I ask you to accept me

[nahkoe]

It's nice to see you Brother Benincasa. It's been a long time!

[Evang.Benincasa]

Originally Posted by nahkoe

It's nice to see you Brother Benincasa. It's been a long time!

Nice to see you too my friend, hope all is well.

[nahkoe]

Originally Posted by Evang.Benincasa

Nice to see you too my friend, hope all is well.

All is VERY well.

[houston]

[OneEyedFatMan]

This is John Atkinson, forgot the JA account password.

I am just going to acknowledge that coming back here was a mistake. Like oil and water, Christians and Pagans/Wiccans just don't mix.

To points.

Firstly, I am not Gardnerian. "Wicca" can be defined a bunch of different ways. I am more of an Eclectic Solitary, meaning I don't nor will I likely ever, belong to a coven. I walk the path alone and am content in that.

Gardner was pretty far out there, but he did bring witchcraft into the public view.
As to it dating to the 1950s. True. Some of the forms and practices are as old as humans.

The OP religion only dates back to the early 1900's so ya got me beat by fifty years. As for the claims it dates all the way back to the original church? That is as wild and as false as Wicca dating back in it's entirety to ancient times. I have read the books... and Marvin Arnold was the most blatant revisionist historian I ever saw, and as far out there as Gardner was. OPism is like most all modern religions, an amalgam with bits and pieces of the original, bits of catholicism, bits of protestantism, and other bits o' this and that.

Secondly. The old gods. That was kind of TIC actually. I believe in God, just don't believe he is a single parent. Father God, Mother Goddess... acknowledging both the male and female aspects of the universe. The "old" gods and goddesses are all merely aspects of that. Also note the use of the word "honor" not "worship". I don't "worship" anything. They never made any promises, unlike another religion I could name where the promises flow freely but seem like so much hot air.

On Jesus, Do I believe he was. Yup. Do I believe he was a swell guy? Fer sure. Do I believe he rose from the dead? Not so much. Was he even dead to begin with? Maybe... Maybe not. Do I believe his disciples rigged it. Maybe so. I am supposed to believe all that based on no evidence whatsoever. Except the words of a book filled with errors and contradictions. I really just ain't wired that way. Wicca doesn't require faith in anything.

He might have been the excuse behind Christianity, but Paul was the architect of it. Pretty brilliant actually. He took an obscure regional cult and spun it into a global concern. Then governments spun it into a control mechanism and here we all are.

Thirdly, these scriptures in Hebrews some of you keep tossing at me. Those come from that book that says the universe was created in seven days (it wasn't) and that the whole earth was flooded (it wasn't). The Bible is chock full of stories and tales best described as mythology. I don't believe your book is the "Unadulterated Word of God." It has been plenty adulterated over the centuries. Suppose all that makes me reprobate. Fine. Not all that sure I really ever believed it, because I always questioned it.

I have always been a guy who never really fit anywhere. By trying to fit with the OP crowd I was probably betraying who I am. Now I fit, even it is with me and the world around me.

Fourthly, I follow the creed that says "harm none" and "whatever you do, bad or good comes back at you threefold." Even as an OP I tried to be respectful of everyone regardless of their doctrines. I was one of the very few here who was nice to that Islamic fellow that used to post here and even struck up a friendship of sorts.

I carry that forward to now with treating everyone with respect be they Christian, Jewish, Islamic, all gazillion flavors of neo-pagan, Buddhist, Taoist and whatever-ist. Not-anti anyone. But if you disrespect or mistreat me I am not under any obligation to not give back as good as I get.

I will leave with saying that some of the most toxic people I have ever encountered were OP. And I am quite delighted to divorce myself from them and the system that spawned them.
So to them I bid "sayonara."

I did also encounter some of the most super nice people, who were also OP. To you I bid "au revoir."

[CC1]

John, I am honestly grieved reading your post. I don't know what to say so I will only say that I am praying for you and I don't mean that in any derogatory way. I am praying that somehow God's love and touch that was on your life at one time comes to your remberance as something that was very real regardless of what the devil tells you now. Regardless of whether you believe it or not right now Jesus Christ was God in the flesh and he died for your sins and seeks relationship with you.

[good samaritan]

My prayers also go out to John. I don't understand how any could deny my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I have close relatives who have left the Church and got involved in wicca. Things haven't been good for them. I am not glorying in that, but I sorry for it. We have an adversary that's sole purpose is to get us to deny God. In Job's case it was to curse God. Jesus is a very merciful God and I hope that John finds his way to Him.

[JRK]

Bro John,
All I can say is sometimes we all doubt. Even Jesus disciples who walked with Him, had their moments. Most of the great men & women in the Bible had failed miserably@ times. David did & he was referred to as a man after God's own heart. Abraham was referred to as a friend of God. Peter was the one who preached after the Holy Ghost 1st fell.
I said all that to say, you may doubt right now, but God still loves you & has a plan for you.
I appreciate all your kindness you showed me through the few years I was@ GNC! I learned a lot from you & your Christ like attitude. I will continue to pray for you.

[aegsm76]

JA - I truly don't know what to say.
Just wish we could have met in real life and enjoyed some eats and drinks.
As for me, I have seen too much of another world to ever doubt it.
I have also seen too much of people playing at Christianity that would let me doubt it.
You might feel more at home in the political portion of AFF!
We regularly forget we are Christians, over there!
(Said sort of TIC)

[ILG]

John,

Not sure why you're running out on us. Lots of people have been accepting of you here. Sure some people will give you a hard time. But many more will just talk with you. They will tell you their opinions but that's what this is all about.