on@hpda.UUCP (Owen Rowley) (09/18/85)
In a recent article Rich Rosen writes.... > I think the only reason they can "get away" with teaching about ancient > Greek and Viking religion in schools because (I think there's a joke I'm > taking this from) there are no more ancient Greeks (or Vikings). They > are "treading" on a religion that nobody currently believes in (to my > knowledge). > What would be interesting in teaching about religions that nobody believes > in anymore (like these ancient myths) is to talk about why nobody believes > them anymore, the flaws and presumptions these ancient peoples made in > designing these religious systems, and how this learning can be applied > in general today. That is perhaps the truest way to foster real FREEDOM > of religion I can think of. (Probably scares the hell out of some people, > though.) I would like to point out that there are very few instances when the words nobody and never are appropriate. What the speaker means is "I think that the evidence shows........" or something that qualifies the statement in such a way that it shows that you understand that you are operating from an assumption. Mr Rosen states that "nobody" believes Classical Greek and Viking religions and then qualifies the statement with "to my knowledge". However he then goes on to slander any possible adherants to the systems he has just declared dead! In a reply to Rosen Charles Wingate says... } Actually, in the case of the Norse religions, the answer is quite simple; } the various Norse people were exposed to Christianity, and decided that it } was the better religion. first of all lets set the record straight... There are over 100,000 neo pagans in this country who derive much of their theology from many of the Classical pre-xtian religions, including the Greek and the Viking religions. The nation of Iceland has retained the Norse Viking religion as their official state religion and several of the scandinavian Nations have strong surviving Norse Pagan religions that have never succumbed to conversion to xtianity. Britain has a strong Neo-Pagan revival underway and even a surface examination of the facts will reveal that practically all european christian cultural effects are rehashed Pagan customs and festivals that were too popular to supress. Rather than assume that the ancient Roots of Modern religion died because of design flaws, you might choose to look at the path from then to now as another effect of evolution... the evolution of our spiritual heritage . The old religions are not dead they live on in many forms , they survive in ways that are invisible to the casual observer. It is not a matter of having made mistakes that result in the passing of traditions .... It is the nature of traditions to grow and change and evolve from one form to another, Isn't this where this whole discusion go started?? I know that the fundamentalists will discount this as more blasphemy.. but I don't address fundamentalists because there is nothing more to say when the other person refuses to liten to ANY evidence contrary to what they already believe. Life is not quite that simple for me. So I would hope that Mr Rosen and Mr Wingate will find this article enlighteningand a positive response... I think that other than the misplaced assumption I have discussed his article was clear and thought provoking... LUX.. on ################# ###################################### ###################### # ^ # # Owen Rowley # # # # / \ # # # # \ / # # / \ # # {ucbvax|hplabs}!hpda!on # # -- * -- # # / <@> \ # # # # / \ # # / \ # # # # # # ----------- # # # # Every Man and # # NIL # # "Nothing is TRUE..... # # Every Woman # # CARBORUNDUM # # Everything is PERMISSIBLE" # # is a STAR # # ILLEGITIMO # # Hassan i Sabah # # Liber AL # ################# ###################################### ######################