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Pagan rituals BE GONE

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Posts

  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    The pledge was always meant to inspire blind devotion. It deserves to die.

    Couscous on
  • BloodshedBloodshed I smoke my friends Down to the FilterRegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Think you might have missed the point. I certainly wasn't implying we should be using the Pledge of Allegience anymore, I was using it as an example that things change over time.

    Bloodshed on
  • IncenjucarIncenjucar VChatter Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Bloodshed wrote: »
    Think you might have missed the point. I certainly wasn't implying we should be using the Pledge of Allegience anymore, I was using it as an example that things change over time.

    It's really a completely different category than the alteration of holidays.

    --

    Cous: Agreed.

    Incenjucar on
  • Captain CarrotCaptain Carrot Alexandria, VARegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Bloodshed wrote: »
    Think you might have missed the point. I certainly wasn't implying we should be using the Pledge of Allegience anymore, I was using it as an example that things change over time.

    And your entire post was about bad changes. Besides, at my high school and middle schools, we said the pledge daily. Didn't mean anything, but we did it.

    Captain Carrot on
  • BloodshedBloodshed I smoke my friends Down to the FilterRegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I guess I can see how it might be seen that way. If you ignore the first line, then you probably get the point I was trying to get across.

    Bloodshed on
  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    We have become less tolerant over time
    No we haven't unless "over time" is limited to very few years. Gays aren't considered diseased, blacks aren't considered inherently inferior, Catholics aren't considered a threat to out great Protestant nation, eugenics isn't practiced, etc. America as a melting pot was something that just happened and almost never actually believed because god forbid those X allowed to swamp the good Y people. Why, they will just take over our country!
    We've all become so worried about offending eachother, we've stopped being individuals who openly express themselves and we're blending into the scenery around us.
    What a load of horseshit. If anything, we have become much more individualized. The fact that we can even choose a social group to be in is an amazing advancement compared to most of the past.

    Couscous on
  • Regina FongRegina Fong Allons-y, Alonso Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    mythago wrote: »
    I remember in 2nd grade the teacher was assigning us some Christmasy art project in class and she asked if anyone didn't celebrate Christmas (she had an alternate assignment prepared) the one Jewish girl in the class burst out crying and ran out of the classroom dramatically. All eyes turned on David, the one Jewish boy in the class. He shrugged, as if to say "fuck if I know what her problem is."

    So, in your mind, the problem wasn't that the 2nd grade teacher was such a fucking idiot that she had to make a seven-year-old stand up in front of all her classmates and say "No, I have a weird-ass religion unlike all the rest of you," the problem was that the seven-year-old failed to STFU and keep her head down meekly like a good Jewish kid?

    Christmas and Easter are religious holidays with secular outpots. Halloween is a secular holiday. I don't even know any Wiccans who call their religious version of it Halloween (it's Samhain to them), and they don't celebrate by trick-or-treating.

    I recounted a humorous anecdote from my youth.

    The rest is all in your mind.

    Regina Fong on
  • HacksawHacksaw J. Duggan Esq. Wrestler at LawRegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    We need to celebrate non-violent pagan rituals so people like me don't start indulging in violent pagan rituals. I don't know about the rest of you, but cutting down a tree and putting presents underneath it goes a long way in preventing me from carving apart the torsos of my enemies and stacking them 8 feet high, their skulls placed gingerly underneath.

    Hacksaw on
  • KalkinoKalkino Buttons Londres Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    L|ama wrote: »
    Mortal Sky wrote: »
    I know the New Zealanders don't like Halloween (but then I think New Zealand is kinda fucked up for quite a few reasons)

    This is mostly because they see it exactly this way: a pagan ritual that threatens their strange little highly conservative Anglican brains.
    Also the New Zealand Anglican church's policies are about three decades behind most of the rest of said church. The things I learn from having a family incredibly tied to the inner workings of Anglicanism.

    Ahahaha what? Oh my goodness this is precious. I'm sorry but next to no one in new zealand gives a shit about religion at all.

    I think you have some fucked up bias with the people you have met, conservative and religious are about two of the last words I would use to describe new zealand.

    My train of thought was something like this, but I decided to be a bit more mild and polite about it. You definitely have a wrong view of the country.

