You Can Be Pagan, Or You Can Be Atheist, But You Can’t Be Both
August 18, 2016
by Rua Lupa
In my previous article I had talked about my experiences when meeting other Pagans – in how I usually end up not what they assumed through initial contact, and described how my views differ from many Pagans. What I didn’t expect was not only how many people were able to relate to it, but how many decided it worthy enough to share among their friends. What I did expect and braced myself for was people telling me that I wasn’t a real Pagan because I am an atheist. And yes, those responses were made too, but were less common than expected, being dwarfed by the comments about being able to relate to it, or being open to different kinds of Pagans.
Notably most comments in general were not on the article itself, which is honestly disappointing as I feel that making comments on the blog page is good to show the breadth and depth of how the topic is viewed by others, adding to the discussion. As it was, I had to keep a tab on what people were saying via google searching, but for the most part comments remain on Facebook, and most is not visible with privacy settings – which I understand and respect. As it was, the Patheos Pagan facebook page is where I found most of the commenting, and people assumed I was aware of that post and would respond to comments on it – which they were lucky that I did because I didn’t know when it was posted there as I have no notice of it, or the comments. Many would have otherwise been left without an answer to their questions or rebuttals – and I welcome rebuttals because that is what has helped me learn and grow as a person. In fact, that is why I am an atheist.
Most atheists are not raised in an atheist household, today’s atheists commonly come from households that hold theistic beliefs, and becoming an atheist isn’t something that is an easy choice for most of us. It sure would be nice to believe that there is a utopian afterlife – for me that ideal would be The Summerlands. Or even if there was reincarnation. I’d be down with that. But what I found with my beliefs is that I only believed in such things because
a) I was isolated and raised to believe that was how the world works,
b) When I was older and more exposed to other beliefs, I believed because I wanted it to be true. And everything else commonly referred to as supernatural was much the same. You want to believe a loved one still exists somewhere out there when they die. You want to believe that you can take control of the circumstances around you with with a prayer or spell. And,
c) Because I didn’t know how to operate in a world if there was no God, let alone anything else regarded as supernatural. In other words, I was afraid about what that would mean.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/pathsthroughtheforests/2016/08/18/you-can-be-pagan-or-you-can-be-atheist-but-you-cant-be-both/?ref_widget=trending&ref_blog=johnbeckett&ref_post=step-functions-and-loads-of-bricks
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