A Christian Wiccan?  
 

Though other articles have been things I've had published, this instead is an e-mail I sent.  I did not want to see its message lost for I think it has relevance to more than just the person I sent it to.
 

Hello Moon Star.  I saw your post, and some of the others posts, and felt compelled to answer your  question.  How can someone be Christian and Wiccan?  It's not that hard of a leap to make; it just depends upon your point of view.

If you stick to the dogma preached by a patriarchal church, I can see where there would be confusion on the issue.  According to them, only the faithful, the children of God, will be rewarded with heavenly life after death.  Unfortunately, many of those types of Christians see it as their duty to cast doubt upon the faiths of others, including the religious practices of other Christians.

They shout that the bible states "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," ignoring the historical fact that this is a deliberate corruption of the original text.  [Suffer not a poisoner to live.]  They also overlook the fact that Solomon called upon a witch to aid him by divining the future during battles.  Or that Joseph interpreted dreams.  Both considered to be satanic practices by them.

They claim that we "owe" God for our creation, overlooking the fact that while God may have created Adam and Eve, mankind was already in existence.  That's in the bible since it is stated that the sons of Adam and Eve married the daughters of men.  So, who made the men?  Obviously, since the bible states "let us make man in our image, and so they were created, male and female," I'd say there was more than one god ("our" image) and the gods were male and female.  These Christians refuse to deal with that, and state that Satan has corrupted those who would hold to such an interpretation.

They judge all not like them and sentence us to "burn in the fiery pits of hell."  But they overlook Jesus' admonishment that they "judge not lest ye be judged; for as ye judge, so shall ye be judged."  Basically, if you condemn people out of ignorance and intolerance, you will be judged in the final days by the same criteria - and will most likely be found wanting.

But that is one type of Christian.  And, no, I don't believe that type could also be Wiccan as well.  It's unfortunate that this type is the more prevalent, and more vocal, of the faithful.

But there is another type of Christian.  One who recognizes that dogma is just that - the dictates of humans (mostly male), and that dogma is a form of power and control over the masses.  This Christian bases his or her faith instead upon the words of Christ.  That's not the bible in its entirety - only the words of Christ as they are reported in the bible.

Christ taught his followers (not just the apostles, the founding fathers of the Christian church) to be compassionate and tolerant, to be accepting of even the lowest of persons without judging them.  He told his followers to meet God, and others, as a child with the innocence of a child.  He loved all men, even those who would harm him.  He did not say that his way was the only true way, as evidenced by the parable of the good Samaritan, in which he demonstrated that the righteous can also be of other faiths.

Jesus revered women and men, and held neither above the other, despite what the bible states.  Think about it for a minute - would women truly follow a man who viewed them as second class citizens the way the modern church does?  The people who were with him at the crucifixion were women.  It was the women who went to tend to the body.  It was the women who kept Christ's teachings alive, and who spread it, during the persecutions.

Christ tried to show that all are children of creation.  He sought at all times to help those less fortunate.  And his teaching method was not to preach or degrade, but to show servitude towards humanity by action.  He respected life in all its forms.

Wicca's only tenant is 'An it harm none, do what ye will.'  We allow for tolerance since all paths of enlightenment lead back to the divine, the male and female divine.  Christ revered his mother, Mary (female divine born without sin), and his father, God (male divine).  Christ never claimed to be a god, only a man doing the creator's work.  A man who had respect for all of his father's creations.

This type of Christian would have no problem in also practicing Wicca.  It is unfortunate that it seems there are so few of these types.  It reminds me of something someone wrote earlier this week on a chat I participated in.  He had been removed as a moderator for an all religions chat room because of his beliefs; he followed a shamanistic path.  One of the other moderators was currently being subjected to hateful comments by the participating Christians who ran all non-Christians out of the room.  No one was defending the other moderator, and the chat room organizers were asking her to remain silent about her beliefs, but stay on as moderator.  Both people had been asked to be moderators for this "all religion" chat room by the organizers because of their faiths.

The first moderator's comment as to why the other should remain and continue posting about Wicca was something like, "Just because I have been silenced, do not remain silent yourself, for then who will hear us?"

Let them have their faith, and let it go.  Where they harass you, speak out and let the law deal with them.  Judge not all of them by the actions of a few.  Let your actions, instead, speak for you.

As for a Jewish Wiccan, hey - Lilith existed before Adam had Eve created.  And in the Aramaic text, the words used for God in the old testament (earliest books) either were gender neutral or were in female gender form.  And did you know that a Magdeline (as in Mary Magdeline) was actually a priestess of a Goddess?  Yes, it's true, she wasn't a prostitute or fallen woman.  There's more, but this is enough for now.

Oops, guess I've been preaching too.  Sorry.

Mother
 

 

© 2001 Mother