philosophically and not literally/simplistically.....
It allows the many different interpretations and lets science fit in with their belief system. This is also true for the majority of Christians....It's just that you get a LOT of noisy fundamentalist Christians.