“Objections to Christianity – Part 2 – Sin: An Imaginary Man-Made Problem” (Revised August 2019) – Odin’s Eye – Theological Objections to Christianity

August 15, 2019August 16, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day

August 2019 Revision Notes:

It has been almost a year since I wrote these originally starting in November of 2018. When I got to the rotation in Odin’s Eye the last time where I was going to deal with these objections again, I saw no need for revision but rather simply laid it out there that no one had responded to them to that date and moved on into the rest of the Rotation for Odin’s Eye.

This time though I feel that I need to spend four weeks of Odin’s Eye doing some revisions that will either clarify my position, add some other thoughts or edit for other issues. Such edits will be marked by italics. When archived, they will appear under the original post on this Page: My Four Theological Objections to Christianity

Mostly though this is a cut and paste with some revisions. As the series goes on there will be more revisions as I can see the need for things to change a bit in the other three objections. In part two, I felt the need to add a few paragraphs for hopefully a clearer explanation.

Introduction:

My loss of faith really started here. I can actually go back to a message I was preaching on sin and salvation through Christ and the fact this quote from Dan Barker from Losing Faith in Faith ( a book I still want to read) was rolling around in my head. I was trying to think of something that would make his assertion wrong. I got up preached the message and sat down. I can site this moment as the time my crisis of faith began. I realized he was right.

I realized there is no proof that sin rationally exists. I only believed that because that was what I was told by a preacher and read it in the Bible. Unless the Bible was truly inspired, then I had no natural or logical proof that there was this thing called sin, a sinful nature or my actions were righteous or sinful. God Himself had never come down and told me I was a sinner, that was men either in the form of preachers or the men who wrote the Bible. Over time, I began to realize that sin has the same problem as the inspiration of the Bible – the Bible asserts it but never proves it.

Going back to my pulpit moment, I sat there thinking and my faith started to unravel. I sat there thinking: “I make a living by telling people they are sinners so they will feel guilty, then they accept the ‘gospel’ and feel better. Out of gratitude they throw money in the basket and pay me. WTF.” It was a bad moment for me, and one that led to my eventual downfall over two years later.

Faith:

If you are a believer you take the existence of sin as purely a matter of faith. Basically, if you believe that sin exists, you do it for the same reasons you believe the Bible is inspired. You have faith it is true – you hope and believe it is true, but you do not have a proof or a rational argument to say it is true. The Bible writers assume sin is real and a problem. They never prove it, and the believer is left to take that sin exists as a reality and that God has solved it. You believe all that without rational evidence. It is purely a matter of faith.

Now I want to emphasize that this does not disprove sin’s existence, but it puts on the same plane as believing in a lot of things that we believe exist but have no proof of. The issue then is should we order our lives on faith in the idea that man is sinful, or go based on our own observations of human nature and conclude that if anything we can have faith in the fact that all human beings are human.

Religion:

I now think that sin is a man-made concept. It probably originally. like so many things might have had a good intention. To keep people from making bad decisions given the cultural context. I mean sex without birth control and modern medicine can lead to deadly diseases and unwanted pregnancies. So you tell people not to have sex except with people they are committed to and get married to so the child will be legitimate. The practical side of this is the lessened risk of STDs and unwanted pregnancies. It is a wise course of action.

When just showing the wisdom of this to others doesn’t work, you throw in the wrath of God to bring about a more forceful form of persuasion – tell them it’s a sin against God and He will bring down his wrath on the one who sins. This is where you make up the concept that sexual sin is an affront to God and he will send you to hell if you don’t repent of it and stop doing it. It is ultimately a fear tactic that uses guilt to prevent certain behaviors.

The dark side of this gets worse though as people genuinely think they’re taking the side of God when the punish sinners. The real problem with sin is that some people think they have risen above the concept of it. They feel qualified to judge others using their religious beliefs. It gets worse because the said concept can be held by people in power who wish to impose their views on people to create a ‘righteous society’. To force others to follow your moral code of some behaviors being sin and thus outlawed. The problem is the difficulty using reason to prove something is a sin. It’s not self-evident.

