/b/ - Random

All religions are cringe because they were created by men. I think religion can be a very good tool for fostering a sense of community and keeping a culture on tract, but men corrupt too easily.
That being said, radical feminists need to create our own church. That way, under the freedom of being a church and a religion, we can gain the rights we've always fought for. In religion, it's okay to separate things by sex. In religion, it's okay to hold unwoke views. We could make abortion an unalienable right and the courts would have to uphold it or else strip other religions of their freedoms.

Paganism isn't inherently cringe, but the vast majority of people who claim it are the epitome of cringe. Fat goth girls who do witchcraft, American mutt moids who decided they're Scandinavian, retard "good vibes" empath girls who smoke weed, etc

It doesn't have to be. My partner's family are a kind of pagan, I guess - though more of a spiritual kind with cultural influence from the old country. Until I met them, my only experience was neo-pagans, wiccans ect. marching with pro-LGBT banners and casting spells to curse racist politicians. Seeing a large community of people who believe in preserving nature, treating the earth and its forces with respect, and following a code of honesty, kindness and compassion with others was kind of a shock.

You could say it's cringe to pay honour to spirits at certain times of year, and practice sacrifice for good fortune, but when it boils down to large family gatherings around harvests, followed by feasts, bonfires, singing and dancing, it seems so damn cynical to dismiss it because their rituals and the language they use to describe their beliefs are different to dominant institutions, and yet functionally identical to most major parts of those dominant religions. People can talk about the holy ghost, will of god, blessings ect. in an Abrahamic context, but start talking about the spirits of nature, destiny and good fortune, and people instantly dismiss it as primitive, old-world hokey crap.

His family may be odd, but I have never seen anyone turned away or abandoned by that family. I've never a child mistreated or treated as anything but a blessing. I've never seen any woman from that family shown anything but love, care and acceptance. Abortion, marriage outside of their race, moving to distant cities ect. might not be approved of, but they still love and cherish each other because their religion binds them so closely. I don't believe, and I doubt our child will, but I am so glad that my baby will be brought up surrounded by these hippy-dippy pagans.

Yes. Anything other than atheism is cringe.

>>93090
Dunno it can be inspiring and relaxing sometimes (religion usually has some nice aesthetic), but dedicated following of paganic lifestyle/rituals/celebrations is definitely cringe. I can read info about pagan goddesses and goddess-worship sometimes and even play with the thought of believing in them, but a fanatical approach to that subject is just off-putting; i cant understand ppl who try to live their life in the most "pagan" way possible - thats seems like a cult

>>93090
No, it isn't always cringe. It's like any other thing, if cringey people do it it will become cringe.

Is Hinduism pagan?

>>93439
Really depends on how you want to spin the term "pagan". For the notion that most people carry which is "polytheism" as a religion, most mainstream Hindu sects have one principle personality or god (Vishnu, Shiva, etc.) and all the other "gods" that may be mentioned or worshiped are considered "facets" of this main deity. i.e. no matter what God you're worshipping, he's just this aspect of Vishnu, which means he's just Vishnu. Contrast with abrahamic religion where "God is a jealous god" and worshiping anything that isn't that god is considered evil.

The so called "old gods" died a long, long time ago. There's nothing more pathetic than modern people trying to resurrect these putrid idols.
New-ageism/paganism/neo-paganism (same thing, different names), is a CIA moid psyop. See how many women waste their time, money, and, worse, intelligence with futile things like magick, astrology, tarot and the like. If you can't see the whole thing is yet another scammy industry, I have bad news for you.

>>93101
Please don't be offended but your SO seems kinda low-quality. If his family's way of life is so good, he should have picked someone who actually believes in it.

>>93445
You glow a little bit. New age shit is worthless but you're wrong on trascending being impossible. Sticking to the material world is the actual CIA moid psyop.

>>93491
death is always better than subversion

>>93496
purity spiral in a nutshell

>>93449
But…I do believe in their way of life. I did just extol the virtues of it, didn't I? Do you really mean he should only have a relationship with people who believe the exact same things his family does? I hate to tell you, but HE doesn't believe either, and the only people who do believe are related to him.

Yes, it’s not cute.
You’re not pagan, you’re not a witch, you’re not spiritual. Stop trying to find alt-religions to be “quirky” around.

Yeah a bit.
Cringe is a part of life tbh, most “beliefs” we have are cringe if you think about it too much. As long as it doesn't cause harm and won’t get in the way of your life it’s fine imo. It’s not like I think pagan beliefs will get you sent to the fanfic torture chamber for all eternity, that’s ridiculous.

