|
Spewed during the Middle Ages...? You haven't heard some of the bigtime preachers in major churches in US metropolitan centers, lately. I still remember radio broadcasts a few years back by the minister of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas--a sophisticated city of several million--saying that the law of the land should be changed to allow the stoning to death of pagans. I'm not saying that kind of thing happens all the time, but yes, it does get said, and it is often thought when it is not said.
Of course, there are also some pagans who make matters much worse. Some go out of their way to offend traditional Judeo-Christians; others are not pagan at all, but "commercial pagans," people in it for the publicity and money; and others misrepresent the religions they claim to follow. This Wiccan Priestess named "Witch" seems to belong the last category. The name itself seems to be an extravagant gesture designed to attract attention in a Judeo-Christian culture.
Kind of sad, really. There's no good reason why people of diverse religions simply cannot tolerate one another's presence, even when they find no commonality of purpose. But religion is a touchstone, and reveals less about the object of worship than it does about the inner balance of the worshipper, in every case.
|