Theology:

I don’t believe in sin as a theological concept anymore. I think in large part it is a bad one because all it does is produce guilt and then in a guilt-ridden state people can be manipulated. I haven’t looked at this fully but I have a theory a large part of religious people have a poor self-concept and that is because they have a large amount of guilt associated with their ‘sins’. This leads them to think they are bad or even evil people and the cycle of self-destruction begins. You spend a lot of time putting on masks at that point to protect yourself from the social wrath of being a sinner while at the same time being wracked with guilt because you can’t seem to escape your sin. If it sounds like I have been there – yep. I would say a lot of my initial causes of depression came from this struggle. Yes, I am saying that religion, particularly the Christian notion of sin, may have has a great deal of influence in causing my depressive issues.

My theology about mankind has certainly changed since I discarded man as a sinner. I don’t think of myself as a sinner but simply a human being. I am not all-powerful, all-knowing or all-present; so I am going to make mistakes and there is really nothing I can do about it. I have needs that are normal. Wants that are normal. I have my reason and wisdom to guide me. I am not perfect and I make mistakes and have errors in judgment, but that doesn’t mean I am a sinner, just human. To me, life is no longer about overcoming sin and removing it from my life. Rather, it is about discovering the virtue in me and causing it to grow. And there is a virtue in who I am as a human being if I look for it and develop it. It’s about growing into the best human being I can be.

Note: Unlike the atheist, I have not discarded the idea of a spiritual side to mankind at all, but rather I am saying that sin is not something I believe is real about it. Humanity is more complicated than he is all bad or all good.

Spirituality:

This is why spiritually speaking I spend more time meditating on the Nine Noble Virtues as a way to learn where I need to grow. I am not trying to get rid of sin out of my life, praying that God is gracious, etc. I have come to see some things as normal and human, not sinful. My goal now is to build character, not remove sin because I think sin is a made up imaginary concept. I meditate on the good things, not the bad things. I grow the good in me, rather than trying to deny my humanity by calling it sinful. I find it makes me much happier and far more at ease in this world.

One good example of this is my changing attitudes about sex and sexual desire. I feel sexual desire is normal in humanity and it is normal to feel a sexual desire toward a lot of different people. Lust is made up to me unless you are using the term to describe passionate sexual desire which is neither good nor bad. What might be a factor in sexual desires is wisdom and reason saying that not all sexual interaction is beneficial. Some of it could be detrimental. The real issue is that sex in and of itself is not sinful in any form. Enjoy, but be smart and wise.

In my case, sexual fidelity is part of my marriage because that is the oath I swore as a Chrisitan that I still honor. If it wasn’t, having sex with another woman would not necessarily be a violation of fidelity as there is no sin to it, but one might challenge my wisdom. Like it or not people get jealous and envious and that can lead to relationship issues. There are also cultural expectations to consider which do have an effect on how a person is perceived. This is not about sin anymore is the point, but rather what effects it might have on relationships and troth issues may or may not be affected depending on the specific nature of oaths of fidelity.

Conclusion:

After concluding that the Bible is a human book with no proof of inspiration and the sin is a concept made up by the writers of the Bible. There are only two things left on my four objections to Christianity. The first is the other imaginary thing the Bible creates which is the solution to sin being Salvation in Christ and finally, the god of the Bible seems to have very suspect standards of justice.

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

“Revival – Asatru (Part 5)” – The Pagan Pulpit

August 11, 2019August 11, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sol’s Day

Announcements:

We don’t pray here – we figure God, the gods, goddesses, or whatever powers that be either know already, don’t give a fuck, or are busy with more important matters than our petty stuff. We also kind of assume that they expect us to do stuff that we can do for ourselves and that we will do them ourselves and not be lazy. We also believe in being good friends, so we don’t presume on our friendship with the powers that be by asking them all the time for stuff while giving them nothing in return.

We also don’t take an offering here. We figure the powers that be probably don’t need it. Let’s be honest, offerings are not given to the divine powers, they are given to an organization to support it. Just being honest. God, the gods or whatever never sees a dime, farthing or peso of that money; it all goes to the church, mosque or shrine.

Theme Song: ‘Herr Mannelig’ – Garmarna

English Translation: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/herr-mannelig-sir-mannelig.html

Meditation:

The situation is always changing and it is not always in your favor. Regardless there is always the best way to play your hand and it is your obligation to find it.

Text:

If you want more details about Asatru, I can’t recommend this book enough.

Sermon:

It is hard to say when the revival of the interest in Pagan Norse Religion really began. In some cases, we might say that it was preserved through family traditions and merging pagan traditions with Chrisitan ones. There was also a limited amount of writing done by historians and literature experts on Norse Mythology and religious practice.

Some argue that it was the early 20th century with the interest in Germanic ancient culture by the Germans that saw the start of it. It is also a criticism that it might be colored by the Nazis but it is probably more likely to be the case of the Nazi’s using cultural trends to their advantage as far as PR. Symbols and history are often coopted by those that rule to form a romanticism they tap into. The romanticism though already existed because a lot of it can be traced back to the 19th century long before the nazi’s perverted the mythology and the Swastika. I and many other people who study Asatru and history would say the chief deity of the Nazi party was Adolf Hitler himself, not Odin, Thor or Tyr.

In any case, in the last 70 years or so a revival of interest in ancient Northern European mythology has arisen. Becoming more popular, as Diane Paxton observes, starting with the writings in England with Tolkein and CS Lewis. Robert E. Howard with Conan chimed in during the 1950s. Is it any wonder that I have an interest in this mythology when what sparked my interest was these great writers and my own heritage.

In 1969, the same year I was born, the Odinist Fellowship was founded, followed by Viking Brotherhood in 1971 and Asatru Free Assembly in 1976. All in America. In Iceland, Asatru became an accepted religion by their parliament in 1973 thus opening up the most direct route to a religious revival of ancient ways through Asatru.

What has followed has been a process of Norse paganism in Asatru arising and organizing into various groups. The 1990s saw a great deal of expansion and development. Publications and books are becoming more and more frequent. I would say interest has been revived and increase due to the television series Vikings among many others.

For me, my personal story of ‘conversion’ to Asatru is a long one. Like I said, I loved fantasy books from an early age. devouring CS Lewis, Tolkien, and Howard. Conan became a favorite hero of mine along with Gandalf. I was a Dungeons and Dragons player and Dungeon Master for many years and that has this culture and religion as a large part of it. The more I learned the more it fascinated me. I suppose the crisis moment and conversion point would be me leaving Christianity for good last year and realizing my need for a new code of conduct. I looked at many warrior codes, but Asatru appealed more than all of them because of this connection to my culture, history, and interests. My pagan tendencies tend to line up very much with Asatru.

This ends part one of my Asatru analysis. Next will be a discussion of many of the Norse gods and goddesses and their significance to the followers of Asatru.

Parting Thought:

Paganism does have some bit of a ‘dark’ side. In that, most of us will do terrible things if the ones we love are threatened. There is no turn the other cheek or forgiveness without restitution. And if the person opposing us doesn’t offer us restitution or threatens to take what is ours, then we can get such restitution by other means. You might say justice has a different meaning to us. Your best course of action in dealing with us is being honest and respectful and mind your own business.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

“Objections to Christianity – Part 1 – The Bible’s Inspiration by God” (Revised August 2019) – Odin’s Eye – Theological Objections to Christianity.

August 8, 2019August 8, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day

August 2019 Revision Notes:

Mostly though this is a cut and paste with some revisions. As the series goes on there will be more revisions as I can see the need for things to change a bit in the other three objections. In this one, however, the objective remains pretty much the same.

Introduction:

I want to state upfront, this is a long post. I want to be complete as possible in stating this objection and the ones that follow. Mostly as I will state later that I for a long time wanted answers; I still do. It was hard leaving my faith because I wanted so desperately to believe. Reason itself eventually prevailed and I will stand by that decision. The reason I am putting a lot of words into this is that I still would accept answers: if they could be proven rationally that Christianity is the true religion.

I have written on my crisis of faith a couple of times. Despite some people’s assertion that this was due to personal events, it actually started in 2015 with my second objection which is that I think ‘sin’ is a man-made up concept. It started when I preached a message about sin and I had heard a quote that week from a critic of Christianity that basically said sin was made up and that because of it Christianity solves a problem of its own making.

