Worst Things You Can Ever Say As A Pagan

[TeaDidikai]

Byaggha

Wait, who's Non and why am I allowed to only do stuff I want to that hurts them? Sounds awfully bastardly to me. 3nodding

That was a typo. It's supposed to be Nun. You better not be messin' with any Sisters.  

[Yanueh]

TeaDidikai

Look at it this way. If she had said "Christians don't worship Christ", I mean, after all, basic research into the cult reveals the person who popularized it used the title habitually.

There's a huge difference between saying "Christians don't worship Christ" and "Wicca isn't a cult." The definition of "Christ" used by Christians isn't obscure and known by few people outside of themselves. Wiccans, on the other hand, use a definition of the word "cult" that is fairly obscure and therefore very likely to be misunderstood.

While you might call Christianity a cult, I'd like to point out that the word "cult" has such negative connotations in the English-speaking world that many churches devote quite a bit of time to explaining how they aren't a cult. I believe her stating that Wicca isn't a 'cult' is defensible in the light that she was trying to defend it from being seen as a destructive cult.

It was fluffy, I'll admit, but it's a far cry from the worst thing she could say.

Quote:

Second, she lied. The US does not recognize any religion. It's a violation of the Separation clause.

No, she didn't.

The government can and does recognize religions in the sense that they recognize them as religions. If the government recognizes your beliefs as a religion, that gets you all kinds of cool benefits like tax-exempt status for your synagogues/mosques/churches/whatever and the symbol of your religion on your grave at Arlington. (I'm sure you remember that kerfuffle.)

The Separation clause refers to the government as recognizing an official religion and/or endorsing a religion, whereas the poster was referring to them recognizing Wicca as a religion.  

[Cranium Squirrel]

TeaDidikai

That was a typo. It's supposed to be Nun. You better not be messin' with any Sisters.

That's why all my nuns stem from Shaolin roots. No one messes with them because they're afraid the ladies will go all Jackie Chan on them. ninja  

[Cyrus the Elder]

Yanueh

There's a huge difference between saying "Christians don't worship Christ" and "Wicca isn't a cult." The definition of "Christ" used by Christians isn't obscure and known by few people outside of themselves. Wiccans, on the other hand, use a definition of the word "cult" that is fairly obscure and therefore very likely to be misunderstood.

Definition of Cult according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
1 : formal religious veneration : worship
2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents
3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents
4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator
5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b : the object of such devotion c : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion

Yes, so very obscure a definition that 1, 2, an 5 easily fit.

Quote:

While you might call Christianity a cult, I'd like to point out that the word "cult" has such negative connotations in the English-speaking world that many churches devote quite a bit of time to explaining how they aren't a cult. I believe her stating that Wicca isn't a 'cult' is defensible in the light that she was trying to defend it from being seen as a destructive cult.

So, because people use one definition of a word that is negative, all applications of the word should be treated negatively?

If someone wants to defend something from being a destructive cult, they should say "destructive cult". Is it that hard to add in one more word to clarify rather than to say something isn't what it very clearly is?  

[Yanueh]

Quote:

That usage of cult is obscure?

Among laypeople, yes.  

[Cyrus the Elder]

Yanueh

Quote:

That usage of cult is obscure?

Among laypeople, yes.

So, the usage of cult, as listed in the majority of the definitions of the word cult in dictionaries is obscure among laypeople? The definition that is easily accessible to anyone who goddamn looks it up is obscure among laypeople? The definition laypeople can find in their dictionaries is obscure? ಠ_ಠ  

[Yanueh]

Quote:

So, the usage of cult, as listed in the majority of the definitions of the word cult in dictionaries is obscure among laypeople?

Yes. It's not so different from the word "theory." Even though its definition as a collection of scientific laws regarding a specific phenomenon is in the dictionary, the vast majority of laypeople are unaware of its meaning outside of a conjecture or guess - hence why "evolution is only a theory!" is such a popular cry among anti-evolutionists.

It probably never occurred to the fluff-girl that there was another definition of cult to look up in the dictionary in the first place.  

[whiporwill-o]

Byaggha

TeaDidikai

That was a typo. It's supposed to be Nun. You better not be messin' with any Sisters.