    Indeed. I also grew up in NZ and what's more, deep country/small town/Dunedin - where I either had close family or friends who were Anglican, Pres, Roman Catholic, Jehovah's Witnesses or the like and only the latter ever made a fuss about this kind of thing and they were very marginal in terms of influence. No one else was in the slightest bit "moral majority" style Christian conservative or if they were, they kept very low key about it.

    We didn't celebrate Halloween because it wasn't a cultural tradition of the area I grew up in, not because of fears of satanism or weird Anglican rules.

    Also, are we talking about the same Anglican Church of NZ that had female vicars in the mid 1980s and appointed the world's second female bishop back in 1990?

    Kalkino on
    Freedom for the Northern Isles!
  • Peter EbelPeter Ebel CopenhagenRegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Hacksaw wrote: »
    We need to celebrate non-violent pagan rituals so people like me don't start indulging in violent pagan rituals. I don't know about the rest of you, but cutting down a tree and putting presents underneath it goes a long way in preventing me from carving apart the torsos of my enemies and stacking them 8 feet high, their skulls placed gingerly underneath.

    Also, getting mega drunk and gorging on roasted fatty animal tissue in the darkest pit of winter is hard coded into my DNA. Take it away and the suicide/cannibalism rate starts climbing again.

    Peter Ebel on
    Fuck off and die.
  • Glass.CannonGlass.Cannon Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Peter Ebel wrote: »
    Hacksaw wrote: »
    We need to celebrate non-violent pagan rituals so people like me don't start indulging in violent pagan rituals. I don't know about the rest of you, but cutting down a tree and putting presents underneath it goes a long way in preventing me from carving apart the torsos of my enemies and stacking them 8 feet high, their skulls placed gingerly underneath.

    Also, getting mega drunk and gorging on roasted fatty animal tissue in the darkest pit of winter is hard coded into my DNA. Take it away and the suicide/cannibalism rate starts climbing again.

    I'm all for that. Familiarizing children with all the crazy things people do goes a long way toward ensuring that they won't be as attracted to it in their rebellious years.

    Glass.Cannon on
  • PonyPony Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    hilariously enough, inquiring as to the origins of the Easter Bunny is what began to truly disillusion me from Christianity as a child

    i asked my teacher about it when i was like, in 1st or 2nd grade? something like that

    i was all "what's with the bunnies and eggs?" and she's like "well you know Easter is about the death and resurrection of our lord, Jesus Christ" (catholic elementary school, before y'all get outraged)

    and i was like "no, yeah, i follow that. i get that, that's where good friday and all that comes in. but where in the Bible is the bunnies and eggs? if those are symbols" (having just learned a great deal about religious symbolism not long before this!) "what are they symbols of?"

    she brushed the question off with some half-assed answer about how some traditions have unknown origins but are part of the holiday anyway, which was basically her trying to cover the fact that she doesn't know the answer to an 7 year old's question

    i was troubled by this answer and went to my father about it. my father, being a history nerd with a keen knowledge of ancient mythology, explained that they were pagan symbols of fertility goddesses and the like, and were associated with the coming of springtime, and that Christianity simply co-opted these symbols as a way of converting pagans in northern Europe.

    and that they have pretty much nothing to do with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ

    this led to me questioning a whole bunch of other holidays and their various trappings and mythos, which my father tried his best to explain in ways i'd understand

    this led to me having a bit of a crisis as i suddenly realized a great many traditions people practiced were based on baloney made up by some guy and they don't even know

    Pony on
  • The Muffin ManThe Muffin Man Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Feral wrote: »
    Malyonsus wrote: »
    I guess my biggest problem is that when you're talking about holidays that not every kid celebrates (I grew up in a relatively evangelical area and the number of people who didn't celebrate Halloween was comparatively high), celebrating or marking it in school creates an unnecessary sense of 'otherness' that we should try to avoid, even if it means giving up some of our precious rituals.

    Yeah, I can see this.

    So neither of you sees fault in trying to protect our kids from other peoples beliefs?
    There is no fucking sense of "Otherness". If that were the case, why celebrate Christmas? New Years? Valentine's Day? St. Patricks Day? ANY fucking celebration from ANY culture for ANY reason?

    It's a bullshit reason. The only thing they're protecting kids from is a perceived slight to their beliefs. No one sees it as a ritual of spirits departing. We might as well call it "Night of Dressing up like Batman or Spider-man for Free Candy", and it has the same spiritual meaning nowadays.

