The assumption is a bit generalized. I know a whole lot of people who do that though. Though if you take a religion such as paganism, even the watered down version your practicing, and are serious about it and use it to make yourself a better person then I see no problem. I just hate people who say there some religion just because it's cool. Oh, your version will always be watered down compared to the original pagan beliefs. Modern Neo-paganism is a jumble of ancient beliefs. The term Pagan use to cover a large group of people and beliefs.

edit:sorry myrkr, religion is a very large can of worms here.

This is the internet. What did you expect, productive and polite conversation? D:

Point taken and noted.

I know what I believe is watered down. But who can say that what anyone believes isn't?

All I know is what is right for me. I'm aware "Pagan" can describe a lot of people. I just want to find other people who believe in Paganism that play Lusternia... even if that's setting myself up to get responded to by a large group of people.

... unfortunately, yes. Apparently 12 years of RPing online taught me nothing. *facepalm*

Double post.

Just for the record...making exaggerated claims about your experience when you fill out your profile is a BAD IDEA. Screenshot saved just in case you don't rescind.

:/ I'm not exaggerating anything.

Yes, I'm 17. You were right there.

Yes, I have a shitty past. But that doesn't make me emo.

I have been RPing since I was 5. My mom got cancer then, and my stepdad put me infront of a computer with AOL, showed me how to use AOL, and left me alone.

As usual, it's your choice to believe me or not. But please. If you don't believe me, say it, and move on. Don't hang around on my thread when I'm just trying to find other Pagans.

Thankfully. I think that's the one salient (if a bit trite) point you've made thus far, and with that, I'm dropping out of the conversation. Blissfully ignoring questions and making sweeping generalizations may be within your comfort zone, but I'm disinclined to even attempt intelligent discourse with someone who deals in them.

Good luck in your search for people of similar minds.

Thank you.

I'm certainly not trying to get into a discussion over which religion is right or best, or whether any of them have any value at all (although I had to chuckle a bit at Xavius elevating himself, Verithrax, and Daganev to whirlwinds of Mass Religious Discussion Proficiency), although like most people, I do have views on those topics.

I was simply trying to get at the fact that it's intrinsically fallacious to say that all religions lead to the same place, assuming the "place" is something nice.

First of all, there are the reasons Amarysse pointed out. Even though she pointed out one level of abstraction at which we might view a common element of religion just for the sake of discussion, it's a level of abstraction, and that's all she meant it as (if I read her right).

I might say, for example, "Human beings and Playstation 3s are the same. They both process information."

At that level of abstraction, the comparison becomes almost useless if pressed. Yes, both things process information, but the differences are so varied and ingressed that, if anyone were to start lobbying for civil rights for Playstations, we'd probably think they were a bit off. In fact, we might even debate whether or not all religions deal with the elevation of the individual, but that's a little outside the scope of the discussion.

Second, many religions themselves do not claim that all religions are paths to the same end. By making the claim that all religions, in fact, ARE paths to the same end, you're saying that the religions that teach otherwise are, by definition, wrong. Well, if some religions are wrong about something so fundamental, and some are right (potentially), how can they all be essentially the same?

Further, is a religion that values treachery and human sacrifice leading to the same "place" as a religion that decries those practices as wrong?

Finally, in order to make a statement that all religions lead to the same place, you'd really need to understand all religions. I majored in Comparative Religion, and I'd be hard pressed to say I understand them all so well that I could say with certitude that they were all basically the same, or pointed in the same direction.

Take, for example, Christianity and Buddhism. Christianity teaches that all mankind is accountable to a Supreme Being that they have sinned against, either personally or corporately, and the only way to avoid divine judgment is to have faith in Jesus who accepts that judgment on their behalf. The end result of this is that believers will enter into a blessed state of existence which they lost in antiquity, while unbelievers will bear this divine judgment.

Buddhism, by contrast, believes in no supreme being, but rather that the human condition is that we are in a constant state of suffering because of our desires which hunger for things that are, essentially, illusory. The goal of life is to see past these illusions into the spiritual realities they obscure and escape an endless cycle of reincarnation by achieving a state without desire, at which point your consciousness becomes enveloped into a greater whole - annihilated in one sense, but perpetuated in another.

How are these religions teaching the same paths?

I think that my religion is the best because I practice it.

Since I'm the best and all.

See? Totally consistent.

Everyone should just convert to noolaism with Refugee

You know what? I got no beef with the pagans. They're not trying to fly airplanes into buildings and as far as I know, even though they believe in some kooky stuff, it's all metaphysical kooky stuff, so it's all good I say. Stop picking on the pagans just 'cause some of 'em are emo or just pagans because it's trendy. People have made far more binding life choices than religion based on far less convincing motivations.

Why does every thread in these forums have to go nuclear unless we have the happy brigade riding herd on it?

I don't have a witty, sassy article to shut all the fighting down! I feel so powerless!

Won't somebody please think of the children?

If you saw me right now, you'd know. I'm know around where I live as "The Monk". I do karate and I'm bald most of the time (not losing hair, only 15! ). I've thought about it for a while, and if I ever get the chance to become Buddhist, the I will. I view it as both a Religion and a Philosophy, though my actual knowledge in it is quite minimal, however, I'd like to learn!

Be a man and learn krav maga. At least it can be used in a toilet cubicle.

Also you get to learn from large european men who mispronounce everything and mangle your accent atrociously, so when you're meant to be learning something, you break out laughing.

...I'm not a pagan! I'm on your side with this one!

You could focus on that aspect of the religions if you like. You could also focus on the aspect of the religion which is about subjigating your will to the world around you, acknowledging that while important, humanity is not perfect but through contemplation you can become closer to that which is perfect. Christanity and Buddhims also have in common a strong notion of suffering and purpose to suffering.

Although, I am surprised nobody brought up the B'Hai faith yet.