I'm going back to church tommorow,

[Edith Puthie]

TeaDidikai

maenad nuri

Paranormal Zombiiie

Maybe you should have something in a sticky that shortly describes wicca and/or other religions 'fluffies' claim.

Yeah, I might need too, shortly. Sounds like a group project to me.

ninja

Can we add that intelligent researched argument to the contrary of our stated position is welcomed?

Ohh, sounds fun. :]  

[Taliah]

misssuzy

I chose love

Sailor Moon

For Love and Justice, the pretty sailor suited soldier Sailor Moon! In the name of the PFRG I will punish you!

I was such a Sailor Moon fan back in the day.  

[maenad nuri]

Taliah

misssuzy

I chose love

Sailor Moon

For Love and Justice, the pretty sailor suited soldier Sailor Moon! In the name of the PFRG I will punish you!

I was such a Sailor Moon fan back in the day.

Me too.

I may have cosplayed as Saturn back in high school.  

[Edith Puthie]

maenad nuri

Me too.

I may have cosplayed as Saturn back in high school.

I wish I could have seen that. :]  

[PurpleDragonsGems]

maenad nuri

Taliah

misssuzy

I chose love

Sailor Moon

For Love and Justice, the pretty sailor suited soldier Sailor Moon! In the name of the PFRG I will punish you!

I was such a Sailor Moon fan back in the day.

Me too.

I may have cosplayed as Saturn back in high school.

NURI YOU WIN! *will die a Sailor Moon fangirl*


*ahem* Anyway, I never ceses to amaze me how many people automaticly assume someone is 'attacking' them because other people disagree with what they've posted. Seriously.  

[TeaDidikai]

Paranormal Zombiiie

maenad nuri

Me too.

I may have cosplayed as Saturn back in high school.

I wish I could have seen that. :]

I know you're new, so I'll give you a hand. wink

Hey Nuri! Pix or it didn't happen!  

[Edith Puthie]

Dragon_Witch_Woman

*ahem* Anyway, I never ceses to amaze me how many people automaticly assume someone is 'attacking' them because other people disagree with what they've posted. Seriously.

Second. :]  

[Edith Puthie]

TeaDidikai

Paranormal Zombiiie

maenad nuri

Me too.

I may have cosplayed as Saturn back in high school.

I wish I could have seen that. :]

I know you're new, so I'll give you a hand. wink

Hey Nuri! Pix or it didn't happen!

lol!  

[Fiddlers Green]

Starry Heavens!

Okay, looks like I missed a doozy.
Right, so I'm going to swallow down my urge to post an image I use on a different board online that explains about troll threads, on the assumption that this isn't one.

That having been cleared up...

Misssuzy, there are some misconceptions that aught be cleared up.
One of the most important ones is one the nature of titles and membership in organizations/religions.
Especially religions.
Religions come in many varieties. Most are either Orthopraxic or Orthodoxic.
Orthopraxy means Right Practice.
Orthodoxy means Right Belief, or Right Doctrine.
Most Christian groups are orthodoxic, which means what you do isn't nearly as important as what you believe. Arguements can be made that if one truely believes in Jeushua as Messiah, they will act a certain way, but that is tangential. The heart of a matter is, to be a real Christian, one must believe that Jeushua called Christ is the Messiah. If you try to take the Christ out, you aren't a Christian. Christ is the defining aspect of the Christian faith. Now, a person could not believe in Christ and still call themselves a Christian, but they would be incorrect.
Wicca, on the other hand, is orthopraxic. Wicca, as established by Gerald Gardner, is a religion that doesn't require belief. It merely requires one to follow all of the rules. Those rules were established when Gardner invented the religion. He claims he did so with input from practitioners of more ancient faiths, but the actual religion was created in 1954. Now, the origins of Wicca don't matter. Whether it is legit or not don't matter. Because it is orthopraxic, all that matters is that one follows the rules. Wicca does not require belief. Wicca is also a very specific religion. Much like Zurvanism. Wicca is technically Pagan, it falls under that umbrella, but not all paganism is Wicca. Just like Zurvanites are technically Zoroastrian, but not all Zoroastrians are Zurvanites.
Islam is both Orthopraxic and Orthodoxic. To be Muslim, one must both believe, and obey the rules. This is set out in the Quran. This is what defines Islam. If you want more details, just ask an Iman. Most are very happy to share information about their oft misunderstood religion.

