{"id":5289,"date":"2013-03-05T03:18:14","date_gmt":"2013-03-05T10:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=5289"},"modified":"2013-03-04T21:19:20","modified_gmt":"2013-03-05T04:19:20","slug":"is-paganism-doomed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=5289","title":{"rendered":"Is Paganism Doomed?"},"content":{"rendered":"

No, this is not the judgment of one of the usual (Pagan) suspects.<\/p>\n

It is a tangent spun off a column by Rod Dreher, who comments frequently on ecclesiastical matters. He was raised a southern Protestant, converted to Roman Catholicism, left that church over the sex-abuse scandals, and is now an Orthodox Christian \u2014 although he is aware that the Orthodox churches are not scandal-free either.<\/p>\n

Although Dreher and I are a little different theologically, I think that he would pass the next-door-neighbor test, especially as he loves to cook and appreciates the cuisine of his native Louisiana. Maybe he would invite me over now and then.<\/p>\n

Like many members of the chattering classes, Dreher has been looping back again and again to the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. What does it mean for the future?<\/em> and all that sort of thing. (Me, I wonder if the prophecy-falsely-attributed-to-St.-Malachy<\/a> is right, and the next guy will indeed be the last pope. Then<\/em> we can ask some questions.)<\/p>\n

So in the course of musing on the future of Christianity and religion in general, he quotes some Brazilian who says that interest in Brazil’s established Afro-Brazilian traditions is diminishing.<\/p>\n

[Quoting the Brazilian:] As I said in other topics, christianity in America and Europe is not the only faith that is hemorraging people: as follower of the so called \u2018african paganism\u2019 (macumba), here in Brazil, it\u2019s baffling to see the temples devoid of young people: of the dozens of young man and woman I know only three (including me) are active. In my mother\u2019s generation, almost everyone in Brazil was macumbeiro (follower of the macumba), today temples are closing, the priests are spiritually weak, and one rarely see the offerings to the spirits in the crossroads, beaches and graveyards.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And he decides that paganism [sic<\/em>] is preferable to atheism, even if it is not the Real Thing.<\/p>\n

Personally, I find paganism far more attractive than atheism, because pagans, however mistaken their understanding (from a Christian point of view) nevertheless share with Christians a recognition that there is Something There beyond ourselves, and the material world. I can have (have had) a fruitful, engaging discussion with my friend and commenter Franklin Evans, a pagan, in a way that I just can\u2019t with friends who have no spiritual or religious beliefs, or a sense of the numinous.<\/p>\n

My guess, and it\u2019s only that, is that some pagans will fall away from the practice of their faith for the same reason many Christians are: because it doesn\u2019t make sense in our scientistic, materialistic, consumerist world. At the same time, I think that paganism stands to gain overall from the unchristening of the West. If you look at the Asatru<\/a> site, this neopagan religion speaks to longings that are deep within all of us, and cannot be suppressed forever.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the rest, it’s interesting.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No, this is not the judgment of one of the usual (Pagan) suspects. It is a tangent spun off a column by Rod Dreher, who comments frequently on ecclesiastical matters. He was raised a southern Protestant, converted to Roman Catholicism, left that church over the sex-abuse scandals, and is now an Orthodox Christian \u2014 although […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,180,24,5],"class_list":["post-5289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-american-religion","tag-brazil","tag-christianity","tag-paganism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-1nj","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6514,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=6514","url_meta":{"origin":5289,"position":0},"title":"The Mind of the Native and the Mind of the Witch","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"June 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Typical Colorado foothills weather \u2014 from snow on the ground mid-May to temperatures in the 80s F. by the first of June. What is this \"spring\" people speak of? If you have hummingbirds and snow at the same time, that is our spring. Some links: \u2022 Rod Dreher posts on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"animism\"","block_context":{"text":"animism","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=animism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":735,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=735","url_meta":{"origin":5289,"position":1},"title":"Can you adopt a tradition?","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"October 11, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"It's not just contemporary Pagans who are vexed by that problem. Journalist Ron Dreher of the Crunchy Con[servative] blog tries to respond to a political conservative's criticism, the critic being columnist Maggie Gallagher.And then his commenters arrive in flocks.And the argument goes around and around, sounding very much like Wiccans\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1078,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1078","url_meta":{"origin":5289,"position":2},"title":"Trapped in Chicago Bookstore","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"October 31, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Hotel room view, across Grant Park towards the Field Museum, Aquarium, etc.When I booked this hotel, across the street from the Chicago Hilton Hotel, the AAR's main annual meeting venue, I had no idea that it was only a block from one of Chicago's Powell's bookstores. M. and I are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"books\"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=books"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=chascli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0802776760","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1211,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1211","url_meta":{"origin":5289,"position":3},"title":"Thor versus the Cathedrals","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"September 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"A complete translation of psychologist Carl Jung's personal workbook, the \"Red Book,\" is about to be published.Some people feel that nobody should read the book, and some feel that everybody should read it. The truth is, nobody really knows. Most of what has been said about the book \u2014 what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Christianity\"","block_context":{"text":"Christianity","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=christianity"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1237,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1237","url_meta":{"origin":5289,"position":4},"title":"‘Occult Park’ Resurrected in Dallas","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"October 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"And apparently it is causing the Dallas Cowboys to lose football games.Hecate has the details.How come ace Dallas religion blogger Rod Dreher has not been all over this one?","rel":"","context":"In \"weirdness\"","block_context":{"text":"weirdness","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=weirdness"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":909,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=909","url_meta":{"origin":5289,"position":5},"title":""Dowsing for the Dead"","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"July 21, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I cannot improve on the headline that Dallas religion journalist Rod Dreher put on his own blog post.But if you hang around dowsers, you will not hear the world \"occult\" much. The old ones, at least, were a practical bunch, although a newer generation got all wrapped up in \"earth\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"dowsing\"","block_context":{"text":"dowsing","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=dowsing"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5289"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5292,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5289\/revisions\/5292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}