Kathie Lee and the Pagans

Melba Sibrel · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008, 16:53 (GMT) Post subject:

Okay, here's one for you: Kathie Lee Gifford, Eddie Izzard and Louis Farrakan walk into a bar....oh, never mind. Someone is sure to offended.

Cast a circle, cast dispersions. Tolerance is a two-edged sword. With Wiccans supposedly now outnumbering Unitarians (not an impressive feat outside Minnesota, I'm sure) I believe you're safe.

But if I see Romans, Nazis or Puritans coming your way, I'll give you a holler.

Dina Monaco-Boland · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008, 23:27 (GMT) Post subject:

Melba,

I gotta say... I really enjoy your posts. You are one sharp cookie. Love your witty retorts to one of my fav guys JS.

To Ember:

Although I am a born again Christian (collective sucking in of air) I swear, laugh at off color jokes, absolutely LOVE Stephen King, drink, have piercings, and a tatoo. I guess I better stop there.

Our family is greatly involved with the peace project called the Ulster Project. Some may have heard of it. Anyone curious can email or PM me. Simply put it deals directly with brining peace between religious/political factions.

Currently we have 2 Northern Irish boys staying with us (total of 12 teens came in all, half catholic, half protestant, all with American host teens) with our son as their American teen partner to help teach tolerance amongst the differing beliefs. One of our boys is from the Fountain area of LondonDerry/Derry-- the caged area. Pretty heavy stuff.

To respond as you have Ember is how I believe we all should respond; with love. As much as I hate to admit it, I don't always respond in that way. The Sicilian in me fires me up. I need to work more on that.

Always learning in many areas. That's a good thing.

Good for you for keeping your head and being such a good example.

Scott Pollak · Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008, 14:24 (GMT) Post subject:

I just now finally got around to reading this thread because initially the thread title didn't seem like anything that would interest me.

First of all, thanks to my sweet friend "Ember for her very kind comments.

Next: the thing with Kathie Lee could have gone either way. It may have been a poor attempt at a joke that simply didn't come across well (that's kind of what it sounded like to me), or she's just not real smart.

I don't believe in browbeating anyone over the head with my beliefs. I believe in intelligent, open discussion, but if you don't have respect for the other person then you'll never be able to touch their mind or heart. Yes, I'm a strong Christian, but in the end it's not up to me to say that everyone MUST think as I do or else they'll all burn in hell. Obviously I believe what I believe for a reason (I did NOT check my brain at the church door as so many do... and - even more gasps here - I actually believe in evolution, the Big Bang and so on) and I like to share what I think and feel, but believe the way to do that is to first get to know someone for who they are. Become a TRUE friend, someone who cares about THEM as a person, not as a number to be added to the 'conversion chart' and then over time they may - or may NOT - be interested in learning more about why you feel the way you do.

When I first met 'Ember via this forum I was admittedly put off by her beliefs and practices, but I tried not to be a jerk about it. Over the past year or two we've had the opportunity to get to know each other pretty well and honestly, I just love her. Her heart is so much more huge and pure than a lot of Christians I know and my life is blessed by having her in it. I won't be changing my religious beliefs because of that, and I suspect she won't either, but life is just fine with us co-existing in loving harmony side by side.

Wish more of the world could do that.

September knows I love her.

Caryn Clark · Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008, 19:02 (GMT) Post subject:

Ahhh... yes, thank you Melba. A wiccan is a person - Pagan is the religion. Sorry for that mix up in my above post.

Melba Sibrel · Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008, 21:15 (GMT) Post subject:

No, Caryn....I wasn't "correcting" you or anybody. But I'll correct you now. Laughing

Pagan is not a religion. Pagan is a person. It's the Greek word used in ancient times meaning "country dweller". These were farmers who adhered to the cults following the gods and goddesses of nature and/or agricultural pursuits. That's the origin and true meaning of the word and that was the context of Pagan in the question The Katie Lee asked in the clip posted waaay back at the beginning of the thread.

In the postmodern west the term neo-paganism has been coined to include a number of beliefs and folks (organized or not), but includes practioners of Wicca, which is a fairly modern spin on the beliefs, rituals and "reap what you sow" lifestyle practices developed from pre-Christian nature religions of druids and/or other northern European farm folk. Whew. I'm wrung out.

(I don't mean to be teacher-y...and it's not even my "religion" but I read up on lots of different belief systems out of curiosity. Sorta a strange nerdy hobby of mine, it just so happens)

Caryn Clark · Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008, 22:13 (GMT) Post subject:

AHH.... you see, I wasn't sure, so when I saw your post, I thought, "Oh, that's it!!"

THANK YOU for clearing that up!!!! Now I'll go do a little research myself so as to not make myself appear more foolish than I already am. Laughing