I will get into this moment in more detail in my second objection post, but it got me rethinking everything in the light of skepticism and I began to form four theological objections for which I still have no satisfactory answers. While the sin question got my original thinking going, it is this first question involving the Bible and divine inspiration that forms the foundation of the other three.

Now, I want to state for the record that I am no amateur when it comes to the Bible or Theology. 1) I have degrees in both Biblical Studies (BA) and Theological Studies (MA). 2) I am a ‘professional’ theologian and have been since 1996. 3) I was a Christian from the time I was eight and as I approach my 50th birthday that would have been close it forty-two years. 4) I was a pastor (now retired) for twenty years and have spent many years since school studying the Bible and engaging theological questions. 5) I have had several crisis moments in my theology and up until two to three years ago I could answer them all or found ways to explain them. Not anymore.

I will also say I am not hostile to Christians, I get it. It took me a long time to face the facts of the objections I will present in this series. I still am open to anything that answers them. My largest problem when I discuss this is people sometimes get offended because I seem to be very aggressive, but I am not really doing that, just being as honest as I can. People don’t always like it when you ask questions that are hard about what they believe. Cognitive dissonance is a real thing, so I get. Understand I am not being hostile to your faith if you have it. I am just being hostile to mine or what mine used to be. That’s because I take as a central core idea that if the God of the Bible is the real god and the Bible is inspired by him, then it should make sense and have rational proof this is so.

Faith:

Bottom Line, faith is trusting in something that you have no evidence for and that is the problem. You hope it is true and you believe it is true, but you don’t know it is true. This is particularly true for many church doctrines and one of the most notable is the divine inspiration of scripture. The reason I can say this is no matter what school of thought you follow in looking at inspiration, there is no evidence that God came down and inspired the Bible. You simply have to believe the simple statement “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” There is no attempt to prove this, just a statement of fact that the reader must simply accept.

An example is probably in order:

“The Rabyd Skald’s writings are inspired by the god Odin. Everything he writes comes straight from the mouth of the god Odin.”

You say ridiculous. I ask why? You say because I simply have made an assertion and have offered no proof that what I say is true. I want to tell you the Bible does the exact same thing with the exact same level of proof that God came down and directly inspired the writers of the Bible – none. It’s pure faith, no evidence even from the Bible itself. The Bible writers simply assert this; they never prove it.

Religion:

Looking at the doctrine of inspiration historically, once again we have no proof of the inspiration of Scripture by God, just the creation of the doctrine of inspiration and various councils of men deciding which books are inspired. There is no record of God coming down and saying – “these books are my inspired word.” Just groups of men doing that. That is what you actually see.

It stands to reason that religions do this. In the end, you need a common core of beliefs and authority and it is far easier to make a group of writings do that because it has a greater chance of standing the test of time. Especially if you inject a tradition of copying and transcribing these books from one generation to the next. Even in this though, two problems develop. 1) People abuse the authority of said books and can twist their meaning and 2) the transcription of said books can be flawed.

The second brings up an additional inspiration question which is: ‘Is the Bible still inspired even though people have put mistakes into it and changed it from one language to the next where meaning is going to get changed?’ The human factors are definitely present in the Bible. Does that undermine inspiration or simply point to the fact that the Bible is a wholly human book? Because we don’t really have proof God is involved, are we just making up the whole divine inspiration thing in order to make this human book have more significance?

Theology:

I spent a great deal of time and digital ink pouring over this question of inspiration. On my blog All Things Rabyd (which is still there although no longer active) I spent nine posts looking at the various theories of divine inspiration. You can find the link to all of them here. I eventually settled on Dynamic Inspiration as the best possible explanation to handle the human element of the bible. That much like the doctrines of Christ state Jesus was 100% God and 100% Man, so was the bible the same way. It satisfied me for a while but there was a fatal flaw in the whole thing.