    The Muffin Man on
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Regarding Wicca, at least Wiccans seem like genuinely decent people who aren't in people's faces about their beliefs.

    At least not the ones I've met. They generally believe in the 'do whatever you want, as long as it harms no one' creed, which is fine by me.

    cj iwakura on
    wVEsyIc.png
  • PonyPony Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    cj iwakura wrote: »
    Regarding Wicca, at least Wiccans seem like genuinely decent people who aren't in people's faces about their beliefs.

    At least not the ones I've met. They generally believe in the 'do whatever you want, as long as it harms no one' creed, which is fine by me.

    i've met plenty of wiccans who are total shit-heels

    most of em women's studies majors with a hair up their ass about the patriarchy, so their wicca becomes an extension of their general angry radical feminism

    and they can get pushy about their beliefs, in particular if you are of a different religion than them, one that somehow endorses the patriarchy in some way (ie everything else ever)

    Pony on
  • SniperGuySniperGuy SniperGuyGaming Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    bowen wrote: »
    Halloween is about dressing up for a good time and candy. There's no reason to twist it into an attack on Christianity. Dressing up as original or mythical characters as opposed to commercial characters should be encouraged.

    Who is seriously offended by a ghost costume?

    On the radio today it was specifically Witches. This little girl saw a play and was really excited to dress up as a witch for Halloween. The school put in the policy that they'll let people dress up, but not as an offensive thing like a witch, or ghost, or any other pagan image (I think they used pagan in the letter).

    If anything that sends the wrong message to kids. All she wants to do is have fun and dress up, this has less to do with "I'm going to haunt you and curse you" and more to do with "let's have fun and be kids."

    Seriously if anyone links dressing up as a witch as a precursor to Wicca, they're pretty dumb. I don't even care if a kid dresses up like Jesus for Halloween, that won't offend me.

    At this point I'd be calling them to ask why they're engaged in religious persecution. This is utterly ridiculous, even though I'm not pagan/wiccan or whatever. Those people are free to "cast spells" or whatever they do just as much as you guys are allowed to believe Jesus cloned fish and bread a zillion times. There is nothing inherently offensive or evil in either thing. Especially dressing up as a witch. What about zombies? Mummies? Other "scary" things?

    Someone needs to slap these people. It's halloween! Stop trying to take away the holidays. :(

    SniperGuy on
  • IncenjucarIncenjucar VChatter Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    cj iwakura wrote: »
    Regarding Wicca, at least Wiccans seem like genuinely decent people who aren't in people's faces about their beliefs.

    At least not the ones I've met. They generally believe in the 'do whatever you want, as long as it harms no one' creed, which is fine by me.

    You do have your occasional high school "Wiccans" who, like high school anything, are can obnoxious and unpleasant about their flavor-of-the-month, but I know a bunch of Wiccans and Pagans who are some of the sweetest, most loving, pleasant, tolerant, and fun people around. And man they love to play God of War. :o

    Incenjucar on
  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Man, some of you people come from fucked up places.

    Up here, it's Halloween. You dress up, go out after dark and get candy. Everyone wins.

    Except the people who try to trick-or-treat before sundown. If you come to the door when the sun is still up and you ain't 5 years old and adorable, fuck you, candy gets handed out later.

    shryke on
  • SquigieSquigie Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Rikushix wrote: »
    Anyway. Does someone want to enlighten me on the pagan origins of Christmas? I knew there were pagan roots but I'm unlearned as to their nature.

    Holly, mistletoe, evergreen trees, lights, etc. are all taken from various pagan celebrations around the winter solstice (Dec 21). Late December was chosen by the early Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus both due to the time being symbolic of rebirth and because the Romans were too drunk from the feast of Saturnalia to do any persecuting. This I learned from the priest who taught my Catholic high school theology class.
    mythago wrote: »
    I remember in 2nd grade the teacher was assigning us some Christmasy art project in class and she asked if anyone didn't celebrate Christmas (she had an alternate assignment prepared) the one Jewish girl in the class burst out crying and ran out of the classroom dramatically. All eyes turned on David, the one Jewish boy in the class. He shrugged, as if to say "fuck if I know what her problem is."

    So, in your mind, the problem wasn't that the 2nd grade teacher was such a fucking idiot that she had to make a seven-year-old stand up in front of all her classmates and say "No, I have a weird-ass religion unlike all the rest of you," the problem was that the seven-year-old failed to STFU and keep her head down meekly like a good Jewish kid?

