On 7 February 2011 16:54, Samuel Wagar <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Unfortunately, I'll have to disagree. I'm not a unitarian. I'm a true
> polytheist, not believing that "All Goddesses are one Goddess, All Gods are
> one God, and the Two are One in Love," as Dion Fortune put it. I see real
> and true differences in approach between religions and do not long for a
> unified field.
I'm also what is sometimes referred to as a hard polytheist. Though
there appear to be some Deities with multiple names or aspects, I do
not believe that all Deities are simply aspects or facets of a supreme
Deity.
>
> I guess I'm a "splitter" not a "lumper," ultimately. I'm also gradually
> shifting somewhat more toward Prof. Segal's position. Although I reserve the
> right to a greater amount of fuzz and more permeable boundaries.
Returning to a point he made earlier in this discussion:
"The topic is Wicca. Unless Wicca offers both metaphysics and
ethics, it is not a religion. If the metaphysics and ethics it
offers are at odds with those of even one other religion, then Wicca
cannot be respecting all other religions."
I would go further than Prof. Segal, in that I would add practical
application to his definition of religion. Though I disagree with his
wording, I do (now) think I see what he is getting at.
If Wicca has at its heart a sacred ecology, then a religion which
regarded the Earth to simply be a consumable and disposable resource
would be antithetical. A religion which regarded life as merely the
necessary suffering to reach an afterlife would be diametrically
opposed to Wicca's celebration of that life.
However does that mean that Wiccans should abandon one of the tenets
of their own religion in dealing with either of those theoretical
religions or their adherents? Does maintaining respect, mean that
you can't disagree or work in opposition to points of view which are
contra to those you hold? Or does maintaining respect dictate how you
react to those points of view?
(For what they are worth, my answers would be no, no and yes)
Jymn
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