Friday, November 2, 2018

Rebuttal #3 :

On Halloween, Pastor Sam posted his 3rd blog against Paganism and Witchcraft.  How appropriate.  I didn't let that ruin my holiday fun, though, and I enjoyed spending time with my witchiest of friends.  And now, it's time for me to work on my 3rd rebuttal. 

First, as always, here is Sam's blog post for you to read. Why Christians Should Be Against Witchcraft

In this particular blog post, Pastor Sam talks about the Hebrew and Greek words which have been translated to mean "witchcraft" in the Bible.  He was fairly accurate about some things, and not so much about others.  "Kasap" in Hebrew means "to long or yearn after".  Pharmakeia is obviously poisoning by using drugs.  I own a few of the books of Cyprian which are full of ancient magick.  Some of them most certainly use ingredients such as eel's blood, which is highly toxic.  Think of a time when people aren't educated and are very supersititious.  Then think of people who know a bit of herbalism and are able to use that knowledge to make others fear them.  Pastor Sam even agrees with this translation of "pharmakeia", but then in his last paragraph he says it clearly refers to witchcraft and paganism today.  I'm not quite following his reasoning there. 

Now let's talk about the word "qesem".  Literally it means "one who distributes distributions".  Pastor Sam says it means "the cultic practice of foreign nations, specifically, it was used to discern between two choices".  There's a bit of a discrepancy in meaning here.  And much to be disturbed about as he makes the comparison between this and paganism.  He is basically saying that  paganism is the cultic practice of foreign nations.  Excuse me?  Much of paganism is nature based and comes from ancient Native American spirituality.  And hello.  They were here first.  So, who brought cultic practices of foreign nations to America?  Not the pagans.  Pastor Sam says that this is why Christians should be against Pagan Pride happening.  This makes no sense.  Pastor Sam is saying that Pagans are practicing the "cultic practices of foreign nations" and yet the Pagans are practicing a spirituality that is much closer to what was originally here in this land before some of our European ancestors destroyed it.  And many of them destroyed it in the name of the Christian god, I might add. 

So now let's talk about "specifically, as it was used to discern between two choices".  Pastor Sam is comparing this to divination.  That's fair, I suppose, as much of divination is done to help people make decisions.  This is a topic I can speak about with much confidence as I practice divination on a regular basis.  So, first of all, do you know how the 11 apostles chose the 12th?  They cast lots. Do you know what casting lots is?  It is throwing a set of objects, sticks or stones with markings, etc., in order to make a decision.  There is a TON of lot casting in the Bible.  Seriously.  One of my divination methods is casting bones.  There are three or four actual bones in that bag.  The rest are trinkets that I chose to represent certain things.  The querent will feel the bag of "stuff" between their hands while focusing on an issue and then pass it back to me.  I drop the bag of stuff onto a chart and then interpret their meanings.  This is not ANY different from casting lots.  Also, do you know about the Urim and Thummim?  They were two objects of now unknown nature used by a High Priest in the Old Testament for, you guessed it, DIVINATION.  They were likely two stones.  They were kept in the breastplate of the High Priest.  These were often used to make a decision between two choices.

I come to two different conclusions when considering all of this.  Either God (Jehovah) is a God of contradictions who likes to tell His followers one thing at one time, then changes his mind at another and goes against what He originally said, or else those people who commissioned translations of the Bible and chose which books to keep, etc., had their own agendas.  King James comes to mind.  A superstitious, paranoid demonologist who was terrified of witchcraft and magick.  And also a bit of a homophobe.  What version of the Bible is most often  used today?  The KJV.  You can say this book is God inspired and infallible, but seriously, it was just put together by human men.  Human men.  Who have their own agendas and abuse their positions of power.  I mean really, if God was inspiring the translations of the Bible, wouldn't there be just ONE?  One that made more sense?  Wouldn't it be PERFECT??  Because I have to tell you, it isn't.  What do you think of the "Book of Mormon"?  Joseph Smith said it was "God-inspired".  Who's to say it isn't?  You?  Because you are a fundamentalist Christian?  The conundrum becomes the fact that I will ask "what makes YOUR book the RIGHT book?"  and all you can say is "the book says it is".  Well, duh.  That's the only possible answer.  One day I was inspired and I wrote a version of creation that didn't come from me.  Honestly it didn't.  I just sat and the words poured out.  So, is my version the "right" one?  I can say that it is because I wrote it.  It's right for me.  This I know.  Incidentally, if you want to read it, let me know and I'll send it to you.

