Their numbers are growing. Ours are shrinking. https://www.christianpost.com/news/...f8TTHyHppN7M9ew50iXFH_yCd1bWBvsLxXEjzRPzIqctA
Be of good cheer. All things work to God's plan. These sorts of stories are chestnuts in the media - I bet if you looked in a newspaper from a hundred years ago, you'd find similar stuff. Most modern "pagans" are just idiot leftists who are still young and dumb; they'll eventually age out of this nonsense. (Like the Boomers did: the "Age of Aquarius" of the 1960's gave way to Wall Street and Reagan by the 1980's.) I doubt one Millennial or Zoomer in ten thousand actually believes in this occult nonsense. The bigger problem is that this represents a glaring failure of religion in the US. Lots of these young people grew in at least nominally-Christian homes. The Church failed them in a major way. The barrenness of American Christian "belief" has been exposed. Much of the organized "religion" in America for the past fifty years or so (maybe longer) has been shallow, strengthless, and surface-level. I'll bet you that not one church-going Christian in ten could answer the question "What is the nature of the Trinity?" without giving a heterodox if not an actually heretical answer. (In my experience, young people see the Trinitarian God as sort of like a divine Voltron formed by three lesser deities, or as a modalist unitarian god with three different "personalities".) I am aghast at how little actual theology American Christians have (and at how badly they understand what little of it they do have). I often remind people that so-called "Satanists" are just as Roman Catholic as the Pope; they're just rooting for the other team. "Satanists" are a grim, unfunny joke because most of them don't even realize this -- they can't even successfully mock the very thing they hate. It's actually a deeper vat of nonsense than that, though, because "Satanists" and "occultists" don't even understand the very theology they are rebelling against. It's ignorance all the way down. Modern paganism, Satanism, "New Age"-ism, and all the other -isms are caricatures of caricatures. They're are not coherent enough to be truly worrying in a religious sense, because they are not competitors to religious belief. They are manifestations of a society-wide epidemic of mental illness and spiritual starvation. We as Christians must redouble our own efforts not just to evangelize our faith, but to understand it and carry it out ourselves. If we do not live as devout Christians, how can we expect others to? If we speak the Word but do not believe the word, our conduct will reflect that. If we speak the word and believe the Word, we will act out God's truth in the world. And the light given off of that faithfulness will draw other lost sheep to us (John 8:12).
I don't think the wiccans and occultists are shy about sharing their beliefs. All the more reason for Christians to share the Truth that sets people free!
Our media and culture has spent a few generations telling stories about how rising from the dead is really yucky if not disgusting. At the same time it has made effort to say that being a witch is something fun and innocent which anyone can do.
The film industry has some culpability in this regard. Perhaps it started with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Then there was Charmed, and the various vampire sagas such as True Blood and Twilight. The occult became cool. At the same time, all observable signs revealed to the generation that was being caught up in this the general disbelief of their parental units in much of anything. A decade ago we saw the rise of the 'spiritual but not religious' demographic. It should be no surprise that the next evolution off of that was a turn to occult practices. The serious issue underlying this is that it's all fun and games until these people actually start channeling demonic energies. Then they end up in over their heads and have no idea what to do. I suspect that is part of the causation of the opioid epidemic: self medication for problems that they want to write off as mental illness because they've never been exposed to religion enough to understand what's going on.
Shane R blames Buffy the Vampire Slayer how about blaming "Bewitched" from the sixties. Apparently before Bewitched and its cartooned introduction, witches use to fly on their broomsticks with the brush part facing forward, that way you can keep an eye on your cat. But now they fly with the broom the wrong way around. I'm disappointed that Harry Potter didn't correct this error.
Don't the rich witches fly on Electrolux vacuums? Sin is like the fog; it "creeps in on cat feet." A little Dracula here, a little Frankenstein there, a bit of ouija board thrown into the mix... a little bit can lead to quite a lot, given time and a few nudges from Satan.
I once read the book "Drawing Down the Moon" by NPR radio producer Margot Adler and self-identified Wiccan. The current movement owes far more to feminism and environmentalism than Dracula for its growth. She rejected the patriarchy and the God propping it up for the sacred femininity and love of nature offered by Goddess.
Neopagans are really an eclectic lot. You've got everything from the preppers like the Wolves of Vinland, to girl-power wiccans, to people trying to get in touch with their heritage (a friend of mine learned Gaelic to write pagan songs), etc. Paganism has never been an organized religion, at least not in the sense that we'd call something a religion now. Part of Julian the Apostate's problem was trying to set up paganism as an organization with bishops and synods. Consider how varied someone's belief system can be after doing home church for a few years, then imagine them doing it with no Bible and no limit on the number of gods. Being a build-your-own faith, so it comes in a huge variety of packages.
What Gaelic language did she learn (how do I know it must be a woman) ? I've got an interest in Celtic languages. And why would you need to write Pagan songs in Gaelic. Don't forget Christians were speaking Gaelic 2-3 hundred years before they spoke English.
Pagan reconstructionist religions put a great emphasis on historical authenticity and their traditions, including linguistic traditions. I've heard that followers of Norse Heathenry learn whatever language the Vikings spoke in order to read the Eddas in their original tongue and such
If they are increasing in New Zealand maybe it's because they repealed the 1736 Witch Act, which I remember them doing, back in the 60's. I still remember the news announcer saying one of its provisions was; it was illegal for a woman to adorn her face and body to make herself look more attractive and lure a man into marrying her. Maybe Elizabeth Arden campaigned for its repeal. Witches in the England and Wales were freed from this act in 1951 which was mainly concerned with fraudulent behavour rather than witchcraft per sae. They were now however subject to the Fraudulent Mediums Act which prohibited a person from claiming to be a psychic, medium, or other spiritualist while attempting to deceive and to make money from the deception (other than solely for the purpose of entertainment). This changed in 2008 and witches are now only constrained by the; dull, boring, unexciting, common Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations. Just like; me, business people, God fearing Christians and tele-evangelists.
