what a lot of interesting views. i'm with the don't actually give a monkey's faction. however, i like pagans in general - they tend not to be people who stick like glue to any particular dogma therefore allowing movement and thought to mesh into whatever problems face them and the planet. most of the neo/pagans i know (and there are loads) don't worship anything in particular, they celebrate and respect all things living and are aware of the aspects of human behaviour that are damaging to the planet.
they tend to believe in 'energies' rather than one energy. and in individuals taking responsibility for their actions rather than assuming some external 'god' is going to come and sort the world out. i think that's the main difference. the attitude of 'it's my planet, environment, family, community and i must treat it/them with respect and mutuality of interest' rather than 'this is the right way because my holy book says so and any consequences are not my problem'. i know that this is not true of all christaians, muslims, jews etc, but i think pagan type people believe in living in as much harmony with the planet and all within it first and foremost. rather than doing what they do and tacking on a god concept as a cure for all ills afterwards.
i think this is most relevent perhaps on the attitudes towards the recent world trade centre problem where the pagans (and associated belief systems) tended towards trying to see the other view and dealing with the concept of western self interest as having to change and the christian (and other fundamentalists) were more into punishment and putting up military barriers and making a stand/strike.
as i don't fall into either camp as such (i respect the planet and its people but not in any ritualised form) i would much prefer the pagan fraternity to be holding power as i feel they would achieve greater success in altering our world view and changing it from within.
my intention is not to offend anyone but sometimes its mightliy tricky to discuss groups of people with similar views without giving them a label of some sort. i fully appreciate that you/i am individuals with particular similarities and differences on broad beliefs. so, please, don't anyone get snotty on that account.
