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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 20178
[Pagan]
Date Posted:
11/6/2008
5:30:08 pm EST
Wvox Stats
Views: 2,866
RSS: 12,547
Comments: 7
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Pagans Want Religious Education And Acceptance At UMSL
Author: Jessica Keil Source: The Current (MO)
Title: PAGANS WANT RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND ACCEPTANCE AT UMSL
Kristin M. Smith, sophomore, biology, goes by the name Kris, and spends most of her time in the depths of the Mercantile Library. In her freshman year she lived in the Oak Hall dormitory on South Campus.
She is also a self-professed pagan.
Technically, Smith calls herself a "Heathen" or "Asatru." This means she is a pagan, but heathen is the type of paganism she follows. It is like someone who is a Christian but also a Baptist.
Since last spring, Smith has worked assiduously to begin a new student organization on campus that she believes is both important and long overdue.
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Community Thoughts: There are 7 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Well... | Nov 9th. at 3:52:35 pm EST
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Evermind (Miller Place, New York) - Email Me
As abysmal as this article is, you do have to commend her for trying to set up a Pagan student group. I'm currently trying to start my own at my university, where many have risen and fallen since the school opened, and it isn't exactly easy. When I first spoke to the head of the interfaith department, her first response was, "Oh, another try?" I've spent more time writing emails that will likely never be replied to, trying to contact people on Facebook, and spending my entire daily printing limit on fliers than I could have imagined. And I couldn't even start the organization this semester anyway because we lack a staff/faculty advisor.
Kudos for making the attempt.
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| "Self-professed" Isn't An Insult | Nov 7th. at 6:39:06 pm EST
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Nicole (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) - Email Me
The words "Pagan" and "Witch" often are used disparagingly. They use the words "self-professed" to emphasize that they are not insulting the person, that the person calls themself by these words. The way one might be a "self-professed dyke" or something.
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| The Entire Article | Nov 7th. at 5:37:39 pm EST
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LD Wolverine (Edmonton, Alberta) - Email Me
made me cringe. From the "self professed" sentence to her trying to explain her religion as heathen. I never knew "heathen" to be a religion in of itself. I mean, my goodness. If people weren't confused before, then they certainly will be after reading this article!!!
I commend her for wanting to bring the Pagan's together but I think she needs ALOT more study into her faith and the terminology she uses...and if I am wrong about the whole Heathen religion thing, someone please update me.
I always thought the word Heathen was a word derived from a simple term, meaning "one who sits by the hearth", into a derrogatory term Christians used to call anyone who was unlike them.
Peace.
Linda
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| People's Beliefs Are All Self-professed | Nov 7th. at 2:21:53 pm EST
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Shadowbear (Hillsboro, Oregon) - Email Me
Nobody goes around pointing and declaring;
"you are a baptist," "you are a Wiccan," "you are an athiest." The people themselves actually do it by saying, "I am a catholic, jew,
shaman, witch, born-again jesus freak" etc.
We are all self-professed believers in something or not.
It is insulting that these terms are used in a derogatory way. If I say I am a witch then I am one and nobody is going to go around saying that I am secretly a muslim because that would be so stupid (oh, these are "journalists," so stupid may be a job requirement in some places) that nobody would believe them.
I guess that they keep on with the self-professed because that is their only way to determine whether or not what we say is true - in some religions you can ask for proof that someone has fulfilled requirements for membership- mormons, for instance have records of all their members and many religions issue baptismal or confirmation records. A little tough to get when dealing with pagans, so many of us are solitary. I can just see covins issuing initiation cards as photo id!
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| I Hope They Get It... | Nov 7th. at 9:29:45 am EST
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
I have often wondered if a christian decided to change denominations from one to another on his\her own, without anyone's urging, wouldn't that make them self-professed as well?
I too would like to see more Pagans on campus everywhere. I wish them well.
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| Sigh... | Nov 7th. at 8:51:33 am EST
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Keyra (Plano, Texas) - Email Me
Yes, Pagan religious education would be a wonderful thing on university campuses, and not just UMSL.
Maybe then we wouldn't see "self-professed pagan". Sorry, but this is one of my biggest pet peeves. "Self-styled witch", "self-professed pagan"...how many angry letters to the editor would flood in, especially in Missouri for instance, if there was an article that described a Baptist minister as a "self-professed christian" (notice the lower-case "c" as well) ? This is how I feel whenever I see that in reference to my own faith.
Yes, it's a little thing...but even the smallest grain of sand, if enough of them fall, create a crushing weight.
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| Re-Inventing The Wheel Of The Year | Nov 6th. at 8:31:07 pm EST
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David K. M. Klaus (St. Louis, Missouri) - Email Me - Web
While not meaning to take anything away from Ms Smith, I do want to point out that UMSL had a Pagan student group in the mid-'90s. Everybody from that group moved on (graduated, transferred, dropped out) , and it's been long enough that I guess it would seem as if there had been no previous group.
Good luck and all success to her and her group.
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