    Obviously, as Judaism is a horrible affliction and no one should be promted to publicly admit to having it.

    Seriously, what the hell?o_O

    Squigie on
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  • mythagomythago Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Squigie wrote: »

    Obviously, as Judaism is a horrible affliction and no one should be promted to publicly admit to having it.

    Seriously, what the hell?o_O

    Seriously, are you really pretending that you don't get why the teacher's behavior was shitty, or that Regina finding it humorous is more than a little clueless?

    Hint: it's not because being Jewish is bad.

    mythago on
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  • Regina FongRegina Fong Allons-y, Alonso Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    mythago wrote: »
    Squigie wrote: »

    Obviously, as Judaism is a horrible affliction and no one should be promted to publicly admit to having it.

    Seriously, what the hell?o_O

    Seriously, are you really pretending that you don't get why the teacher's behavior was shitty, or that Regina finding it humorous is more than a little clueless?

    Hint: it's not because being Jewish is bad.

    Because you never laugh at anyones expense, ever?

    Or is it only wrong when religion is involved?

    Personally, I only laugh at hyper sensitive little Jewish girls. I make up for that by getting offended on behalf of every other special interest group so it balances the karma.

    Regina Fong on
  • HacksawHacksaw J. Duggan Esq. Wrestler at LawRegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Peter Ebel wrote: »
    Hacksaw wrote: »
    We need to celebrate non-violent pagan rituals so people like me don't start indulging in violent pagan rituals. I don't know about the rest of you, but cutting down a tree and putting presents underneath it goes a long way in preventing me from carving apart the torsos of my enemies and stacking them 8 feet high, their skulls placed gingerly underneath.

    Also, getting mega drunk and gorging on roasted fatty animal tissue in the darkest pit of winter is hard coded into my DNA. Take it away and the suicide/cannibalism rate starts climbing again.

    I'm all for that. Familiarizing children with all the crazy things people do goes a long way toward ensuring that they won't be as attracted to it in their rebellious years.
    They'll probably rebel by wearing sweater-vests and going to church every Sunday. Madness!

    Hacksaw on
  • RaekreuRaekreu Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    bowen wrote: »
    Halloween is about dressing up for a good time and candy. There's no reason to twist it into an attack on Christianity. Dressing up as original or mythical characters as opposed to commercial characters should be encouraged.

    Who is seriously offended by a ghost costume?

    On the radio today it was specifically Witches. This little girl saw a play and was really excited to dress up as a witch for Halloween. The school put in the policy that they'll let people dress up, but not as an offensive thing like a witch, or ghost, or any other pagan image (I think they used pagan in the letter).

    Pagan image? Hell, if I had kids and that kind of wording were used regarding Halloween costumes, I'd get them to dress up like pre-christian figures with a sholastic edge to them:

    "For my costume this year, my dad made me dress up as Socrates. He started his own school about how if you just thought about what you were doing then things would be ok. Then the prince of his city got mad at him and made him drink poison even though he was probably right."

    Raekreu on
  • enlightenedbumenlightenedbum Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    Also, he fucked boys.

    enlightenedbum on
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  • LoserForHireXLoserForHireX Philosopher King The AcademyRegistered User regular
    edited November 2010
    Also, he fucked boys.

    It's the purest form of love, man. The purest form.

    LoserForHireX on
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  • Peter EbelPeter Ebel CopenhagenRegistered User regular
    edited November 2010
    Also, he fucked boys.

    He stopped doing it, because it was distracting, but boys wanted to be fucked by him, because he was awesome.

    Peter Ebel on
    Fuck off and die.
  • Spectral SwallowSpectral Swallow Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    I guess this is the appropriate thread (as it's about tradition).
    But apparently freaking Oklahoma City decided to move Halloween a night early (the 30th) for some stupid reason. I think officially the word is because Sunday was a school night, but freaking 5 of the 7 nights are school nights! You can't just arbitrarily change trick or treating days!
    I'm especially pissed as I (and several of my friends) had no idea. Basically meaning the $20 worth of candy I bought was for naught.
    What makes this worse is that only 4 of the 5 cities surrounding OKC did this. So stupid.

