Religious and Cultural Paganism

Why NeoPagans have but the barest hint of a Pagan culture.

By Gus diZerega, November 11, 2011

In my post discussing Paganism's relationship to fascism, I made a distinction between "cultural" and "religious" Paganism. Some readers wanted me to expand on this topic. Here, I do so.

First, two definitions.

A religious Pagan is one who practices their beliefs alone or meets with a community of practitioners, such as a coven, blotgroup, grove or nest. The major reason for doing so is to interact with the Sacred More-then-human. Crucially, focusing on a context bigger than simply dealing with human affairs is central to religious Paganism.

A cultural Pagan is a person who identifies with Pagan practices or symbols but does so as a member of a human community. This community may see itself as extending backwards and forwards in time, and it may emphasize its onnection to a particular place, but the context of concern remains the purely human.

http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Religious-and-Cultural-Paganism-Gus-diZerega-11-11-2011.html

She prefers the term "Eclectic Pagan".

I'm curious about how religious beliefs evolve in a person's life. So, I wonder whether she has explored paganism to any extent or whether it's a passing phase or fashion statement.

She's studied it extensively and finds that it fits with her core beliefs. She's been a life-long vegetarian and while we have a "no kill" rule for spiders, she's rather extreme in applying that to any creature, even harmful ones. She does observe the four points of the Earth - the solstices and equinoxes - but she prefers to keep most of her "practice" private.

The beliefs and practices of a single individual says little to nothing about the overall religion. It is also probably none of our business, since the person in question is not available to answer that intensely personal question.

How people respond to religious beliefs indicates more about humans than it does the religion.

Religions are social control mechanisms, invented by a culture, to answer unanswerable questions and to codify that culture's rules.

One cannot separate religion from humans or humans from religion.

It covers religion's potential for both the good and the bad.

The only real difference is the number of believers. There are religious Roman Catholics and cultural Roman Catholics, too. I believe that what this writer is saying is true for all religions. :shrug: