Witchvox Article

Author: Chris K Underwood
Posted: June 18th. 2006
Times Viewed: 9,095

Do you call yourself a Christian Wiccan?

Let me start by saying right off that from my prospective as a Wiccan and a student of religions there is no such thing as a �Christian Wiccan.�

Right about here is the point where many of you jump to your feet and pick up long verbal baseball bats to beat me with, but please give me a chance to explain my thoughts on the subject before the lynching.

I am not talking about your beliefs! Let me say this again because I want you to remember it as you read this article: I am not talking about your beliefs!

Got that? Let me clarify even further. As a Wiccan I believe that you can worship and believe anything you wish to; Wiccans support the right of all people to find their own spirituality and believe that all paths are valid.

Now, with all that being said, I bet you are wondering how I can say that there is no such thing as a �Christian Wiccan� if I believe that all paths are valid. Am I saying that the �Christian Wiccan� path is not valid? No, I am not!

The deal here for me is a matter of defining the words and the fact that Wicca is a religion, not about personal beliefs and manner of worship. I really do not care one way or another what your beliefs are�I like hearing about and talking to people about their various paths, but have no feeling one way or the other about how or why people believe what they do.

Do I think you can be a Christian who practices Wicca? Sure I do; even though Christians may not think it�s OK, I have no problem with it. If you have found a way to incorporate those beliefs that works for you, go for it. I only have a problem with you calling the resulting belief system �Wicca,� and here is why.

Wicca is a religion with a set system of beliefs, rituals, cosmology, and theology. Even though it is a modern religion created in the last fifty years, it is still a religion. Wicca is based on the worship and theology of ancient deities and cultures. The reason I see a problem in calling yourself a �Christian Wiccan� is twofold.

The first has to do with Christianity itself. (No I�m not against Christianity; please read on before jumping to conclusions.) Simply put, Christianity is based on the idea that Jesus Christ was a god. Wiccans do not believe this. The Christian deity of Jesus just has no place in Wiccan theology. Wiccans, as I stated earlier, worship ancient pantheons thousands of years older than the Christian mythology (I�m not saying older is better; I�m just listing the difference). Also Wicca is a polytheistic religion, so the idea of the Christian god just does not fit into the Wiccan belief system.

I have communicated with many who jump up and down in their computer chairs and tell me, �Yeah, well, we are Wiccan and Jesus is the God with Mary is the Goddess.� I think that�s great, but it�s not a Wiccan concept, which leads me to my second point.

Your personal beliefs do not give you the power to change the definition of an already existing system. I say this, and some have said, �What? I�m not trying to change Wicca!�
But that�s exactly what you are doing. By declaring and fighting for the right to call yourself a �Christian Wiccan,� you are demanding that what is possible in the Wiccan religion and even its very definition be changed to suit your beliefs.

Wiccans do not believe Jesus was a god, but you are saying that they can. Wiccans do not follow any of the Christian theology, but you are saying they do. How can we define anything if people just define it anyway they wish? Besides the fact that �Christian Wiccans� hold contradictory theologies, I compare this belief to someone calling themselves a �Christian-Atheist�: it just does not make sense. You cannot change the definition of Wicca to suit your personal beliefs.

Let me say again what I have said before: I have no problem with what people believe and support your right to do as you please. I only have a problem with what you are calling it.

One young lady I spoke with was very passionate and very intelligent. She just seemed not to understand that I was speaking in terms of semantics rather than her right to believe what she wants. She argued with me in a very passionate manner and became upset that I would even suggest anything to the contrary. I admire that kind of passion, but the bottom line here was that I never said she could not be both Christian and Wiccan at the same time. How you work that out is entirely up to you. I only ask for those of you who have these beliefs to look at the words you are using and how they impact others of that belief system.

The word �Wicca� is a noun, not a verb describing a state of mind. Nouns, as you know, are a words that refer to a person, place, or thing, and in this case is a proper noun demanding capitalization. Wicca is much more than just its component parts and rituals. It already exists as a belief system with certain obligations and requirements that must be met for one to consider oneself a Wiccan. If you do not believe in the theology of the system, then you are not part of it; you are something else.

A couple of other arguments I have heard recently along these lines also do not fit with the situation. Some have smacked me with things similar to �All religions evolve and change over time.� This is very true, but to what extent? Are you suggesting that Wicca can evolve and change to the point where all the original ideas and concepts are gone? If so, then I submit that you have proven my point because if those original concepts are removed or replaced, then Wicca no longer is what it was. A good number of Jews changed, evolved, and added new concepts to their religion about two thousand years ago. They didn�t call themselves "Jews" anymore; they called themselves "Christians."

Just as in this situation�they did not spend the last two thousand years calling themselves Christian-Jews. They took on a new name befitting what their new beliefs. That is what I am suggesting to those who call themselves �Christian Wiccans.� There really is no such thing, so why not come up with another name for what you believe? You cannot change Wicca, so either chose to be Wiccan or not. Those of us who are Wiccans will always support you and your personal beliefs.

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