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Well, let's see. What acts of inhumanity has anyone done in the past millennia in the name of Wicca?
There were the Druids and their human sacrifice...but that was a different sect.
There were the witches uncovered by the Inquisition...except the Inquisition used the legal precedent of "guilty until proven innocent," requiring the innocent to prove a negative.
There were the Salem witches...again using "guilty until proven innocent" and suspected of just being a prank that got out of hand.
Hmm...let's see. There isn't a lot of documented evidence to prove that Wiccans have done anything particularly wrong in the past millennia. Except, of course, that they didn't agree with the Christians. Which, for the past thousand plus years, was more than enough to get anyone condemned to death, even if it was just a matter of interpretation.
Show me a Christian sect that believes that drug abuse and perversity are "sacred rites".
Well, that brings up a completely separate issue. Drug use is a tricky issue, since a lot of people are convinced that it's a "victimless crime." People do stupid things (including commit other crimes) to get drugs. People also do stupid things (include commit other crimes) in the name of God. People put children at risk because of drugs. People put children at risk in the name of God. Faith healing, child abuse, submersion in water, all for the sake of religious piety. That doesn't even go into the more radical sects, such as Christians who refuse medical treatment for their families because of "God's Will." Furthermore, Catholicism in its various forms is one of the mostly widely practiced version of Christianity in the world today. I don't care if you don't think of it as a Christian faith, the rest of the world does.
Then we come to the issue of perversion. Perverse by whose definition? To quote the venerable Mark Twain, "We despise all reverences and all the objects of reverence which are outside the pale of our own list of sacred things. And yet, with strange inconsistency, we are shocked when other people despise and defile the things which are holy to us." Standing outdoors and stripping naked to perform a religious ceremony might seem perverse to you, but some people might think it's natural and healthy. Conversely, you might think fasting and prayer is a healthy and spiritual thing, but it's certainly not my cup of tea. In the end, perversity like everything else is a matter of opinion. You can point to your references to justify your opinion all you want: I'll stick with what works for me, thankyouverymuchdrivethrough.
Show me a Christian sect that places no ethical or moral checks on human behavior.
Show me a Wiccan sect that places no ethical or moral checks on human behavior. I bet you I can find more Christian sects than you can find Wiccan. "An it harm none, do as thou wilt." Speculations on Crowley's influence aside, you think that isn't an ethical guideline? I think it's far more ethical than "Suffer not a witch to live." The fact that people ignore or stretch the rules governing behavior is human nature. It is not the fault of the guidelines themselves. Yes, that means Christianity in and of itself is not a bad religion. It also means that any religion or sect that promotes harmonious relations between people is a good religion. The fact that it doesn't conform to your belief patterns is beside the point.
Disagreeing with how the Universe works isn't a crime, nor is it an unwillingness to accept responsibility for one's fate. It's simply a matter of looking at the world from a different perspective. Whether or not you agree with that perspective doesn't invalidate it, no matter how much you wish it did. So long as you respect each other's boundaries and don't try to force your beliefs on each other, the most ethical course of action is to leave each other alone.
Mind you, debating the merits (or lack thereof) of each other's beliefs doesn't count as "forcing," in my book. I personally think all religions are a crock of fecal residue, but I respect people who can make religion a positive force in their lives. Don't agree with psych wanderer? That's fine. Debate it. Just don't be surprised when people (like myself) rise to the debate. It's all a matter of opinion.
A troll's true colors.
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