    Spectral Swallow on
  • Modern ManModern Man Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    ElJeffe wrote: »
    Quid wrote: »
    Modern Man wrote: »
    JihadJesus wrote: »
    If Wiccans really gave a shit they'd stop calling themselves 'witches' - there's no real reason to do it and a ton of negative associations and misperceptions that come along with the term.
    Wicca is the most ridiculous, made-up religion out there. Well, other than Scientology, I guess. There's no real need to take Wiccans seriously.

    What non made up religion am I supposed to take seriously?

    ElJeffism.

    It works like this: you worship me and give me 10% of your income, and I won't ban you. And if you stay good, I'll give you 72 virgins.

    I mean, I figure there's gotta be tons of virgins around here, may as well get some mileage out of them.
    Why would I want 72 virgins? Change this to 72 porn stars and you might get more converts.

    Modern Man on
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  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    edited November 2010
    Modern Man wrote: »
    ElJeffe wrote: »
    Quid wrote: »
    Modern Man wrote: »
    JihadJesus wrote: »
    If Wiccans really gave a shit they'd stop calling themselves 'witches' - there's no real reason to do it and a ton of negative associations and misperceptions that come along with the term.
    Wicca is the most ridiculous, made-up religion out there. Well, other than Scientology, I guess. There's no real need to take Wiccans seriously.

    What non made up religion am I supposed to take seriously?

    ElJeffism.

    It works like this: you worship me and give me 10% of your income, and I won't ban you. And if you stay good, I'll give you 72 virgins.

    I mean, I figure there's gotta be tons of virgins around here, may as well get some mileage out of them.
    Why would I want 72 virgins? Change this to 72 porn stars and you might get more converts.

    Who says I want converts? This way there are more virgins for everyone.

    ElJeffe on
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  • NargorothRiPNargorothRiP Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    Halloween sucks where i Live :( (baltimore) no kids to give candy to or point to decorate the house. some of my fondest memories are from halloween with friends and partys.

    NargorothRiP on
  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    edited November 2010
    Well thankfully no strange anti-Halloween shenanigans in my corner of southwest Virginia.

    My son (age 5) got in a whole weekend dressed as Mario and had a great time. Popular costume, too - lots of kids walking by yelling "Hey, it's Mario! Hi Mario!"
    Also lots of parents going "Hey, it's Mario! That's awesome!" You could really tell who the gamers were :p

    citizen059 on
  • Captain CarrotCaptain Carrot Alexandria, VARegistered User regular
    edited November 2010
    I guess this is the appropriate thread (as it's about tradition).
    But apparently freaking Oklahoma City decided to move Halloween a night early (the 30th) for some stupid reason. I think officially the word is because Sunday was a school night, but freaking 5 of the 7 nights are school nights! You can't just arbitrarily change trick or treating days!
    I'm especially pissed as I (and several of my friends) had no idea. Basically meaning the $20 worth of candy I bought was for naught.
    What makes this worse is that only 4 of the 5 cities surrounding OKC did this. So stupid.

    So now you get to eat the candy. Why are you complaining?

    Captain Carrot on
  • DecomposeyDecomposey Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    I was saddened this year as hour after hour rolled by with not a single trick or treater knocking on my door. Until around 8:30, when the massive child SWARM appeared. Apparently all the small packs of children had slowly come together in the corse of the evening until it formed a child mega pack, which descended on my door in a sugar fueled feeding frenzy. From children barely old enough to speak dressed as super heroes, witches, sport stars and fairy princesses, to teenagers old enough to drive wearing nothing but normal clothes and carrying plastic grocery bags. My candy bowl was decimated by eager grasping hands, and the kids skipped off laughing and smiling, moving to the next door with their loud warcry of 'Trick or Treat!' leading the way. And I felt happy, remembering the youthful days of my past, in which I was one of those children, and smiling at being able to have contributed to some other childs Halloween. Despite the fact that I under normal circumstances don't even LIKE children.

    Anyone who deprives children of such a joyous event is bad, should feel bad, and is infact worse than hitler.

    Decomposey on
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  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    I buy candy and separate the good candy from the bad. I eat the good candy and pass on the bad candy as my elders of old have done to me. You'll enjoy that candy corn and bottlecaps and you'll learn to love it.

    bowen on
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  • RanadielRanadiel Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    My niece dressed up as Kratos in a costume my brother in law made for himself.

    Bella-Kratos.jpg

    Yes, I said niece. She refused to be anything else other than her favorite video game character. As to be expected the only people in her neighborhood that recognized the costume were 14-30 year old males.

    Ranadiel on
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