{"id":10833,"date":"2015-03-01T01:10:11","date_gmt":"2015-03-01T06:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=11231"},"modified":"2015-02-22T21:06:25","modified_gmt":"2015-02-23T02:06:25","slug":"tink-about-it-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2015\/03\/01\/tink-about-it-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Tink About it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Religious Tolerance<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Religions and politics are very much in the spotlights today. Of course they have always been but now more than ever. Especially actions taken in the name of a religion dominate the news: IS and the terrorism in the name of Islam, the Arab-Israeli conflict and so many other conflict and wars all around the world. What we see in the news is only a tip of the iceberg\u2026 I watch it, try to follow and be informed about what\u2019s happening everywhere. Some people are so fed up with it they stopped watching the news and reading the papers. That\u2019s a choice too, but not mine. Because it is such an important issue at hand you see discussions about it everywhere: in real life, the media and online. News travels fast by social media. It scares me to see the increase of intolerance and discrimination against normal people that don\u2019t condone, support or approve of what extremist groups do in name of their religions\u2026 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

How about our religion, the pagan religions? When I first started to find my way in the pagan community long ago I learned that it is a peaceful path. We don\u2019t try to convert other people and we most certainly don\u2019t force it upon anyone. Perhaps there have been or still are exceptions, but that\u2019s the general idea nowadays. That matches my own ideas. To me religion is a private issue. I respect other people and their religions. I\u2019m interested to learn about other religions. I\u2019ve read most of the holy books I could get my hands on like the Bible in several versions, Koran, Tanakh (Written Torah). While I don\u2019t pretend to understand everything that is in those books (for most that\u2019s a lifetime journey), at least it helped me to get an idea about what they believe in. I\u2019m quite fond of interreligious communication to learn more. In those conversations I always discover that there are more similarities than differences. If the world would be able to focus more of that, perhaps it could contribute to finding a solution for the conflicts. Call me idealistic and you\u2019re right, but if we lose all hope of solving this the world is doomed\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I was raised as a roman catholic, though not very strict. I went to a catholic school, sang in the church choir, etc. I liked the rituals of the roman catholic church, but I\u2019ve always missed something in there. I felt no connection what so ever with the pope in Rome. My parents always gave me enough space to find my own path. When I discovered paganism it felt like coming home. The idea of balance with god and goddess, the special bond with nature\u2026 everything felt so good. After a while I told my mum (my dad has passed away already) and after I explained to her what it meant to me and what it\u2019s like, she smiled and said: \u201cthat sounds like you, it suits you\u201d. She was happy for me and always supported me. When she lit a candle for me, she did it at the Maria altar \u201cbecause that\u2019s kind of a goddess too, don\u2019t you think?\u201d. My mum went to church every week and did voluntary work for the parish. I often visited her there or picked her up to bring her home. I asked her if anyone ever asked why I didn\u2019t go the church. She said: \u201cNo, I just told them you\u2019re a witch!\u201d She had explained it and told them I\u2019m happy with it so she\u2019s happy with it. They never asked about it again! One time when I was waiting for her in the hall with a cup of tea one of the priests (pater rector) joined me. He looked at me and said: \u201cSo your mum tells me you\u2019re a witch.\u201d It was the start of a very interesting conversation in which I explained my path and what it brought me. He asked lots of questions, really interested without prejudice. At the end he smiled. \u201cWell, obviously I\u2019m following a different path, but thank you for your explanation and personal story. I DO understand why it\u2019s the right thing for you. All the best!\u201d A perfect example of how it should be, but unfortunately not everyone is as open-minded\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Every now and then I encounter people in the pagan community that seem to have some kind of grudge against other religions. Because they had bad experiences with it themselves, or with a person following that particular religion. Sometimes completely understandable, sometimes I don\u2019t really get why. A few years ago I left an online pagan forum because they were bashing Christians, Muslims and Jews for no reason really but following that path. I tried to take part in the discussions and make them see what they were doing. Sure, there are things in several religions that I don\u2019t like or understand. Nothing wrong with talking about that, preferably with someone who knows the religion and can explain things further. Not to convert or convince me, but to try to understand the motives. I might still not like it, that\u2019s okay. Agree to disagree with mutual respect if possible, that\u2019s my motto. In this particular group it was nothing like that. The comments varied from \u2018those stupid Christians that stole our sabbats\u2018 to \u2018all Muslims are terrorists\u2019 and I\u2019ll spare you the rest\u2026 I was shocked by the intolerance, sometimes even hatred against other religions. Perhaps it was na\u00efve of me that I didn\u2019t expect this in a pagan community. Fortunately I never encountered another group\/forum\/website that radical again, most of the time pagans I meet are much less intolerant thank gods\u2026 Still, from time to time I see another discussion where tolerance is hard to find. Whether I say something or not depends on where, who, why and how I feel. I don\u2019t have to convince others or make them see my point, but I can\u2019t always keep myself from trying. At times I catch myself (or are caught) being intolerant too. Hey, I\u2019m no saint, I make mistakes. Nothing wrong with that as long as I learn from it or at least try. Intolerance often is a matter of opinion, that\u2019s what makes it such an intriguing topic\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So, how tolerant are <\/span>you<\/i><\/span>?