Let's talk about divination a bit more.  I have a beloved aunt who spent about 15 years as a cloistered nun.  She has had major issues with me doing divination.  So, I went to someone I admire who spent years as a monk before leaving that calling, getting married and having children.  He is a medium, meaning that he has the ability to see those who have crossed over and receive messages from them.  He is also still very spiritual.  He gave me much insight into what I do when I cast bones and read cards and what he does when he practices mediumship.  If you listen to the weather forecast, that is a form of divination.  It truly is.  The meteorologist is looking at the current conditions to predict what will happen in the future.  I do the same thing.  My client and I will look at the current conditions and the current path he/she is on and predict what might happen in the future if the client continues on that path.  If there is some danger ahead, the cards or bones might give a warning.  The purpose of this is to prevent the danger.  So, we actually hope the "forecast" at that point does NOT come true.  Anything can change the future.  One small choice here or there, one small delay, saving a butterfly, these all affect what will occur.  I also do my readings for free but I do accept tips.  So, I'm not out trying to con anyone out of their money.  And I'm not getting rich from it.  I am honestly trying to help people.  More often than not, our reading sessions turn into a sort of counseling session. 

One thing the "metro monk" (that's his entertainment name) told me is that from a Catholic Catechism standpoint, it is absolutely wrong for anyone else to tell me that my vocation is wrong.  You really don't get to do that.  My path is not yours.  Pastor Sam, your path is not mine.  Who am I to say that you are on the wrong path?  I admire your passion for your faith.  I sense a "spark" in you.  You might not understand what I mean by that and that's fine.  Your faith is just as wrong for people of certain other faiths as their faiths are wrong for you.  And honestly, to think that your path is the only path is prideful.  Way more prideful than a Pagan Pridefest. 

Under his link to his blog post on his Facebook page, I posted a link to an article about the persecution of witches by Christians.  It has a lot of good information.  It is also a bit terrifying.  HORRIBLE things were done, HORRIBLE murders committed, HORRIBLE tortures carried out in the name of Jehovah.  You really should read the article.  It is eye opening.  I'll post it here. Christian Persecution of Witches.  I would think that good Christians, instead of going forth and spreading more fear of that which they do not understand, would instead condemn the evil acts of those that went before them.  This takes me back to the Bible again.  I love the Ten Commandments.  I really do.  "Thou Shalt Not Kill" is one of them.  God says it, loud and clear.  He communicates this through Moses (another favorite of mine).  But later on, how many times does He tell people to kill someone?  Kill witches.  Stone adulterers.  So, which is it?  Don't kill anyone, or just kill certain people?  Kill non-Christians?  Have an inquisition?  And of course, he tells Abraham to kill Isaac.  Then He says "just kidding, I was testing you".  If Jehovah is all knowing, the alpha and omega, all that is seen and unseen, why did he need to test Abraham?  This all would bring me to a huge discussion about Gnosticism and the demiurge.  But that's for another time. '

Finally, I would like to discuss the fact that Pastor Sam met with two representatives of our local organized Pagan community.  From what I understand, that was a very positive meeting.  Both parties were able to have a civilized discussion and talked about their own backgrounds and religions.  Pastor Sam also agreed not to protest Pagan Pridefest.  Then he wrote his third blog post about why Christians should be against witchcraft and in this particular blog post, he once again mentioned that there should not be a Pagan Pridefest.  Since I was not at this particular meeting, I am not able to speak to what was said or not said.  However, Pastor Sam is now talking about how "you people will not be happy until I embrace a universalism".  I disagree.  I think all the pagans want is for everyone to live in harmony as our creator intended.  Pastor Sam, you don't have to believe what they believe, but you do need to love thy neighbor and let them practice their religion in peace.  I guarantee they aren't going to perform any sacrifices.  They are some of the most peaceful people I know.  I have to respect a religion that has "harm none" as one of their tenets.  Does Christianity?  I ask, WHY would our creator want us to harm each other?  WHY would He/She tell any of us to kill others of us?  WHY???  Does any parent want their children to harm each other?  No?  Then WHY DOES GOD?  My answer to that is that I don't think He does.  I believe with all my heart that God wants us to live alongside each other in peace and harmony, being true to our own paths. 

As for me, I am a protector.  I will continue to watch out for those who are oppressed and bullied.  Even if the oppressors and bullies are Christians.  Even if they are pastors.  I will uphold the cause for religious freedom in our country.  Pastor Sam Jones, if you are oppressed, I will fight for your cause.  I really will.  I will fight for my lgbtq friends, my transgender friends, my Pagan friends, my Muslim friends, anyone who you are speaking out against and infringing on their right to pursue happiness, I will fight for.  And if anyone speaks out against you and infringes on your right to pursue happiness, I will fight for you.  You are entitled to your religion as long as your religion doesn't infringe on the rights of others of different religions or lifestyles.  That's the way I see it.  Religious persecution of any kind is wrong and needs to be a thing of the past.

In closing, I can honestly say that I've enjoyed the dialogue via blog posts with Pastor Sam.  We do not agree with each other and in my opinion, that is fine.  I enjoy intelligent conversation and debate and Pastor Sam is certainly intelligent and a worthy opponent.  I wish you the best, Pastor Sam (and Patrick Wyett, you, too) and hope that our conversations help us both to grow.  Peace.


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