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On 22 Mar 2010, at 07:40, mandrake wrote: > You're right that some UK pagans have problems with the term - > partly I think because of the Xtain coinage and the idea that its > _maybe_ pejorative > (Some supposed expert commentators have probably confused the > community on that . . . ). > Personally I think that some pagans are just being bloody minded > when they > refuse to get on board and take advantage of a name with a long, noble > history . . . it makes it awkward when it comes to committees and > censuses etc. > We use it here in our dealings with local Council of Faiths - > (although there have been grumblings about the term "faith" -) > where pagans are definitely a local religious minority but not by > any means the smallest > (some pagans also object to term "religion"). I have given up using the term 'pagan' as it links me and my religion in with too many people who are (possibly rightly, in many cases) seen as light-weight, fluffy-minded and ridiculous (like a certain 'King of the Witches') and people who casually tell the media that 'all pagans ...' followed by something which no heathen ever believed. It is not that /I/ have rejected the term 'pagan' - it is that the 'media pagans' have forced me to find another word. So I simply use 'heathen', a word which the Icelanders chose to use for their religion at least 1000 years ago, and explain it if necessary. It carries different, and less objectionable baggage than the modern use of 'pagan'. And on a related note, due to pressure by mostly non-mainstream Christian, Hindu and Islamic groups, the laws of this country protect / all/ religions, and I do not need the umbrella term 'pagan' to add to that protection. -- Jez -- Definition: Door - a thing a cat is on the wrong side of...