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Do you encounter a lot of intolerance in your community? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Blessings<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Religious Tolerance Religions and politics are very much in the spotlights today. Of course they have always been but now more than ever. Especially actions taken in the name of a religion dominate the news: IS and the terrorism in the name of Islam, the Arab-Israeli conflict and so many other conflict and wars all around the world. What we see in the news is only a tip of the iceberg\u2026 I watch it, try to follow and be informed about what\u2019s happening everywhere. Some people are so fed up with it they stopped watching the news and reading the papers. That\u2019s a choice too, but not mine. Because it is such an important issue at hand you see discussions about it everywhere: in real life, the media and online. News travels fast by social media. It scares me to see the increase of intolerance and discrimination against normal people that don\u2019t condone, support or approve of what extremist groups do in name of their religions\u2026 How about our religion, the pagan religions? When I first started to find my way in the pagan community long ago I learned that it is a peaceful path. We don\u2019t try to convert other people and we most certainly don\u2019t force it upon anyone. Perhaps there have been or still are exceptions, but that\u2019s the general idea nowadays. That matches my own ideas. To me religion is a private issue. I respect other people and their religions. I\u2019m interested to learn about other religions. I\u2019ve read most of the holy books I could get my hands on like the Bible in several versions, Koran, Tanakh (Written Torah). While I don\u2019t pretend to understand everything that is in those books (for most that\u2019s a lifetime journey), at least it helped me to get an idea about what they believe in. I\u2019m quite fond of interreligious communication to learn more. In those conversations I always discover that there are more similarities than differences. If the world would be able to focus more of that, perhaps it could contribute to finding a solution for the conflicts. Call me idealistic and you\u2019re right, but if we lose all hope of solving this the world is doomed\u2026 I was raised as a roman catholic, though not very strict. I went to a catholic school, sang in the church choir, etc. I liked the rituals of the roman catholic church, but I\u2019ve always missed something in there. I felt no connection what so ever with the pope in Rome. My parents always gave me enough space to find my own path. When I discovered paganism it felt like coming home. The idea of balance with god and goddess, the special bond with nature\u2026 everything felt so good. After a while I told my mum (my dad has passed away already) and after I explained to her what it meant to me and what it\u2019s like, she smiled and said: \u201cthat sounds like you, it suits you\u201d. She was happy for me and always supported me. When she lit a candle for me, she did it at the Maria altar \u201cbecause that\u2019s kind of a goddess too, don\u2019t you think?\u201d. My mum went to church every week and did voluntary work for the parish. I often visited her there or picked her up to bring her home. I asked her if anyone ever asked why I didn\u2019t go the church. She said: \u201cNo, I just told them you\u2019re a witch!\u201d She had explained it and told them I\u2019m happy with it so she\u2019s happy with it. They never asked about it again! One time when I was waiting for her in the hall with a cup of tea one of the priests (pater rector) joined me. He looked at me and said: \u201cSo your mum tells me you\u2019re a witch.\u201d It was the start of a very interesting conversation in which I explained my path and what it brought me. He asked lots of questions, really interested without prejudice. At the end he smiled. \u201cWell, obviously I\u2019m following a different path, but thank you for your explanation and personal story. I DO understand why it\u2019s the right thing for you. All the best!\u201d A perfect example of how it should be, but unfortunately not everyone is as open-minded\u2026 Every now and then I encounter people in the pagan community that seem to have some kind of grudge against other religions. Because they had bad experiences with it themselves, or with a person following that particular religion. Sometimes completely understandable, sometimes I don\u2019t really get why. A few years ago I left an online pagan forum because they were bashing Christians, Muslims and Jews for no reason really but following that path. I tried to take part in the discussions and make them see what they were doing. Sure, there are things in several religions that I don\u2019t like or understand. Nothing wrong with talking about that, preferably with someone who knows the religion and can explain things further. Not to convert or convince me, but to try to understand the motives. I might still not like it, that\u2019s okay. Agree to disagree with mutual respect if possible, that\u2019s my motto. In this particular group it was nothing like that. The comments varied from \u2018those stupid Christians that stole our sabbats\u2018 to \u2018all Muslims are terrorists\u2019 and I\u2019ll spare you the rest\u2026 I was shocked by the intolerance, sometimes even hatred against other religions. Perhaps it was na\u00efve of me that I didn\u2019t expect this in a pagan community. Fortunately I never encountered another group\/forum\/website that radical again, most of the time pagans I meet are much less intolerant thank gods\u2026 Still, from time to time I see another discussion where tolerance is hard to find. Whether I say something or not depends on where, who, why and how I feel. I don\u2019t have to convince others or make them see my point, but I can\u2019t always keep myself from trying. At times I catch myself (or are caught) being intolerant too. Hey, I\u2019m no saint, I make mistakes. Nothing wrong with that as long as I learn from it or at least try. Intolerance often is a matter of opinion, that\u2019s what makes it such an intriguing topic\u2026 So, how tolerant are you? Do you encounter a lot of intolerance in your community? Blessings<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10833\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}