Mail from Various Wiccans, Pagans and so on

(my replies in bold italics)

Michael,

It is clear to me that you have many common misconceptions regarding Wicca and the New Age. Only those not truly involved, those who dabble in it, may believe they are gods. No true practioner will ever tell you this.

Who in the New Age is authorised to define what a "true practitioner" is? Is Shirley MacLaine a true practitioner? I'm sure that not all New Agers believe they are gods – but some do, because their new age teachers encourage them to believe that. Some gurus believe they are incarnations of gods, for example, and some yoga practitioners seek to realise their onehood with deity through meditation. What we see here is that New Age religions vary quite a lot in their doctrine and practice.

Wicca is a nature based religion which believes in the sanctity of all life. It is against the Wiccan Rede to harm any living being. We are often the first to join environmental causes or to help those in need. We keep our lives and communities clean. We are not a bunch of power hungry fanatics who follow a bunch of gurus and kiss dragons and spirits. That's not the way it works. We do not believe in the devil, hell, or heaven. We simply believe in an afterlife where everyone goes to await their next incarnation. I myself remember at least 4 separate incarnations though I know I've had at least 11. Concerning your question about Christianity overcoming Paganism in Europe: Christianity did not "overcome it" it simply replaced it as the dominant religion. The Christian church adopted many of the Pagan festivals and rites in order to speed conversions. It also told those who worshiped the Horned God that they were worshipping a figure of evil, that he was actually Satan. Even the name Lucifer was taken from one of the older Pagan gods. Those who did not convert were killed until those who refused to give up their beliefs went underground. There they have survived to this day.

As for bondage to evil spirits, I'm sorry to shatter your delusion, but that is a load of rubbish. No one is in bondage to evil spirits. Those who claim they are are simply escaping responsibility for their actions.

Well, I have had the experience of many evil spirits coming out of me, over a period of time, and it surprised me to find out that they really were there. How is it that I and so many others have been changed once these "entities" which resist the name of Jesus as much as they can, are "cast out"?

"The basic reality is that you still can't control your own life and you fall short of every standard you may set" This is a quote taken directly from your site, and is again not true. I make a policy of setting high standards for myself and am proud to be an honor student. I am graduating from High School one year early with extra credits. I am a member of many clubs, and decent chess player, and a proud member of the National Honor Society. I will be attending a four year university to earn my doctorate in psychology and will be minoring in math. I take Advanced classes even beyond the gifted level and excel at them with minimal effort. I do not call that either out of control or falling short of standards. Please consider what I've said and thank you for your time. Blessed be, Diana

From a later mail by the same author:

"I hold myself to extremely high moral standards and rarely fall from them. I do not judge others rashly nor do I ruin reputation or tell lies. If you can make the same claim, then good for you and brightest blessings in your chosen path. I do ask however, that you do not continue to spread "untruths" about New Age and other religions you do not fully understand."

You can see that there are intelligent people involved in witchcraft, but this only confirms my point, because the phrase "rarely fall from them" confirms what I have said above, which was vigorously denied.

Earlier in that mail – some more wiccan beliefs:

"Secondly, aside from the usual human failings such as loosing one's temper, no I have never harmed so much as a spider and have certainly never damaged anyone's reputation. Most of the harm I have caused has been self-defense and what was not self defense I was sure to make amends for asap. This is all a large part of being Wiccan as the law clearly states "harm none". "

The next e-mail:

Michael,

Let's face it, we all fall short of our standards at one point, but no matter your religious background we are all the children of god, whichever god that may be. He/she/it doesn't care so long as we truly feel sorry for what we did wrong and make amends for such. We are all human and we all fall short at one point or another, it's part of being a human. There are some who reach a point in their lives when they no longer do so, and it is then that they move on to another plane of existence. Jesus was one such person and I respect him as such, but I do not, have not, nor will I ever worship him. I see that in and of itself as wronging his memory.

I would like to ask: How can we KNOW that "Jesus was one such person who no longer fell short", who "moved onto a higher plane of existence" and at the same time disbelieve in just about everything Jesus was recorded as saying? On what basis can a person pick and choose what they would like to believe about Jesus, and be taken seriously?

Another mail from a different wiccan priestess:

I am just a tad offended by some of what you wrote on a page about the New Age. First of all, I am a Priestess in a Wiccan coven. We most certainly do not think we are gods. We believe in the power that lies within the Earth and those forces that created it, not a single being. You ask "How is it that primitive Christianity was able to overcome so much of the paganism in Europe…". My answer? You killed them all or brainwashed them into service. Now, that is a little unjust. Forgive us, for we do not follow your lord. God save us, for we have our own minds. How do you know this "Jesus" you adore is not in fact the "Devil" you so dread? What makes you better than we? We don't go around killing people, making sacrifices, or anything harmful in the least…yet we are evil. This baffles me. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against your faith. I admire that so many feel so strongly about this "Son of God". But please understand that we are happy and it is unfair to try and tell us we're wrong. Live and let live. You write on your "Message to Pagans" page something about how we Pagans may never harm "god". That was never our intent anyway. We long to live without this opression. I really think someone needs to get their facts straight..and it's not me. I know full well about religion. According to you, those who do not follow your Christ are doomed to suffer in hell? Did you know that your dreaded image of "Satan" was in fact taken from the witches? The Horned One is our god, half goat, half man. In order to strike fear into your followers hearts, you showed this image. Why use such means to ruin lives? A Witch will not grovel to Jesus to save herself. For there is no need. Somehow your "god" will save the world. Then he is doing a bad job at it, I tell you. I would love a response, "god-willing" you find the time.

Yet another Wiccan writing in to "set me straight".

My wiccan name is Fire, and i am gonna set things straight. Ok i can tell you all you need to know, I am a Wiccan. Satan is not worshiped. Although most wiccans do not beleave in Jesus, I do. There is a god and a godess, the god protects the godess. If you think that Wiccans worship Satan, you are wrong and are one if the kind of people who caused what wiccans refer to as "The Burning Times" if you are one of the kind of people who cause the burning of witches or think that exodus 22:18 should be listened to, light a match and put one of your fingers in the flame. You tell me what you think it feels like! And you know what, I dont want to be soe punk teen, but I dont think you will even try burning your finger! Even better, go outside, put wood all over in front of a telephone pole, have someone tie you to it and LIGHT THE WOOD ON FIRE!! FEEL THE PAIN WITCHES FELT!!! Or you could just accept it and not listen to some crap in the bible, and leave your daughter alone!! The poor girl is probobly gonna be upseet if she finds out that u posted something about her. Hurry along and accept it.

I'm not in favor of burning witches, but rather that witches be given as much time as possible to repent before facing the true "Fire of God". God has no pleasure in the death of anyone. He wants us to turn and live. In the Old Testament times, it was not possible for a witch to repent, but now, through Jesus Christ, it is. Demons can be and are cast out in our day – in the Old Testament times it never happened, to my knowledge. That is why witches were put to death under the Old Covenant, to stop spiritual poison from irrevocably poisoning the people of God, and spreading the spirit of unfaithfulness against Yahweh. I don't think our God is apologising for telling His world that rebellion won't give you a future, that its time to return to His rule, or lose your chance to receive any goodness from Him in the eternal future, but rather only His righteous wrath which has been stored up because of your unbelieving and impenitent hearts!