Isn't the Isle of Wight sort of like the Mecca of Paganism in the UK? Or like how Utah is to Mormonism?
Sadly, the Church has drifted away from teaching doctrine, instead working toward a "seeker friendly Church" where doctrine is secondary, and a feel good worship atmosphere is far more important. But, having worked in the field of cult apologetics since the 70's, I can tell you that this is exactly why a poorly educated laity makes them prime targets for heretics knocking at their doors or at their computers. The Mormons come along with their exciting news that God has spoken to Joe Smith and told him all the creeds of Christianity are an abomination, and those who profess those creeds all corrupt. There is a new Church now! How exciting! And they, too, can be a part of this wonderful group of charitable, loving, believing "Christians" which God still speaks to through "living prophets." What those heretics fail to mention is that Joe Smith used religion as a license for sexual perversion, including hebephile behavior. They fail to mention that Joe Smith was a totally failed prophet - and even the "prophecies" his followers brag about, when closely examined, never were almost never fulfilled. They do not tell the householder that Joe Smith called the Holy Trinity a Monster, and that the "true" god was once a man on another planet who was "exalted" to godhood, appointed by other gods to rule planet Earth, and had many exalted wives (goddess type beings), and that this god and his wives have sexually produced all the spirits who have come to planet earth, Jesus being simply the first. Thus, Jesus is the brother spirit of all of us, even Lucifer. And, by the way, there are many gods, and three for our planet. They never happen to mention that they, too, will become gods if faithful to the covenants they make in their secret Masonic-based Temple rituals, tithe to their church, and get married in their Temples as well. No, these heretics come knocking, or meet you on the Internet, and soon one is targeted by the cult's missionaries. And being theologically illiterate, what chance does the "golden contact" have against such a "Wiley" foe? Of course, there are other groups who have now been restricted from door knocking - and one group, the Jehovah's Witnesses, writes letters and mails them to our people. Why, they offer a New World which is shortly to be heralded in by a gory Armageddon, and in order for you and your family to survive you must join their group and submit yourself to Jehovah's "anointed" remnant - eight men living in Warwick, NY. And after what happened in 2020, this seems probable. And yet another wants you to worship on Saturday, because after all the "mark of the beast" is ultimately to be placed upon those who ignore the Jewish Sabbath and who worship on the Lord's Day (Sunday) - and by the way, you have no spirit which survives death - you simply are annihilated at death. Oh, and God spoke to a dead woman many years ago, and she was God's prophetess - even though she is easily proven to be otherwise by those who know history. But, they have great presentations on "prophecy," and you'll get a colorful brochure in your mailbox inviting you to come see them! And many do. People are hungry for something claiming to be spiritual "truth." I remember meeting an Anglican who had become a Utah Mormon in Nauvoo, Illinois - a community founded by Joe Smith. His wife had been a Pentecostal! Of course, this is evidence that both those from Liturgical backgrounds, and those from Bible-centered backgrounds, are both just as vulnerable to heresy. What did they have in common? Lack of doctrinal knowledge and the ability to demonstrate proof of the traditional teachings of God's Church from Scripture. Obviously, the "Catechism" of the Church was not sufficient to teach this apostate Anglican! Vulnerability to the cults crosses "evangelical" and "liturgical" barriers. You know, Catholic priests have passed out little stickers to their flock to be placed on their doors warning cultists to stay away. Anglicans, of course, would never post such a sticker on their doors - they are too sophisticated. But not doctrinally educated enough to even understand the danger they and their families face when someone knocks on their door with a false gospel; or when a smiling missionary introduces himself because a neighbor has sent them. Or when the Internet offers a venue for contact with antichrist cultists. The heretics continue to grow - the mainline Christian Churches continue to dwindle....and why is that? Because "doctrinal" ignorance will never withstand the onslaught of Scripture-twisting heretics who have a big smile! Take a cue from Paul: " Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 1 Timothy 4:1. If you don't believe in demons, folks, then you better understand that they do exist, and they control far more than you imagine. If you don't believe me, read this book: "Hostage to the Devil" by Malachi Martin. He was a Roman Catholic priest - and he was an exorcist. Evil is real!
Come on, be fair, not just a hebephile, if the lists stats and inferences are to be believed he was also into cougars. Been studying " The civil war prophecy" I don't disbelieve you but I can't find where Smith said this. This may all be true (that they said it) but Mormon apologists will tell you none of this is in accepted scripture.
I searched and located this: “Many men say there is one God; the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are only one God! I say that is a strange God anyhow—three in one, and one in three! It is a curious organization. All are to be crammed into one God, according to sectarianism. It would make the biggest God in all the world. He would be a wonderfully big God —he would be a giant or a monster” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 372.).Link to article: https://www.mrm.org/trinity-in-their-own-words
Thanks Rexlion. I suspect Smith just means very big when he says monster in this context. One thing I can't find out about the Mormons and people may be able to help is; 20~30?? years ago I remember (being a good Anglican ) the Mormons took the English Anglicans to court to force them to release their baptism ,marriage etc records so they could baptise dead people as per their beliefs. Apparently the courts agreed with the Mormons as the records were deemed public records. Does anyone have anymore info?
Just about the very first doctrine of the church to be rejected by a group of 'believers', which identifies them as a nacent 'heretical sect', is the doctrine of The Trinity. It is usually the first indicator of their lack of faith, becoming observable in their sectarian dogma. .