>>93090
It definitely can be, especially the money that's being made off it, "uwu this crystal will help you relax", but I find Christianity more cringe at this point.

If something works for you it works for you. Even placebos can help people. Just don't go full schizo

>>94125
Christianity is the cringest of all, full agree here

>>93097
based.

>>93097
did you guys ever hear of the pussy church of modern witchcraft?

>>93124
This.
>>93104
kek there are soo many fucking cringy atheist moids out there it's not even funny. Many of them have some pretty "religious" or "spiritual" beliefs (beliefs that aren't based in material reality), too, but are in denial and won't call them that.

>>94146
i'll take an atheist moid over a religious moid 100000000x over. besides, most formerly edgy atheist moids are now christians or something anyways. atheism's image is being left alone by moids now, the only issue is that it's worse that moids be religious than annoying atheists

>>94145
Beat me to it, I was gonna mention Wicca. It's essentially a modern matriarchy!

>>94147
atheists tend to insufferable and through their absolutist stance are overcome with ignorance of a grander perspective on life. Agnostic is respectable. has something changed I am not aware of?

>>94164
All atheists are essentially agnostic and the ones that go out of their way to label themselves agnostics specifically opposed to atheists are pickmes.

>>94171
correct

>>94171
Statement as dumb as saying all theists are agnostic.

>>94174
The moment you describe theists as agnostic you've basically conceded the point.

Agnostic and atheist are not mutually exclusive so when someone labels themselves one as opposed to the other they're basically just trying to one-up and poisition themselves as better than people who didn't bother to state the obvious. The ultimate fedora tip.

>>93097
>We could make abortion an unalienable right and the courts would have to uphold it or else strip other religions of their freedoms.
It's already being tried.

>>94177
based satanists

>>94177
wtf i love satanism now

>>94171
Atheists are the hardline "god does not exist I don't need no fairy taie sky daddy". They are not open to the idea the scientific method is unable to explain the big questions which seem impossible to answer regardless. This may be a generalization but to have a hardline stance on no deity existing or force that exists beyond this realm we inhabit is just silly.

Atheists remind me of kids rebelling honestly.

>>94177
Could this backfire? If the Supreme Court approves abortions specifically for Satanists, could they try to push approval for pedophilia in religious rituals? Before someone says that it's a slippery slope fallacy argument, just look how ready pedos are to piggyback off any community, including LGBT and mental illness groups, as long as they can get their foot on the door.

How do you keep the crazies, psychos and degenerates from abusing freedom of religion?

>>94202
Pedophilia will never be normalized and I think it's stupid that people on both the left and the right have their conspiracies that the other side will do it.

>>94202
Not outright but considering child marriage is still upheld in some parts of the US it's not super far fetched.

Generally shitty laws get pushed a lot more insidiously than just "muh religious freedom" and need majority backing. That's why even harmless religious rights often don't get acknowledged because they don't have large backing (the rolling stones article talks about peyote smoking for native americans which is still banned as far as I am aware https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/satanic-temple-abortion-rights-supreme-court-1048833/amp/ )

A lot of what the Satanic Temple does is to poke at christian and their special status that they don't want to admit they have ("How come a Belzebub statue in the court house isn't ok? You guys have one for the ten commandments") And the abortion thing might have a chance because abortion has already been declared a constitutional right by Roe v. Wade. So I think these cases will be a largely beaurocratic mess about how much state abortion laws hinder womens rights (and by extension religious rights). And also, like the article says, showcase just how neutral the Supreme Court is in these cases.

Many of you are so depressed on this board and I can see why here. No one has the gospel. Please consider accepting it into your heart. You hate it because it says we have a different place than men. This means he made us for a special purpose which men can’t fulfill. We get to be the more Beautiful gender and a way to bring new life into the world. We get to teach children and raise them to know God. This is a great and awesome responsibility. Past this we can find meaning in the scriptures and come to know Gods love and mercy for us. He gave his only son Jesus Christ to save us from ourselves. Through him we can have everlasting life. If the Holy Spirit moves you to declare you are a sinner and that the consequence of sin is hell, then accept that he died on the cross for your sins and rose up three days later, And is now seated on the right hand of God. Then you are saved. There is also a great deal of evidence for it. Chariots in the Red Sea, Jabel el lawz and the remains of Israel’s camp and remains of a great boat in turkey. Not to mention that the apostles all died for their faith when if they denied it and admitted it false they could live. They died saying that they witness miracles and the resurrection of Christ. Please consider looking into it at the very least. God loves you so much and wants you to be saved

>>97084
If god is so great then why doesn't he just put me out of my fucking misery?
I'm just joking. Please shut the fuck up.

All religions are cringe but at least the fakey neopagans are cringy on their own terms. Pick your beliefs because you actually want to believe them, be your own God.

I like reading really wacko new age shit to steal concepts for fiction. I'm waiting for a chance to use mansion worlds and I recently heard about servitors. Gonna make an uwu comfort OC world that looks like a crazy hippie's pagan afterlife.

>>97084
Amen sis, Jesus was the best thing I found in my life, believing for almost three years now and so glad He showed me redemption and beauty on earth and love. Life has meaning now.

>>97084
>>97496
go fuck yourself you 2 cringe ass tradthots

I identify as a pagan, though I do really make a point to avoid any cringe behavior. I can't stand people who say that their god/goddess "speaks" to them, or people who do embarrassing "magic" with herbs and crystals. (Crystals, imo, are the most ridiculous thing.) Reiki and energy healing is equally horrendous (well, worse, really) and any time I meet a pagan who is into it, I run the other way.

Druidry/Celtic paganism in particular, regardless of what group you are a part of- Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids, British Druid Order, or if you just study on your own time, is about as far on the practical scale you can go with regards to paganism. It's mostly a bunch of sane older folks who take part, and they usually have a huge focus on self-improvement via learning instruments, learning history, and striving to be a better person in general. The woo-woo magic and god stuff is typically left up to you and very little of the actual practice relies on it. There are definitely weirdoes who follow the Celtic path who avoid structured Druid teachings that are just as batshit as the others below.

I find the cringiest pagan religions are Hellenism (FULL of troons worshipping Aphrodite), Kemetism (Egyptian gods, there is just something so weird about white people being serious about worshiping Anubis), and people who mix and match deities from different mythologies like it's a fucking salad bar.

Heathenism/Asatru/Whatever the hell they are calling it now is fine (Norse/Germanic reconstructionism) but it attracts dangerous crazies like flies to cow shit. (It has the highest amount of bottom-of-the-barrel scary moid followers by FAR) There are cults (Check out the absolute weirdo Wisdom of Odin on Youtube, his shit gets creepier the more you look into him and watch his vids), extremist racist nazi groups, and then you've got some regular pretty down to earth pagans in the mix. It is a mess, and I think any white person who doesn't want to be labeled a white supremacist would do best to just steer clear.

>>97516
>have no organized coherent religious structure with no standardized religious practices and no authorities or traditions
<the "religion" is a schizophrenic clusterfuck
Imagine my shock.

>>97516
You seem well traveled. Any good stories about cringy white people and shinto?

>>97539
Thanks! Modern Paganism is a fascination of mine, and I absolutely love to immerse myself in the weirdness. Probably makes me feel better about myself lul. It makes wonderful peaople-watching.

With regards to Shinto, theologically it is very similar to Druidry which I think naturally deters a lot of the real crazies. Animism is not fun for the weirdos who want to get into god worship like hard polytheism is. (There is a pantheon of gods, of course, similar to the various Celtic Druid paths, but it is not the main focus of the religion.) Also, white folks tend to get into Buddhism if they are going to get into any Eastern Asian belief system.

Shinto is a weird one because it is so wildly bastardized even in Japanese media, that you usually get Western anime nerds who think it is all Fatal Frame ghosts and kitsune (fox spirits). Which can create some interesting weaboos who swear they worship Susano'o or something fairly run of the mill for younger "pagans".

Also, the issue is that Shinto also doesn't have a huge shaman aspect to it, plus drugs are super illegal in Japan, so you don't even get the "drugs are the window to muh soul" tourism that Buddhism and Hinduism attract in India/southeast Asia.

However, I will share that my cousin had a psychedelic experience in Japan with some other white guys who were practicing a bastardized Hindu/Shinto "religion" that involved a mish-mash of the two, and they all ended up literally shitting themselves in the woods for a week and nearly died.

Now, if you'd like to get into an even weirder rabbit hole… (this is going to be another stupidly long comment, sorry.) I will admit that I believe to this day that I was directly responsible in the festering of this weird pagan subgroup.

If you are familiar at all with Naruto, you will know that there is a minor god in the series named Jashin. Basically edgelord fuel, you gotta sacrifice blood/dead animals to him for, uh immortality. It's literally in Naruto. Now, when I was younger, I found out that there was a tiny cult following of this god, people proclaiming he was real and actually a Japanese god (Technically Shinto but jesus this is rabbit hole levels of bizarre.)

Being me, fascinated by how people can literally go so far off the wall as to worship a fucking anime god, I decided to pose as a believer in this group. I even built a forum that became really active (for the subject matter) in maybe 2009? (Now defunct, I have literally spent the last 30 minutes attempting to get into the old email address I used for it.)

It was full-on fly-on-the-wall bizarreness delivered to my desktop. There was a Serbian girl who would post absolutely psychotic ramblings, pictures of dead animals, etc who was very popular in the community and eventually became a patron of my forum.

These people really, truly believed that Jashin was in fact not a fake god written into a Naruto subplot, but an actual god that was nearly lost to time, developed by some Japanese minority or something. Any "historical" information you find on Jashin is absolutely, 100% fabricated. There is an Amino group that has members that are still, to my knowledge, active, though this weird little cult is, for the most part, a tiny relic from the past. Mostly harmless edgelord emo kids from the mid 2000's, but it was such an interesting window into some of the most tortured and mentally ill people in the anime fandom. Mostly girls, too, with few moids sprinkled in.

>>97563
This is better than I could have ever expected I love you anon

>>97571
ask, and ye shall receive. <3

>>97566
The thing is, with regards to the rules of Shinto beliefs, there is a difference between gods, evil spirits, and the spirits of the Earth. I am not super versed in the belief system, but there is a difference between the pantheon of gods and the power of the spirit in physical objects/living things.

Honestly, I do believe the complexity of the Shinto religion, paired with its bastardization in media, really inhibits people from adopting it casually as one might with Hellenism or other more popular systems.

I think that a lot of the dorkiest/cringe pagans out there treat mythology more like a fandom. Seriously, take a look at some Hellenism or Kemeticism subreddits. It's like their "patron gods" are their waifus. And, not going to deny that a lot of media influences this. It's a lot easier to devote yourself to Anubis when you imagine him looking like a sexy anime boi.

>>97581
>I think that a lot of the dorkiest/cringe pagans out there treat mythology more like a fandom. Seriously, take a look at some Hellenism or Kemeticism subreddits. It's like their "patron gods" are their waifus. And, not going to deny that a lot of media influences this. It's a lot easier to devote yourself to Anubis when you imagine him looking like a sexy anime boi.

This is all pretty standard for historical paganism in general.

>>97586
Respectfully disagreeing, because there is a difference between obsessing over the god as a literal being and respecting the symbolism/wisdom the entity has to offer you. The behavior of treating paganism like a fandom is more prevalent in online spaces, especially among teens and very young adults. I think this is what skews the average internet surfer's opinion of pagans.

Studying a deity and understanding that they are a being beyond all comprehension is not unheard of, and it is how I practice personally. It is important to recognize that imagining a physical form to the name is just that- an "anthropomorphizing" of them, for lack of a better term. I honor the gods that are a part of my life by keeping in mind the energy or traits that are a part of their domain. Any statues I have of them are only there to be physical reminders of those things. To remind me to keep my home clean and safe to honor myself and the deity I honor. To treat animals and nature kindly as a thanks to the creatures seen and unseen that belong here just as much as I do. That while I can feel the subtle influence of a deity within the fibers of daily life, they are not some person with petty feelings. Likely any god, if they truly are real, would be incomprehensible to us if we were faced with one.

This is the way that level-headed pagans practice, and there are a ton of them. They are likely in the majority, even, and you wouldn't even know it because the practice comes off as more cultural than cringe. It's not to say that the only weirdo cringe pagans are online, as there are plenty of fruit loops out in the wild, but I do think that the best pagans are typically the quiet ones. And there is no shortage of them if you enter the right circles.

>>93090
no. all of the bodybuilding lifter chads I know are pagan and etc. Paganism in its truest form is pretty cool, but when its merged with 'New Age' bs its just incredibly cringey

European paganisms are dead and buried and have not been practiced in their proper forms for a thousand years, most of the basic info inherent to the cult, pantheon, etc. has been lost (with the exception of the Greco-Latin and to a lesser extent North Germanic ones). Pretending to practice them makes about as much sense as stringing some reconstructed PIE words together and pretending to be an Eurasian steppe warlord from 2000bc