My Beef With The Word “Pagan”
According to it’s definition, a “pagan” is “a person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main world religions.”(1)
But who is to decide what the “main religion of the world” is? Christians don’t have that right, Muslims don’t have that right, Polytheists (hellenic, panhellenic, henotheists, ditheists, etc.) don’t have that right, Atheists don’t have that right, and neither do Satanists or any other religion.
Synonyms for the words pagan include: heathen, infidel, skeptic, apostate, heretic, and paynim (also used for Muslims).
Now this does not mean that have an issue with Paganists or Neo-Paganists, I simply have a problem with the fact that we have a word to tell use who/what the correct god or religion to worship is.
No person’s religion should be discriminated against to satisfy the fact that you’re a Christian.
As a Hellenic Polytheist myself, I believe that I have a right to worship whatever god(s) I want. As a citizen of the United States, I remind all Americans that our first amendment protects our right to freedom of religion.
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