For a pagan/Wiccan/whatever-you-want-to-call-me (fyi, Wicca =/= [does not equal] Satanism; furthermore, Satanism =/= [does not equal] worshiping Satan, so I strongly urge those who might be prompted to speak without thinking to learn a thing or two about the religions :) thanks), I feel a connection with the Church. More specifically, the Roman Catholic Church. It goes back further than just the beauty of stained-glass windows, and I've touched on the subject before, but why am I Wiccan when I could be Christian and admire the beauty of a church everyday? For one, I don't believe one has to be a Wiccan to go to church to feel the beauty of it. And in fact, nobody has ever asked me--at Joseph's church or the one I attended when I was 6-10 years old (i.e., the crazy-ass church I never will attend ever again]--whether or not I was a different religion. This I appreciate about Joseph's church, but I do not appreciate the two-faced attributes a certain current youth minister has about a respected member's girlfriend who just so happens to be a different religion than he is (I must repent right away!). Oh wait, I forgot, my religion is totally someone else's business! I must apologize straightaway to him for tainting the youth area with my enhanced-aura, patchouli-scented (like the KoL reference, Joseph? :D) hair that I only wash in the light of the moon, blessed by
I digress.
Churches are beautiful. I have a fascination with rosary beads. Communion is a fascinating idea (fun historical fact: Romans first thought Christianity was a cannibalistic religion because they could not comprehend the idea of symbolic consumption of the body of Christ) and the sort of symbolic manifestation of the Spirit that many Wiccans also carry out (eating bread to symbolize the element of Earth; waving a chalice [representing Water], usually full of water, through the smoke from incense [representing Air]; watching a candle burn [Fire]). We use symbols--in the case of Christianity, bread and wine/grape juice; in the case of Wicca, food and other various objects--to represent something we cannot touch. No one can literally touch Jesus, and nobody can literally touch the Goddess (well, with the exception of the belief that the Goddess manifests herself in nature--from what I understand, this is also true for God and nature with many Christians, but this similarity further proves my point), so we do so spiritually with our imagination and with objects to assist us.
What is my point, exactly?
Wicca is not so different than Christianity. Christians believe in one God (even though the Jesus/God/Trinity concept gets convoluted, it is certainly not the first religious idea to do so); Wiccans believe in the union of the Goddess and the God (a common 'funny' quote is "My Goddess created your God"; while I don't necessarily believe this, it kind of makes the point clearer, perhaps). Pagans once worshiped Eostre, goddess of the dawn, and early Christians chose this date for the resurrection of Jesus, renaming it Easter to easily convert Pagans. Christmas? That was once Saturnalia.
This isn't a post to say, "My religion is better than your religion," because I don't believe any one religion is the "right" religion. I'm here to say that people who have prejudices against others of a different religion (who may or may not include the person I talked about above...) haven't taken the time to understand the history of their own religion, much less the information about another religion. I think walking into a church should be a divine experience for anybody, regardless of what religion (or lack thereof) they believe in. The same goes for a mosque. Radical Muslims do not represent all of Islam--something I found interesting about the founding of Islam is that the purpose of Mohammed was to "finish the job" Jesus Christ had begun. How interesting! Islam encourages the freedom to worship Christianity and Judaism, but, like so many other religions, has become warped with corrupt leaders who have misinterpreted their own sacred works. (If I am wrong on any of these facts, feel free to correct me.)
I know it sounds cheesy and brings memories of Miss Congeniality if you've ever seen it to mind, but world peace, while it may not be achievable in our world, is certainly still an interesting topic. Why can't we just all accept that works of art are truly works of art? Churches, or mosques, or even the dingy corner of the street you live on, might be a place of divine, or sacred, feelings for you. Pardon me if I'm wrong, but isn't one of the main tenets of Christianity "Love thy/thine(?)/your neighbor"? (Sorry, Mrs. Bice, for the incorrect use of the punctuation mark there, I just felt it more effective.) When did some Christians forget this? For the most part, I am lucky and surrounded by Christians who actually follow this. Nobody in Joseph's family has accosted me for being Wiccan, even though I'm pretty sure they all know I am--or at least, have never been mean enough to ask then condemn me, etc., even though Kevin was a youth pastor, for goodness sakes! He has never once accosted me for being Wiccan (and I really, really do thank you for that, Kevin.) There are good Christians, and good Muslims, and good Jews, and good various-other-religions'-people out there, I promise. The challenge is knowing where to look, is knowing how to hold your head high when you do meet the less-than-good ones, and hoping that someday, even if it's a bit too idealistic, your currently-clashing religions will learn to worship together. Language barriers make this difficult currently, I realize, and that's something that will take lots and lots of time to overcome, if we even do it at all in the lifespan of this earth.
(Also, if none of this makes sense/if I somehow offended somebody, it's 2:21 a.m., what more can you expect and I am deeply sorry because the whole point of this post was to say, "Hey, let's not offend one another because truthfully, nobody worships the "right" religion--you worship the one that is right for you, not necessarily the rest of the world, correct? Hopefully that came through?)
Point is: I love churches, and I am grateful I'm in a country in which I can go (mostly) freely to whatever church/religious site I choose if I feel a connection with it, and not be quizzed on Biblical knowledge to prove my level of devotion to Christianity/any other religion. I love aspects of many religions, and so the religion I choose is unique. I don't bother anybody else about their choice of religion, and I expect the same. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" was my dad's favorite quote, and I agree. Feel free to spread the word about your religion, encourage others to learn more about it, but don't force it on them and make them feel like an outcast if they don't agree. I think many churches need to take on this task. They have become far too overbearing and it makes such a sacred experience as walking into a church and being brought to tears because of the beauty a rather unpleasant one.
Now, back to my original point (long post is long); education.
I probably am a masochist in terms of education. For the moment, I think I'm just going to stick with the history major/English minor combination I decided on weeks ago. I'm still just keeping it open in my mind, because I wouldn't be able to remember it either way. Still, English (or any native tongue for a person) is the foundation upon which all our writings are based, so I feel communicable and correct English is very, very important for people to learn in order for them to be 'educated' or even considered seriously by peers. History is important to understand not only our own culture but also that of others. In Joseph's recent paper comparing two cultures, he chose France and Germany. Their histories are intricate (what history isn't?) but I found myself perplexed at the lack of the mention of history in his paper--before I reminded myself that it was a paper on language in societies, and not history (yes, I can be a history snob at times...I do apologize, Joseph and others). Still, one cannot disregard the point that history is important to get even the briefest picture of a nation.
Also, for your viewing pleasure, in case anybody is interested, last semester's term paper for my Honors history class can be found here. One might notice that the chunk on the European Middle Ages is the most detailed (I think, anyway) and wordy, and that's totally because that's the field I know most about and aim to concentrate my major on--whenever the time comes for the doctorate or whatever degree I end up getting. Sorry if you hate the Middle Ages.
Okay, bed now.
:)
No comments:
Post a Comment