After having been raised in the United Church of Canada (a fairly liberal protestant denomination), I chose to convert to Wicca. The theology/thealogy and worldview struck me as being much more in tune with what I believed. I read The Spiral Dance and found myself going “you know, that’s what I already believe” on each page.
In the form I believe, Wicca is an animist rather than a dualist religion. That is to say, our gods do not run the universe; they are the universe. That’s why I have faith in my gods: I see them every time I open my eyes and look at anything real.
Secondly, the ethical structure is not a battle of opposites. The polarized battle of opposites to be found in monotheistic religions is destructive, because it maps good vs. evil, God vs. Satan, Christ vs. antiChrist, etc., onto all other dual pairs: spirit vs. body, chastity vs. sex, man vs. woman, white vs. black, conformity vs. deviance, yankee vs. commie… in other words, all us vs. them. The desire is The One Right, True, and Just Way - Ours!! - and then follow it. I find that kind of world-view simplistic and immature; a denial of complexity. Instead, I use a humanistic process of reflection, doubt, and balance to embrace complexity rather than deny and cancel it.
**Moderator’s note: This is, of course, a fake Matt_Mcl. I’ve locked this thread and not deleted it to preserve the evidence. Copying someone’s real name is too far over the line, and I intend for there to be repurcussions.
-manhattan