Paganism as a “Real” Religion

[icymist]

Pagans face an interesting quandary. One of the main aspects of the Path that we find attractive, even key, is the thing which makes the “mainstream” shun, mock, and otherwise revile it. Actually, there are several items which that statement could apply to, but I’m speaking specifically about the perceived “looseness” or individual nature of the various strands of religious experience that fall under the Pagan umbrella.

Our society inherited a set of assumptions about what a religion “is” from the various Judeo-Christian traditions. A religion must have strict rules. There must be a sharp line between what is deemed holy and profane. Beliefs must revolve around the words or life of particular individuals. These are just a few of the elements of what most people in our society view as essential to a “real” religion.

From this perspective, Paganism looks a bit silly. It looks, in fact, like a kind of spiritual anarchy in which the only standard is the set of personal prejudices the practitioner approaches the Path with in the first place.

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