The following excerpts are from real people!
A question on Christians' opinion on Wicca was posted on
askme.com. I was surprised to see that most of the Christians that answered had bypassed
the usual "they believe in Satan" routine. However, not all of them. "They
say they are not satanic. BUT, they are."
However, why did this person say this? There are many people who
think that "the practice of witchcraft is certain damnation. Witchcraft kills,
Jesus saves." Yes, in their opinion, all witches will be damned. Christians are
certain that the only way is their way. "There is one way to eternal life. That
is through Jesus Christ. THERE IS NOT ANY OTHER WAY!!!! Straight is the gate, narrow is
the way." For them.
Many have problems with the Wiccan view of sin. "It does
not deal with the issues of sin (which I believe to be more than real). And it does not
offer forgiveness." A person can only be forgiven by doing good. A prayer can't
help. Wicca does deal with sin. "An' ye shall harm no one..." This means that
harming someone is bad. Who is bad shall be punished. Unless like after breaking off a
branch we put an offering for compensation.
The biggest problem they have about Wiccanism is that we worship
nature. Or at least the spirits of nature. They can't see that.
"The problem that I have with the Wiccan religion is that, to me, it honors the
creation more than the Creator. My God may have created the Earth, but He isn't bound by
its laws unless He chooses to be. He created the cycles of the seasons, life and death
etc. but they do not control Him or rule over Him."
"They worship things of the earth, immediately that breaks one of the 10
commandments!! And puts them in error."
"We should be grateful for the beauty that God gave us when he created nature and all
its wonders, but we should remain mindful of that Creator and when we put the creation
above the creator, then we are sinning."
Then there is that issue about Witchcraft. You don't have to agree
with me, but our rites are just like Christian prayers. Well, not totally, but similar.
They use candles and incense too. Magick is a way of asking the Gods for something, we may
do a little bit more hocus-pocus than they do. However, tot hem witchcraft is evil, no
matter the purpose, no matter the way.
"God considers witchcraft an abomination. It is playing god and brings one under
damnation! Don't play with fire or you'll get burned for sure."
"I do not believe that anyone has the ability to change cause and effect in this
manner. I believe that some people (Wiccans) want to believe this. If it makes them feel
better and that they have control in their lives then let them believe it. If they think
they are somehow "tapped" into some higher "power" good or evil then
that's their thing."
"If you read the scripture you will see that it is for OUR good that God has
forbidden us to involve ourselves in witchcraft. I trust God." A comment on this
one: He does, blindly.
"The Bible, makes no distinction between magic that is good and magic that is
evil. In the law given to Moses, God made his position quite clear."
There we go again, the Bible. I sometimes wonder if Wiccans had a
Bible, would we keep quoting it all the time? I sometimes wonder how many people have read
that book a couple of hundred times. Don't misunderstand me. I have no trouble with it as
a book, just the blind people in front of whose eyes I casts a shadow. Someone who was
once a Christian said: "Too many Christians feel that memorizing selected verses
equates to spiritual maturity. That can only be gained by thinking about what you
read." (For more on the Bible, read "Wiccans and the Bible.")
Now that we're at the Bible, let's see about that guy, Satan
again. Doing my survey Christians kept getting back to him.
"I worry about any religion that tells its people that there is no Satan. Believe
me he is real. He would love for you not to believe in him so that he can send you to hell
with his lies. ... (More about God and how good he is.) ... God is love and Satan
comes to kill and destroy as many as he can. Choose Life not death."
"You don't guard against an enemy (Satan) that you don't see as real."
After discussing Satan, there's also that thing about the one and
only God. How many times I was told that Wiccanism is simply wrong because of this!
"God loves all people. He also tells us he is a jealous God and does not wish for
us to worship idols. We are only to worship him."
"We as Christians have been instructed to have no other Gods before Yahweh."
I also stumbled across some people who thought that Wiccans were
just a self-loving bunch who thinks that they're gods.
"It puts self at the highest seat of judgment." The Gods judge and the
laws are the eternal ?
"They think that the term witch means wise woman. They are wise in their own
eyes."
"They believe that they can become gods and goddesses, can do spells that force
people to act one way even if their hearts' desires are something totally different."
Of course not all of the responses can be categorized like I was
just trying to do it. There was one very interesting:
(A preface before this one: "I think that Wiccans can be very nice but their
spiritual aspects are not very fulfilling not like the ones in Christianity.")
"Being that I was one before I know that Wiccan is not a spiritual performance and
most atheists turn Wiccan before turning to Christianity. I, at the moment, am helping my
friend who is Wiccan to become Christian who was Atheist before. So I would probably say
that Wiccan is a step from Atheist to Christianity which should not be taken too heavily
and should definitely be temporary to help evangelize to those who are not totally willing
to give their life to God. It is when they take it to extreme that you should be
worried." Sometimes it happens. My opinion again, like it or not: Wicca is for
people who need a certain kind of freedom. Who need few laws to know what is right or
wrong. Most of the religions don't offer that kind of freedom. Those are for people who
need to be told how to govern their lives. This could have happened with them. I know some
people who have tried to be Christian, or even have been Christians for many years, but
turned away from it for various reasons. Some of the reasons: "I was once a lay
speaker in the Methodist Church. It was precisely the kind of bigotry you are talking
about that led me to give up on Christianity." I tried Christianity too. I felt
chained down, but now my spirit flies.
I also got a very strange answer: "By their very nature,
of divination, spell casting etc, they are not Christian, even though some of them claim
to be." I think this man had Wiccans and witches confused. A witch can be
Christian, but a Wiccan is always a witch. I tried to make this guy understand this, but
he wouldn't.
To my surprise, I found a few who were quite tolerant with
Wiccans. To tell the truth, I expected a lot of rock-throwing and got only few.
"I have many friends that are Wiccan and I understand that their faith is not
about harming others through the use of spells etc. I also know that their main
"creed" is ... If one of my friends came to me with a problem, ... I would never
seek to condemn or ridicule them. I may not accept their religion as truth -- but I do
accept my friends unconditionally. ... I respect those who practice it. When it comes
right down to it, we are all men/women. We dream, we laugh, we cry, we bleed. I will
gladly answer the questions put before me -- but I don't believe in grabbing a cattle prod
and trying to "drive" everyone into Heaven."
"I personally have no problem with anyone choosing their religion. We all see the
world differently and rather then judging and saying "They are evil" or
"They're wrong" If you feel that way, don't judge, rather pray for them in a
nonboasting silent manner."
It's a good thing to know that not everyone thinks that their way is the only way.
At last, but not list, a thought after reading all these answers,
by a fellow Wiccan (this person has a name that clearly says that the person is a witch):
"I answer questions on some of the religion boards and have been toasted roasted
and plucked apart by "Christians". I have held my ground and even complained
about how answers were rated. There was quite a war and even one person suggested I change
my name because it was "offensive". Well there was a board war and somehow
people started feeling guilty for rating good honest answers with a 1 because of its was
motivated by the devil that I personally worshipped. WELL things cooled and now ratings
are flying high and things seem to settle with honorable intentions. We shall see. I went
to the other and checked it out. FINALLY intellect over comes ignorance."
Ignorance is a way of hiding. I don't say from the truth, but from
understanding and acceptance. People and their views vary, I'm glad that there were few
angry responses, even if there were many blind ones.
