We are raising our children in the tradition and many are choosing the path. Obviously in the next 20 years there will be a lot more of us then now and since it's also growing outside of that, where do think it will be in 20 years?
2007-10-09 12:34:21 · 18 answers · asked by ~Heathen Princess~ 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Damn my parents have a nice basement then. It's as big as a house! Oh wait...it is a house....and they live three states away....Hmmm
2007-10-09 12:43:57 · update #1
Eh we don't want to be a world player. But it's just interesting to think where it will be. If nothing else I think there will be a lot more tolerance for it.
2007-10-09 13:07:00 · update #2
Ymmo: You just gave me fear induced heart failure.
Robin: Ve is holy space yup
2007-10-10 03:44:18 · update #3
do you want a realistic answer or a idealistic one?
Ideally it will be more accepted & open with more people being honest & coming out of the closit.
Realistically probably not a lot better than now in some areas.
2007-10-09 12:45:38 · answer #1 · answered by silkin_storm 5 · 7⤊ 0⤋
I'm an optimist, so I think things will be better for our children. And, I agree, paganism is one of the fastest growing religions in the U.S. I think there will be more tolerance. After all, the pentagon finally acknowledged Wicca as a religion and now includes the pentagram as one of the official religious symbols that can be placed on the burial site of a fallen soldier.
I know you didn't ask, but may I recommend the book Circle Round: Raising Children in Goddess Traditions by Starhawk, Diane Baker and Anne Hill. Don't let the sub-title mislead you. It's not all about the Goddess. . . the God aspect is given His due, too!
Blessed Be.
2007-10-10 03:31:52 · answer #2 · answered by lightningelemental 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Isn't Neo-Paganism one of the fastest growing religions in the United States? I do have it from this website (http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html) which, admittedly I don't know to be reliable or un-reliable, that Neo-Paganism is the 19th biggest religion in the world. I mean it is much tinier than the big ones...but still.
The problem I see is that many Pagan parents *aren't* raising their children in the tradition. They think it puts an unfair bias on the kids. So plenty of children grow up without ever knowing their parents are Pagan. I think that's just sad. Of course I think it is fully possible to raise a person in a religion while also allowing them to choose their own. Not to mention the fact that every other freaking kid in the world is raised in their parents religion, why do we have to avoid it?
Anyway, I think things will show a marked difference in 20 years regardless. We are officially out of the broom closet as a religious whole and that isn't going to change.
2007-10-09 23:28:13 · answer #3 · answered by Frodo the space bard 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
More tolerance. The more of us out there, the more info we bring to the public. In 20 yrs...hhmmm... hopefully we'll be seeing more Temples and Sacred places (Ve's I believe they're called? I'm still learning lol) Maybe we won't have to look online for a group near us, but instead go to our local newspapers or the telephone book. Now that would be nice. Personally, I would like to see more of us in Politics (as well as more Atheists... I think both of our groups have a lot to bring to the table). My son says he hopes to see a Pagan Media Network on TV. =)
2007-10-10 07:19:25 · answer #4 · answered by River 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
What I would LIKE to say is: we'll be everywhere and we'll be more accepted and we'll have places of worship besides the ones of other religions.
BUT, I'm a realist/pessimist so more likely it will be like this:
In the US it will be "cool" and fashionable to be "a witch", to wear black and a huge silver pentagram, and to go around telling everyone how pagan you are and how you're going to put a spell on everyone who displeases you.
There will be shop chains dedicated solely to making money of those witch wannabees by selling tons of books, crystals, magic wands, specially charged runes and do-it-yourself spell kits that grant you mega-wealth, a good looking husband and a dream job in a fortnight.
In Europe, the local paganisms (Slavic, Norse, Hellenic) will organise themselves into tight initiatory groups, probably a lot of them with a certain degree of racial bias. They're likely to start causing trouble, especially in Germanic countries.
In the rest of the world, more likely to spread is Islam. Paganism will stay just as marginalised as it is now, and likely to face even more persecution.
2007-10-10 03:22:14 · answer #5 · answered by Ymmo the Heathen 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
WOW that's funny... in the parents basement... Lol... WRONG AS ALL OTHER... But funny that someone can be that ignorant... thank you for the laugh I just had at your expense...
Heathen Daughter- I would say that I hope that there is less ignorance about the religions.
Truthfully though I think that even though we may be raising tolerant, intelligent children that will not be fooled by the lies that are spread. The ignorant are still breeding as well and raising their kids to be just as ignorant and spread the same lies that they did. So truthfully I don't think it will change much at all. =(
2007-10-09 20:56:39 · answer #6 · answered by Lorena 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i'll still be working on the book of baddite, so i won't have noticed anything.
but really, i think the world will continue to trend toward secularism. more people will feel comfortable with expressing the fact that they're really not religious, which i think has always been the case, but governments have had other agendas. paganism will continue to grow, but i think it will always have a limited appeal. if any religion becomes dominant in 20 years, i would expect and hope that it would be buddhism. i don't see european paganism ever having sufficient structure to become a world player.
2007-10-09 20:05:18 · answer #7 · answered by bad tim 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
I think at the very least people won't flip out at the word. More people are talking about it and understanding their contributions to holidays, so probably by then it'll be one of those things that is still often misunderstood but that no one needs to hide, like the Mormons. But cooler. ;-)
I don't know if my kids will choose the same as me or not, but since my brand of paganism is fun and practical at the same time, maybe they will. At least they'll be brought up to know what it is.
2007-10-09 20:07:46 · answer #8 · answered by KC 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Gods Willing there will be fewer incidents of people having knee-jerk negative reactions to our group of religions.
I am also looking forward to the insights into OUR traditions that the children raised as Pagans will have. Even as YOUNG children they often amaze their parents, as they mature they will be able to better express things....
2007-10-09 20:42:49 · answer #9 · answered by Anne Hatzakis 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
i don't think that it will be much different than it is now...the last twenty years hasn't really changed things all that much.
i do think it will be more accepted just because of our children. i taught my kids a little about several religions. they both chose different paths than mine. which is o.k. i taught them to choose for themselves.
even if none of our children choose the same path they will be more open minded.
the biggest change that i have seen is this...being able to connect with so many different pagans.
bright blessings to you
2007-10-10 06:40:14 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