But...I'm going to do my best to point out the errors in this video in a fairly calm manner, and this supposed "former Witch"'s assessment in just Halloween alone.
(**I want to make a disclaimer, I'll say "Christians" a lot in this post, but note - I do NOT believe all Christians believe this way...I'm noting the many "Christians" who do. I am already fully aware there are open minded Christians out there with a live and let live attitude).
The first bone of contentment I have to pick is her assessment in what Samhain actually is. She claims it's a "high holy day". Sure, about as much as New Years is to the average, secular person. Samhain is a big deal to some because it marks the end of the Pagan year. It's a time of transition, and a time to end projects, and start new ones (just like New Years).
It also marks celebration of death. She puts it off, though, as if it's something negative (at least that's the impression I get). Pagans embrace death. And what's wrong with that? We don't gleefully look at death as something we should bring upon some unsuspecting victim purely for our own enjoyment, or to appease our Gods. Our Gods don't ask for sacrifice of life. And for some people to make Paganism out to be something that does, fails to remember their OWN religion's origins in which Abraham was more than willing to sacrifice the life of his own SON in order to appease his God. So, hypocrite much.
Pagans who take it upon themselves to contact the dead at this time, do so to seek guidance and advice from the ancestors. It's not a means of opening a party line to all those who have died and have a phone party; the dead are not summoned merely because they can be. If the dead are contacted, it's for a very good reason. I'm an advocate for leaving the dead alone unless there's a very good reason. Asking when you're going to die, or if you will win the lottery is hardly a good reason, and are actions I condemn.
She makes note that Pagans will perform rituals and spells during Samhain. Rituals and spells take place at all points of the year for Pagans, not just Samhain, and is hardly a requirement for the Sabbat; and for her to assume that performing rituals is distasteful, well, again she fails to recognize her own "new" religion participates in rituals, far more regularly than Pagans do (I do recall that there's a commandment that states "Keep holy the Sabbath day - so Christians attend weekly rituals to appease their God, compared to, at MOST, the monthly rituals Pagans may do. Again, hypocrite much).
But again, the tired rhetoric spewing out of many a Christian's mouth is Samhain is "Demonic without Witches or Pagans knowing". Christians seem to have this heir of superiority about them, and believe we Pagans are merely ignorant in our beliefs and practices; stupid, naive kids who are playing with matches, and they are the stern, caring parents trying to warn us, we will be burned.
I want to note to these Christians - We Know What We Are Doing! You Do Not!!
The idea of something being "demonic" is put out there to make us seem "scary". Christians for centuries have put out the idea that Pagans are something to fear, for the simple fact that they (Pagans) don't believe what they (Christians) do. In order to keep people faithful to the popular religion, the less popular "Paganism" is demonized and made out to be something scary. People tend to slink away from things that are scary, and when you portray Paganism as being "scary" and involving "demons", (yet Pagans are "ignorant" of it) you keep the people faithful to the popular religion. Scare someone enough, they'll believe anything you tell them, so long as they believe you will keep them safe.
I can say Christians are just as ignorant about their spirituality; that rather than worshiping the peaceful, benign God they believe they are worshiping, they are in fact, really worshiping a demon (because, let's face it, who in their right mind would worship a God who describes themselves as being "jealous and vengeful"? (please note sarcasm in this statement))
"When I was a Witch, I didn't really know what I was doing; it was just what you do" - 2:40
--First of all, a Witch doesn't do what they do because it's just what they do. That's an enormously naive comment. This idea here...is the BIG problem with a lot of Pagans who haven't practiced very long...in fact, because of this statement I have to question the seriousness of what she did (or believed she was doing). If she just did what she did because she believed or was told "it was just what you do", then she's completely missed the point of Paganism, and it now makes sense why she so quickly dismissed Paganism and jumped into Christianity (though, it's funny considering Christians also "do what they do because its what they do" all the time).
Pagans understand the reason behind celebrating Samhain. They don't just do rituals because "it's what you do". That's like putting cinnamon into an apple pie because "it's what you do". (Bakers (both amateur and professional) generally know that cinnamon brings out the flavor of the apples). That's called "going through the motions" and is the calling-card of what we serious Pagans call "Playgans"...people who do because they believe it's "what you do". They don't understand the concepts behind the actions (and this is something I stress ALL THE TIME...
UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE DOING BEFORE YOU DO IT!!)
Study and learn the how's and why's of rituals, spells, etc before you do them, otherwise they have no meaning.
"To celebrate Halloween as a Christian is to..really..uh...enter into ways of the world that we were not meant to do." - 4:13
--First off...no one can say with 100% certainty what God truly wants us to do. They can only interpret feelings they have, works of scripture they have (that have been written by people), and what they are taught. So for all anyone can say, what they feel is merely the ingrained ideas put in their minds by the scripture they read and the teachings they are taught, all by people. Christians tend to forget that there are HUNDREDS of different versions of the bible, all teaching different things. Each denomination of Christianity (so that includes Baptists, Protestants, Anglicans, Catholics, Pentacosts, Christian Reformed, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc) all have their own "version" of the bible (each teaching that their bible is the correct version, by the way), so they can't even agree on which version of the bible is most accurate, let alone know for absolute certainty what God wants. So for someone to say they shouldn't celebrate Halloween because it's not what God wants, isn't being honest, because they don't actually know.
As well, it doesn't state ANYWHERE in the bible the acceptable and unacceptable holidays Christians are to celebrate. If they want to get totally technical, they shouldn't celebrate Christmas either, because Christmas isn't sanctioned in the bible, nor was Christ born in December.
"God has told us 'I am holy, and so I want you to be holy'". - 4:25
--Actually, he didn't. It may be written in the bible that God said this, but, the REALITY is...people wrote the bible. People wrote down "God" saying "I am holy and so I want you to be holy", but God didn't actually say this. This is the interpretation I was talking about above. People interpret words and assume that God had said this, when the real, truth is...a guy with a pen wrote it. People in religious authority teach God said it, not the author.
I don't dismiss people's right to believe what they want, and see the bible as providing them with the spiritual fulfillment that they need...but when you start using those scriptures to interfere with another person's right to believe and do what they want (in a religious context), then there's a problem.
I enjoy reading Pagan tenants of faith, and scriptures, etc. Do I take them at literal, face value, believing that there was an actual "Goddess Danu who descended into the earth, toiled...learned the pains of work and labor..." etc? No. I accept this as myth; stories that enhance the spiritual value of my Paganism. I'm not going to take passages from Charles Baize and Nolan Reichle "Pagan Scriptures" and use them to tell Christians they're following a demonic path and need to accept Pagan ways. For one thing, that goes against my own ethics, and would make me as bad as the Christians who do that to us.
She starts going off on what God wants us to do, etc and I've already heard this ad nauseum in my daily rounds in various forms and Q&As, so I'm not going to go any further. I don't see debating that as being in any way productive to what I wanted this post to be.
The point of this is, I highly doubt she actually took her Paganism seriously. I think she held onto her Christian ideas or fell into the "Fire and Brimstone" trap many Christians put out for the vulnerable. I think when people start telling people why they shouldn't celebrate certain holidays because "God doesn't want us to", they start losing credibility with anyone, and facts need to be pointed out; truths need to be told.
Halloween isn't a demonic holiday. It never was. It was a celebration no more sinister than Easter, and I think it's REALLY hypocritical for people to criticize Halloween in one breath, and praise Easter in another.
(On a side note, I think I did rather well, I didn't go off on a tangent lol)
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