Christo-Pagan
Ok. This was taken from www.wiccan-refuge.com
I agree very much with what Toby said.
One of the most common e-mails I get is the one that asks the eternal question: "Can I be a Wiccan and a Christian at the same time?" I don't know why this question is so popular, but it is. The first thing that goes through my mind after reading one of these e-mails is something like, "What in the bloody hell are you thinking? Do you know ANYTHING about the Bible?!" I then proceed to run around in circles while pulling out my hair before finally running into a wall and falling over. In short? The answer is a resounding, "NO, DUMBASS!" However, I suppose a bit more tact should be employed here, so I'll go into a bit more detail. One e-mail I got a long time ago went a little something like this:
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You have a new FAQ Question waiting:
Name: Katana
Category: Wicca
Email: [removed_for_privacy]@hotmail.com
I'm Christian, and I'm trying to learn to practice wicca, and I have quite a long way to go. I was wondering. Would wanting to be a wiccan and practicing the religion interfer with my Chrisitan beliefs? In other words, would I be able to claim two religions, yet not let wicca dominate over my Christianity?
[Sidenote: This e-mail is a bit out of the ordinary. My everyday inbox is usually cluttered with run-on sentences and a lack of punctuation; this e-mail, however, wasn't so bad.]
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Where do I even begin? This is just amazingly stupid on so many levels. Could this person be, say, a Satanist and a Christian at the same time? A Hindu and a Christian at the same time? What about a Christiam Muslim? COME ON! Do these people *OWN* a Bible? Allow me to post a few excerpts from the Bible with regards to other religions for your reading pleasure:
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Old Testament
Psalms 79:6
Exodus 22:20
Deuteronomy 13
Deuteronomy 17:2-7
2 Chronicles 15:12-13
New Testament
John 3:3
John 3:18
Acts 3:22-23
Acts 4:11-12
2 Corinthians 6:14-18
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Now, I know what some of you out there are saying. "But that's ok! I do believe in Jesus, so those New Testament verses mean that I'm saved! HOORAY!" Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. You see, believing that Jesus existed and using His name in a ritual is a far cry from "believing" in Jesus. If one reads the Bible and understands it as a whole, rather than taking snippets and misinterpreting it, one finds that believing in Jesus isn't simply using His name. As further evidence for my point, consider the following verse:
Matthew 7:21
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven {will enter.}"
This verse makes it clear that many people will call Jesus Lord; however, not all of them will do the will of God and gain access to heaven. So, what is the will of God? That's a rather large, unknowable question; however, we do know what the Bible says God dislikes and considers sinful. Some examples include:
"Revelation 21:8:
But cowards who turn away from me, and unbelievers, and the corrupt, and murderers, and the immoral, and those who practice witchcraft, and idol worshipers, and all liars - their doom is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death."
Galatians 5:19-21:
"Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, witchcraft, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Knowing such things, I sometimes wonder how people can sit back and believe the two religions are, in any way, compatible. I am neither saying that Wicca is wrong nor that Christianity is wrong; what I am saying is that the two are mutually exclusive. Wicca may not have any rule that says, "Thou shalt not mix Christianity with me." Christianity, though, has an ENTIRE BOOK that goes into detail about what NOT to do. Part of what NOT to do is worship other gods, worship the "heavenly bodies" like the sun and moon, practice witchcraft, and so on.
Another major aspect of Wicca, the Goddess, is entirely incompatible with Christianity. The argument that "God" in the Bible is really a gender-inspecific title that can embody a Goddess simply doesn't hold water. Sure, one can argue that the grammatical gender does not necessarily correlate to the physical gender in the Hebrew language (as Hebrew has no gender-inspecific pronoun such as "it"), but that doesn't mean that "God" is plural. Yes, in Genesis, God refers to Himself in the plural "We" when talking about creation. However, this is easily explained away by the Trinity. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were all there at creation, and thus "They" created.
Also, misogynist verses are found all over the Bible; this is completely opposite of what Wicca teaches. If anything, Wicca places more importance on the female. How in the world can one even begin to attempt to blend the idea of a Goddess into Christian theology? It's beyond me.
Now, with that said, some educated readers might be thinking, "Well wait. What about that Goddess Sophia that is found here and there in the Bible (mainly in the apocryphal books)? She is Wisdom. What about her?" Well, that topic is big enough for a whole new rant of me picking it to bits, so I'll answer it with one simple verse:
Exodus 34:14:
"--for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD is a jealous God--"
"WAIT!" you say. "The Bible has been translated and mistranslated so many times over the years. I think most of that is garbage! I'm not obligated to believe in it, then!" Well, if that's the way you have to think to justify an action you know is wrong, then more power to you. However, if you had enough ambition and motivation, very old Greek and Latin texts are around for your browsing pleasure. They will support my position everytime. However, I doubt you will investigate. So just sit there, cross your arms, pout, and send me hatemail. That's fine. However, if you actually want to LEARN about the religion you claim to kinda-sorta-but-not-really follow, research it. Besides, that brings up a whole new problem.
If the Bible is nothing but a big mess of mistranslations and errors, how can you believe *ANY* of it? How do you decide what is and what is not authentic? Do you pick and choose what makes you happy? Probably.
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**BEGIN IMITATION**
"I don't think having homosexual sex is wrong, therefore I think that part of the Bible is crap. I also think that witchcraft is like, totally cool, so that part about witchcraft being evil is crap, too. YEAH! This translating thing is easy! I RULE!"
**END IMITATION**
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Think about it. If those are wrong, who's to say that the parts about Jesus doing all the miracles aren't wrong? Shucks, if mistranslations are so rampant, shouldn't the entire Bible be tossed out? You need to either believe it all - unless there is overwhelming evidence suggesting it's really an incorrect translation - or believe none. Don't forget...
2 Timothy 3:15-16:
"You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right."
It's blatantly clear that Christianity is an exclusive club. You either believe in it, or you don't. There is no mixing of other religions, gods, etc. in it. I've presented more than enough verses to prove that, so get over your fear of going to hell, or stay Christian. Mixing the two won't save you from hell if the Bible is correct, so figure out what the hell you believe and delve into it with your whole heart.
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