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Neo-Paganism: Difference between revisions
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To most people in North America, Neo-Pagans are [[Acceptable Targets]] because of their allegiance to long-abandoned beliefs. At best, they are seen as harmless [[Cloudcuckoolander|Cloudcuckoolanders]] and at worst, they are associated with [[Religion of Evil|evil cults]] and [[Those Wacky Nazis|neo-Nazi]]/white nationalist groups (possibly thanks to [[Black Metal|Varg Vikernes]]). Usually, they are lumped together with New Agers. However, active discrimination has decreased in recent years.
Currently,{{when}} the number of Neo-Pagans (collectively) is around 3,000,000 and is still growing. Many prefer to be simply called "Pagans," even though the term is considered to be ambiguous by religious scholars. Today, there are many Neo-Pagan movements through the Western world. Their most common elements are respect for nature and opposition to religious dogmatism.
* The largest and most well-known Neo-Pagan group is [[Wicca]], an orthopraxic, oathbound religion believed by most historians of religion to have founded by Gerald Gardner around 1954, although he claimed to have been part of a secret movement dating to ancient times. Some (but nowhere ''near'' all) Wiccans consider themselves practitioners of witchcraft. Their God and Goddess are separate and unique deities, not aspects of a universal god and goddess as some claim - I.E., the Lady is the Lady, ''not'' Nuith, Athena, etc. Due to their conflicts with Christianity and their use of pentagram symbols, many Wiccans have been accused of Satanism. It should also be pointed out that pretty much any book that claims to teach the reader Wicca is either bunk or is actually teaching something called Eclectic Neopaganism, which is a blanket term for general Neopagan beliefs and practices, but does not actually contain the Mysteries central and vital to practice the orthopraxic religion created by Gardner.
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