I'm more than happy to explain some of the history of Wicca, or about any other religions or religion families if you would like. If I don't have access to knowledge on a topic, I might be able to put you in touch with someone who does. I am fortunate in that I have several religions represented in my area, and can usually tap a priest of some variety to get definitive answers. This is knowledge that is free, it is not a secret. Thus I do not need to keep it. I am happy to share.

Now, for the rest of us...
I've mentioned this before, and I know my opinion is the dissenting one, but Ignorance and Misinformation are our enemies here, not the ignorant and misinformed. I know there will be many arguments for tough Love and learning thru pain and the like, but really, we can be a bit more civil. We only keep the high ground so long as we don't immediately jump down to a lower level. We are claiming ourselves a position to teach. A position to guide. We can do better. We need to be more patient and more erudite than our pupils if we want to claim the vaunted responsibilities we are taking on ourselves. As much as this is a rehab center, it lacks the most important tool of a rehab center.
The ability to force the patient to sit and take what we have.
This is a corner of a forum. We have a voice. Let not the voice of truth be infinitely associated with anger and venom. People must choose to learn from us.
We can make this hard or easy.
If we choose to make this hard, we must accept that we are poisoning the well thru our own actions against the Truth. Not everyone who comes to us propperly understands debate. Not all know that one should not judge a matter based on the conduct of the person presenting it. Ad Hominem is a logical fallacy, but not everyone understands that. As much as some might not want hear this, we can actively drive people away from learning. We can send them crying back into the arms of comforting ignorance. To me, this place is more than just another hang-out. This is a marvelous repository of knowledge. It has the potential to be a great teaching tool.
I'm not saying we weren't provoked.
I'm saying we can do a bit better.  

[TeaDidikai]

Fiddlers Green

Islam is both Orthopraxic and Orthodoxic. To be Muslim, one must both believe, and obey the rules. This is set out in the Quran.

As a minor point, I would note that really most religions are on a scale. Even elements of Christianity have an orthopraxic dynamic to them- we need only look as far as the sacraments to show that.

Quote:

Now, for the rest of us...
I'm not saying we weren't provoked.
I'm saying we can do a bit better.

Well said.  

[Cunning Witch Angus]

I have a question about Wica. What is the difference between Wica and Wicca?

I read somewhere that Wicca is pronounced witcha and is supposed to mean the religion itself but the Wica are the practitioners.


Is this true, or...  

[Edith Puthie]

Actually what I heard was that Wica was the origional name that Gardner gave the religion, or called it.
The extra C was added on later.  

[Cunning Witch Angus]

Paranormal Zombiiie

Actually what I heard was that Wica was the origional name that Gardner gave the religion, or called it.
The extra C was added on later.

But why? And by whom?  

[Edith Puthie]

Quote:

In his books, Gerald Gardner used the one 'c' form, Wica, to describe the people involved in the tradition of Witchcraft that he was initiated into. If you check out the newspaper articles on my Gerald Gardner page, you will see him continuing to use the one 'c' spelling in interviews that he gave throughout the 1950s. Similarly, Charles Clark insisted on using Wica and considered the two 'c' form Wicca to be connected with the members of another tradition, associated with the magician and conjurer Charles Cardell, who was linked to hostilities against Gardner.

Quote from: http://www.thewica.co.uk/Gardnerian Wica.htm  

[maenad nuri]

I no longer have photos, it appears. I'm trying to get the photo of me as skuld uploaded though.