If the latter is paganism, then Christianity is in trouble, and even Judaism in traditional forms gets into some trouble
I think I see the source of the confusion here — it's the contested definition of the word "pagan". There are more specific words for those "pagan" things that, according to jewish tradition, get one "in trouble", which I've tried to define above, but then what does "pagan" mean? I should perhaps switch to always calling myself "neopagan", to clearly indicate that I mean something very different from the ancient paganism with which the Jewish tradition contrasts itself.
I call myself a neopagan because some of my values are neopagan values. Many of them are also Jewish values, but many of those I didn't learn from Judaism (although I'm happy to bring them home and live them Jewishly), and I want to give due credit to the neopagan authors and communities from whom I did learn them. Here are the main ones I can think of off the top of my head — you'll probably see a few overlaps and a few sources of tension:
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-02-09 01:32 am (UTC)I think I see the source of the confusion here — it's the contested definition of the word "pagan". There are more specific words for those "pagan" things that, according to jewish tradition, get one "in trouble", which I've tried to define above, but then what does "pagan" mean? I should perhaps switch to always calling myself "neopagan", to clearly indicate that I mean something very different from the ancient paganism with which the Jewish tradition contrasts itself.
I call myself a neopagan because some of my values are neopagan values. Many of them are also Jewish values, but many of those I didn't learn from Judaism (although I'm happy to bring them home and live them Jewishly), and I want to give due credit to the neopagan authors and communities from whom I did learn them. Here are the main ones I can think of off the top of my head — you'll probably see a few overlaps and a few sources of tension: