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From: iverson@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Tim Iverson)
Newsgroups: net.games.frp,talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: Wyldeland theory of magic (& witchcraft)
Message-ID: <142@zen.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Thu, 11-Sep-86 05:45:25 EDT
Article-I.D.: zen.142
Posted: Thu Sep 11 05:45:25 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 11-Sep-86 18:45:43 EDT
References: <1059@leadsv.UUCP> <856@curly.ucla-cs.ARPA> <1082@leadsv.UUCP> <392@ubc-cs.UUCP>
Sender: news@zen.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: iverson@cory.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Tim Iverson)
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Lines: 43
Keywords: animist magic
Xref: mnetor net.games.frp:2248 talk.religion.misc:17

In article <392@ubc-cs.UUCP> andrews@ubc-cs.UUCP (Jamie Andrews) writes:
>In article <1082@leadsv.UUCP> hooper@leadsv.UUCP (Ken Hooper) writes:
>>... The game originated with a study
>>into how magic really works, so I could replace the AD&D system with something
>>that wasn't blatantly wrong. The study was so successful that I've now become
>>an Animist and a student of The Art (I'm not yet mature enough to be a
>>practicing witch, but I am practicing)....
>
>     Holy sh*t!  (so to speak)
>
>     Don't tell this to all those people who condemn AD&D because it
>leads to witchcraft!   :-)


	What I am curious about is why do people think witchcraft is so bad?
Admittedly I don't know much about it, but I would think that unless it
involved such questionable activities as involuntary human sacrifice, it
should be treated as any other belief system whose main support is derived
from FAITH and TRUTH (N.B. this is different from the real thing - faith
and truth can be rationalized).

	I always thought that fear of witches, dark magic, and the perpetual
bogie man - Satan, had died out in the middle ages or maybe a little after
the hangings at Salem.  So, what I want to know is this: Are any of you out
there afraid of witches, black magic, or Lucifer himself?  HHmmm?

	Well, maybe that is so direct as to make anyone answering yes seem
a fool.  Perhaps I should rephrase.  Should such a person exist that claims
to be a witch, or practise black magic, or worship Satan - would you think
that such a person was crazy, bad, or downright evil?

	To start the ball rolling, I would think that such a person is no more
crazy than most Christians and probably alot less evil - they are probably not
going to denounce you as witch and burn you at the stake, something Christians
have a long history of doing.  For those of you who wish to counter by saying
that Christians have not burnt anyone recently, let me point out that although
the Rev. Fallwell (sp?) and the news media never use fire, they do indeed
roast people. :-)


- Tim Iverson
  iverson@cory.Berkeley.EDU
  ...!ucbvax!cory!iverson