Another excellent piece from John Beckett on how Pagans think about death.
I don’t fear death because I don’t believe in heaven or hell, which is a pernicious doctrine designed to cause fear. I believe in the Summerlands, which is a completely different place.
I also have reasonable belief in the continuation of consciousness after death. And if that doesn’t happen, I am at peace with that.
I’m thankful that I was not brought up with the nonsense about the rapture (which is weird because I grew up in the Exclusive Plymouth Brethren until the age of 9, and it was apparently the founder of the Plymouth Brethren, JN Darby, who popularized the concept of the rapture, along with dispensationalist theology). But I recognize that it is still traumatic to think about for a lot of people.
Continue readingJohn Beckett is offering an online course, Unpacking Your Religious Baggage So You Can Live a Magical Life.
Continue readingMy best ever riposte to some doorstep evangelists was when they asked me “who do you believe is the ruler of this Earth?” And I replied “I don’t believe the Earth can be ruled, I believe that she’s a goddess in her own right”. The doorstep evangelists practically ran away down the front path. The reason I had this riposte ready was because a colleague had asked me the same question two weeks earlier.
Continue readingChanging Paths challenge day 29: inspirations
Many writers worry about being inspired by other writers, in case inspiration comes off as plagiarism.
But true inspiration is not plagiarism, it just references its source and then does something completely different.
Continue readingFantastic article from John Beckett (polytheist UU Druid) on the rise of the ExVangelical movement and how to get the tentacles of Christianity out of your brain.
I think it’s important to challenge the hegemony of Christianity in our culture and promote tolerance of all religions that want to live in harmony with each other and with atheists. The way to get to that point is not by insisting that we should all read the Bible so we can use it to argue with bigots, nor is it by embracing “cultural Christianity”.
Continue readingA helpful article from John Beckett on the type of people who revert out of Pagan traditions and back to their original path.
John urges compassion and empathy for people who leave Pagan paths for another religion, and offers suggestions for deepening your understanding of Pagan ideas so that you can avoid reverting.
Continue readingOh dear: the evangelicals are spouting rubbish about Paganism again — ably debunked by John Beckett.
The idea of evangelicals claiming that Paganisms don’t have continuity with ancient paganisms is hilarious when you consider the lack of continuity between evangelical Christianity and early Christianity.
Changing paths is a wibbly-wobbly thing. During the process, I was all over the place. It was like having the bends (you know, the thing where a diver rises too quickly to the surface and gets cramps) or being on a giant scary roller coaster ride. That’s why I wrote the book, in the hope of helping other people to have a gentler ride through the process — regardless of their starting point or destination. Although the second half is about joining Paganism, it’s fairly applicable to joining any group.
Continue reading
Changing Paths 