Path: shell.portal.com!svc.portal.com!sdd.hp.com!nntp.coast.net!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.sprintlink.net!new-news.sprintlink.net!arclight.uoregon.edu!news.bc.net!rover.ucs.ualberta.ca!news.ucalgary.ca!srv1.freenet.calgary.ab.ca!erickso1 From: Cher Newsgroups: alt.pagan,alt.satanism,alt.religion.all-worlds Subject: Re: Satanist/NeoPagan War Date: Fri, 21 Jun 1996 06:09:51 -0600 Organization: Calgary Free-Net Lines: 48 Message-ID: References: <4pkpee$dqu@charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu><4pks9k$o@news.internetmci.com> <4pn3ok$rv4@news.internetmci.com><4ppakl$frb@falcon.sat.net> <4q176n$s39@insosf1.netins.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: erickso1@srv1.freenet.calgary.ab.ca Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII In-Reply-To: Xref: shell.portal.com alt.pagan:163929 alt.satanism:45846 alt.religion.all-worlds:8086 On Thu, 20 Jun 1996, William Edward Woody wrote: > *sniff* > > No-one ever reads my posts. I guess this means I must change my name to No-one -- Yes!? > > (snip) > > And of course the side light to this argument is "if a Satanist can > _also_ self-identify as Pagan, how enlightened are the other Pagans > who insist on selling out our left-handed brothers to the Cops in > order to keep our ass off the fire the next time the Christians > call a Wiccan roast." > > Of course if the Satanists are _not_ Pagan, and it is _impossible_ > for them to be Pagan in any way, shape or form, the second question > is no longer as poigniant as before: there is no selling out of any > brother Pagans. Just the reporting to the Cops of folks who are > prone to criminal behaviour. It should be this way regardless of whether you are a pagan or not. Religious behavior is different from criminal behavior, even if the two are sometimes blended in together -- but one does not make the other, nor should it provide an excuse for the other. I'm not sure I'll ever understand the mentality that being a satanist is criminal, even one who claims satan or the devil is real and who worships the Christian adversary. Last time I checked it wasn't! If your not breaking the laws, then I don't care if you want to worship Bungadunga! Would people turn in Christians, Jews, etc. for who they honor; or if they were committing a crime? I would hope it be just the latter, and in turn I hope they would see the same for satanists, wiccans, druids, or any other. > > And that's why so many people are all up in arms over the whole "can > Satanists be Pagan" question. > > Because one way or another, someone has been peeing in someone else's > water bottle. It's just a matter of figuring out _who_. Thank you for your explanation. Black Widow