That's why all my nuns stem from Shaolin roots. No one messes with them because they're afraid the ladies will go all Jackie Chan on them. ninja

i kinda wanna see the new karate kid movie. whee  

[Calelith]

Celeblin Galadeneryn

Yanueh

Quote:

So, the usage of cult, as listed in the majority of the definitions of the word cult in dictionaries is obscure among laypeople?

Yes. It's not so different from the word "theory." Even though its definition as a collection of scientific laws regarding a specific phenomenon is in the dictionary, the vast majority of laypeople are unaware of its meaning outside of a conjecture or guess - hence why "evolution is only a theory!" is such a popular cry among anti-evolutionists.

It probably never occurred to the fluff-girl that there was another definition of cult to look up in the dictionary in the first place.

...W-why should we accept this?

You're telling me it's ok that people use words wrong because it's an appeal to popularity.

...

No. I don't have to accept that at all. I will correct them and continue to correct them because they are wrong and if they can't respect the word enough to know what it means, they should stop using it.

Kind of like those that use "Wicca" wrong?

 

[Calelith]

Celeblin Galadeneryn

Calelith

Celeblin Galadeneryn

Yanueh

Quote:

So, the usage of cult, as listed in the majority of the definitions of the word cult in dictionaries is obscure among laypeople?

Yes. It's not so different from the word "theory." Even though its definition as a collection of scientific laws regarding a specific phenomenon is in the dictionary, the vast majority of laypeople are unaware of its meaning outside of a conjecture or guess - hence why "evolution is only a theory!" is such a popular cry among anti-evolutionists.

It probably never occurred to the fluff-girl that there was another definition of cult to look up in the dictionary in the first place.

...W-why should we accept this?

You're telling me it's ok that people use words wrong because it's an appeal to popularity.

...

No. I don't have to accept that at all. I will correct them and continue to correct them because they are wrong and if they can't respect the word enough to know what it means, they should stop using it.

Kind of like those that use "Wicca" wrong?

Exactly.

I frankly can't be ******** to care if everyone thinks it means something it doesn't. I'm going to use it correctly.

Pretty much exactly how I would have said it.

I really hate how the word "cult" has gained such a horrid meaning and the sad part is, like "Wicca," it's meaning has changed (or is being forced to change) within the last 20 years.

 

[Yanueh]

Celeblin Galadeneryn

W-why should we accept this?

You're telling me it's ok that people use words wrong because it's an appeal to popularity.

What I'm saying is that even though her vocabulary might have been off, what she probably meant to say is that Wicca isn't a destructive brainwashing cult, and that much is true.

Like it or not, people don't always use words in accordance with their dictionary definitions. Annoying? Yes. Something you have to factor in when talking to the average Joe? YES. Otherwise, you're going to have a tough time talking to a lot of people.

I'd also like to point out that if she looked up Wicca in the dictionary, she could have found something like this:

Quote:

(sometimes initial capital letter) witchcraft, esp. benevolent, nature-oriented practices derived from pre-Christian religions.

 

[Aino Ailill]

Celeblin Galadeneryn

Yanueh

Quote:

So, the usage of cult, as listed in the majority of the definitions of the word cult in dictionaries is obscure among laypeople?

Yes. It's not so different from the word "theory." Even though its definition as a collection of scientific laws regarding a specific phenomenon is in the dictionary, the vast majority of laypeople are unaware of its meaning outside of a conjecture or guess - hence why "evolution is only a theory!" is such a popular cry among anti-evolutionists.

It probably never occurred to the fluff-girl that there was another definition of cult to look up in the dictionary in the first place.

...W-why should we accept this?

You're telling me it's ok that people use words wrong because it's an appeal to popularity.

...

No. I don't have to accept that at all. I will correct them and continue to correct them because they are wrong and if they can't respect the word enough to know what it means, they should stop using it.

Why is an appeal to popularity, when dealing with language, wrong? Is that not how words are defined - in accordance with the agreed upon meaning? Is that not how language functions?

I can understand condemning the misappropriation of others' titles, such as with 'Wicca,' 'Shaman,' and 'Druid,' because the people using these are making a claim to a position that they do not hold. They pass it off as being valid, as if they are the same as those who use the terms with the proper meaning. However, with such words as 'cult,' we don't have that issue. It has simply evolved to have new (or distorted) meaning.