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From: za56@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU (Brian McNeill)
Newsgroups: net.games.frp,talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: Wyldeland theory of magic (& witchcraft)
Message-ID: <3579@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU>
Date: Sat, 13-Sep-86 14:44:56 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdcc3.3579
Posted: Sat Sep 13 14:44:56 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 15-Sep-86 02:34:23 EDT
References: <1059@leadsv.UUCP> <856@curly.ucla-cs.ARPA> <1082@leadsv.UUCP> <392@ubc-cs.UUCP> <142@zen.BERKELEY.EDU>
Reply-To: za56@sdcc3.UUCP (Brian McNeill)
Followup-To: talk.religion.misc
Distribution: na
Organization: U.C. San Diego, Academic Computer Center
Lines: 52
Keywords: animist magic
Summary: Witches!
Xref: mnetor net.games.frp:2252 talk.religion.misc:33

In article <142@zen.BERKELEY.EDU> iverson@cory.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Tim Iverson) writes:
>
>
>	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?
>

Witches (Wicca) are an ancient sect of "pagans" (so called by Xians)
that worshipped Nature (sorta like Druids...somebody correct me if
Im wrong!)...in the middle ages, Witches were persecuted because
they followed a different religion...thusly, the Xians started
spreading rumors that Witches worshipped Lucifer Malfkrieg,
etc...and even changed the Bible against them (the passage in the
King James Bible reading "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live"
read in the original Hebrew, "Thou shalt not suffer a POISONER to
live AMONG YOU"!  Major change here, and one that cost hundreds of
thousands of innocent women to burn/hang/be pressed to death!)

>	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. :-)
>

Bingo...and a lot less bloodthirsty, I would say, also...after all,
the Wicca did not start an Inquisition, several religious wars, a
few hundred thousand burnings, etc (in all, I would say that Xianity
has been one of the worst scourges in all of history, outkilling the
Black Plague...and its something for which there appears to be no
cure!)  And whose to say that if Falwell gets his way there won't be
more witch burnings around (not to mention infringement upon all of
my rights...like my right to read anything I damned well please,
even if it is anti-Xian, or whatever...)

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

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