You state that you know "not a thing" about Wicca or Wiccans, yet you
claim to know that Wiccans do not respect other religions.
Actually respect for other traditions, beliefs and practises has been
a common thread among the majority of Wiccans (and other Pagans) I've
known.

In view of Dave Evans' post I've removed the rest of my post, suffice
to say I do object to being told how I view other religions.

On 6 February 2011 18:46, Segal, Professor Robert A. <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Feb 6
>
> I wish that you would deal with the issue that I raised and not with the one that you raise.    Did I claim that Wiccans DO seek to convert others or to demean others?   Did I claim that Wiccans, about whom I know not a thing, are no more tolerant than those who do seek to convert others or to demean others?   The point that "has yet to be refuted" has yet to be refuted because no one disputes it.   Straw-man arguments are weak.
>
> I doubt that a word like RESPECT was chosen flippantly, and especially when, in response, the word was repeated rather than withdrawn.   I assumed, and assume, that RESPECT was meant in a straightforward way.   If one grants that RESPECT encompasses more than refraining from seeking converts or mocking other religions, then the point that I did make has yet to be refuted.
>
> Robert Segal
> ________________________________________
> From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of jason winslade [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2011 5:47 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] How to Cure a Witch...
>
> I really think this whole issue of "respect" is a side point. That just happened to be Leo's word choice, as flip as it may have been. His actual point was about a text being published to convert Wiccans to Christianity. And that a book about converting Christians to Wicca doesn't exist, because Wiccans don't proselytize, try to convert, or otherwise "damn" others who don't follow their religion. This point has yet to be refuted.
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: "Segal, Professor Robert A." <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Sun, February 6, 2011 7:22:59 AM
> Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] How to Cure a Witch...
>
> Feb 6
>
> Dear Jason,
>
> I am no expert in magic.    Scholars of religious studies are as specialized as scholars of anything else.    My initial foray raised a logical question about respect that did not require familiarity with Wicca.  You and others may well think that I should not have written anything without some knowledge of Wicca, but I disagree.
>
> I dealt yesterday several times with your main point:  differing degrees of respect.    I stated that the issue is not whether Wiccans are more respectful of Catholics than Catholics are of Wiccans--if you think I wrote otherwise, perhaps your computer needs an overhaul--but whether Wiccans can, logically, be as respectful as Leo asserted.
>
>
> Best,
>
> Robert
> ________________________________________
> From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>] On Behalf Of jason winslade [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>]
> Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2011 8:58 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] How to Cure a Witch...
>
> I think we're forgetting that this all started with Leo's post about the published book showing how to convert Wiccans to Christianity and that no such book exists for the other way around, despite the fears of the Christian right that Harry Potter is that book. This isn't that complicated. Proselytization is part of Christian teachings and creed. It is NOT part of any Wiccan belief or practice. Proselytization and the attempt to convert others to your religion inherently implies a disrespect for the other's religion or culture. Now not proselytizing doesn't guarantee respect. But Wiccans don't aggressively proselytize, try to convert anyone, or tell non-Wiccans that they will be punished eternally for not becoming Wiccan. Or try to censor or ban books. So yes, I believe a distinction can be made between Wicca and Christianity in this respect. Maybe there is also a misunderstanding of the term 'mystery religion,' since Wicca seems like it's being judged by the standards of religion as defined by exoteric Christianity.
>
> Professor Segal claims he knows nothing about Wicca (and I'm inclined to believe him) and has never heard of Dion Fortune, one of the primary voices of  Western esotericism in the 20th century, which makes me curious about his interest in the academic study of magic and where the parameters of that interest lie.
>
> ________________________________
> From: "Segal, Professor Robert A." <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
> To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sun, February 6, 2011 2:39:02 AM
> Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] How to Cure a Witch...
>
> Feb 6
>
> Dear Nick,
>
> If Wiccans are as prone to squabbling as members of other religions, surely those squabblings are about beliefs and practices that are to be found in other religions as well.  Therefore the respect that we have been told is distinctive of Wiccans is not to be found.
>
> The cross-purposes to which you refer do not hold--unless the adherents themselves make no claims about their beliefs or practices.
>
>
> Robert
> ________________________________________
> From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>] On Behalf Of Nicholas Campion [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>]
> Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2011 7:37 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
> Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] How to Cure a Witch...
>
> Observing this strand, there seems to me to be a certain amount of talking at cross-purposes: whether religions are characterised by theologies, or by the people who adhere to them.
>
> If we are talking about theologies, most religions (I’m not at all sure how to define that term: if Quakers and Jehovah’s Witnesses are both Christian, what exactly do they have in common?) have exclusivist and inclusivist forms.
>
> And if we are talking about people, then some are more sympathetic to what we might characterise as the ‘theosophical’ view that all religions contain a core of truth, and some prefer the opposite, that their truth is more true than anyone else’s.
>
> I don’t think Wiccans are any more or less prone to imagining they are superior to any other religion than members of any other religion. Some I know think they are superior; others don’t really care.
>
> Actually, can I put this to any Wiccans out there:
>
> Is it not truer to say that the bitter hatred some Wiccans have for each other, and the mutual denunciation that some reserve for their fellows (my tradition is better than yours; your coven has no authority, etc.) suggests that issues of superiority may be more a matter of internal rivalries within Wicca than relationships with other religions?
>
> Has anyone found this to be the case?
>
> Nick Campion
>
>
>
>
>
> The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013683.
>
>
>
> The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013683.
>
>
>
> The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013683.
>