Comments on: The Noxious Gases of Paganism

By: The Pagan Temple

The Pagan Temple — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 05:25:00 +0000

Christian leaders such as these see pagans (or any other non-Christia religion) as a threat to their power and control, or in some cases as a threat to their pursuit of power-or at times just as a mere rallying cry in pursuit of power.If there were no religious groups in the US except Christians, they would soon start turning on each other, denomination against denomination. The first one targeted would be Catholics.If they did away with them, it would turn into Baptists against Methodists. It’s a never-ending war, though, because there will never be one religion, for which I am thankful.It’s good that there is more than one way in reality, and the constant squabbling over supremacy is just one of the downsides. Their attitudes toward “rival” religions are not worthy of emulation. If there were nothing but pagans, however, I am reasonably sure it would eventually turn into the same deal-path against path. All it would take is for the establishment of a hierarchy, and a power structure. Again, not a path worthy of emulation.

By: Randolph

Randolph — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 03:58:00 +0000

“In the appearance of this marginal alternate spirituality we are witnessing the first signs of a major religious revolution that threatens to sweep all before it.”We can but hope…

By: C.

C. — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 01:17:00 +0000

in addition to Paper’s excellent book, one should also look for and read John Michael Greer’s A World Full of Gods. each has a slightly different focus, but each is also an excellent statement for and of polytheism.

By: Christopher W. Chase

Christopher W. Chase — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 23:00:00 +0000

It isn't entirely surprising that reactionary Christian apologetics would fail to deal with the eternal fact of religious pluralism, given their spectacular failure to deal with even the basic world of human eroticism. In premillenial myth, the existence of many different approaches to religion and ethics can't be seen as a natural thing, but rather proof of the corruption and confusion of post-Babel humanity. The United States has always been a religiously diverse place, from the myriad number of Amerindian traditions to the arrival of Muslim slaves in the 1500's and the first Buddhist temple in 1853. Even Michael Horton, in endorsing this book, noted that “although religious pluralism is often treated as a ‘postmodern’ phenomenon, it has always been the world’s most fundamental challenge to the gospel." In the light of history, the cries of the "polytheistic armada upon the shores of Christendom" are unintentionally ironic, since the arrival of the Spanish, French, and British upon the shores of North America would seem to have those roles reversed.More thoughful scholars and readers can certainly look elsewhere for serious consideration of interreligious discussion and dialogue. In attacking Jordan Paper (page 45), the author himself appears to bear false witness. While Paper indeed draws on his confessional relationship with polytheism (as confessional Christian theology also does for itself) he conveniently skips over the fact that Paper has previously published well-known rigorous analyses of both Chinese polytheism and Amerindian religiosity. As more and more religious traditions move explicitly into the 'theological' realm, we can expect to see more paranoid hyperbole and rhetoric about the threat to the imaginary organic whole of "Christendom," itself perennially fractured through schisms, reformations, and restorations.

By: Erik

Erik — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 18:04:00 +0000

Yay for the call-out! I’m a big fan of Paper’s book; in a lot of ways I find it more compelling and useful than York’s “Pagan Theology” (not that York is a bad book, it’s just that he stopped about where I wanted him to start – with the 12-page afterthought “Paganism as Theology” chapter)…