The flaw? I still had no proof positive that the 100% divine inspiration part was real. There is no photograph of God reaching into the head of Paul or Moses inspiring them to write things. I mean you could say God is the inspiration for the Bible like a person might be inspired to write about nature from being outside. There is however no proof that God took an active hand in telling the authors what to write or how to write it. That is purely a matter of whether you believe that or not. It really is blind faith when you consider that particular question.

Spirituality:

I will probably handle other objections involving scripture at a later date. My purpose today is to get the main parts of my first objection to Christianity out there. The question always comes – do I still read the Bible and what value do I place on it? Well, yes I do. I value it in that it contains a lot of ‘truth’ small ‘t’. I just don’t think it’s the Truth with a capital ‘T‘. Rather a lot of men wrote about their sincere belief in God. God inspired them in that way and they wrote but in the end, it was human inspiration ABOUT the divine. It was not God coming down and whispering in their ear what to write, no matter what their claims.

It also, because it is a human book and not divine to me, contains a lot of Bull Shit and spiritual opinion by ancient authors which may or may not be valid. You still have to use a lot of judgment in looking at the Bible because if some of it is objectively true then the god of the Bible becomes at times both inconsistent and a sadistic tyrant.

For me, I still draw a lot of inspiration from the Bible. Some of its stories are great. It has men wrestling with the question about God. Some of the teachings of Christ are some of the best on human relationships you will ever see. That said, it is only one avenue of being inspired, not the only one and it is a very human book. In short, it has its flaws, and I think some of the morality it promotes could be questioned as to whether it actually does good or not.

Conclusion:

When the doctrine of inspiration goes, then you can look at the Bible objectively. This caused me to really realize the god of the Bible has a few problems. 1) Sin seems to be made up as a concept and used to control the behavior of people 2) The plan of salvation God comes up with does not speak well of supreme being because it makes God both sadistic and masochistic. 3) God’s justice seems a little suspect especially when you consider final judgment.

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

“Year Ago Retrospect (Part 3) – My Marriage – The Rabyd Skald – The Grey and The Wayfarer – Part 18

August 7, 2019August 8, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / 3 Comments

Happy Wooden’s (Odin) Day.

Warning: To my family and friends, this one is going to be as truthful as the old Rabyd Microphone so be advised. Mostly I feel the need to write this series for therapeutic reasons. This also a long post so be prepared to give it some time.

This is part three of a Year Ago Retrospect. These are going to take the place of my normal journal posts this week in a mini-series:

Click Here for Part 1

Click Here for Part 2

An additional disclaimer might be necessary here – I am talking very openly about my feelings and struggles I have had and am having with my marriage. Two things: 1) My wife and I are in the process of rebuilding things and, given recent experience, are painfully aware of the weaknesses in our marriage. That said we are working on it but both of us are no longer naive enough to believe that things will always be cool without working on them. 2) I am not going to speak for my wife’s feelings on things currently. That would be rude and presumptuous on my part to do that, but I am going to be very open about mine. This is about sorting things out in my head, not looking for excuses or reason to call it quits. It is more an honest assessment of the situation, so I can move forward.

A little background. We have been married for 30 years now. It almost wasn’t 30 years. My wife and I have known each other since we were children, we dated on and off through middle school and high school. In early 1989, we got back together and in February of that same year, I proposed to her. We got married that June on the 10th. From that time on our life has been basically revolving around two things: 1) Our lives as a pastor and his wife and 2) Our children. We always talked early on about how we wanted a few kids early so later in life we could spend more time enjoying each other but life began and slowly these two things dominated our lives.

Through the years we were pastor and wife through four churches and we raised our kids. The last one graduated in 2011 and that is when the seeds of our troubles really began. Mostly, I guess my expectations that we would do more together felt a little short-changed. It was one of those moments when you are done focusing on the kids and you look at this person you have been with and go – who are you again? I would say to any couple that hits an empty nest stage, even if you think you are in good shape – go get a marriage check-up with a counselor. There are probably things that have been unsaid while you have been raising the kids that need to be said now as it turns back into the two of you.

For me, things started south at about the same time I started school in 2015. I know I wasn’t supported in that decision by my wife. It bothered me because I was facing the reality of the fact that the church was never going to support me so that retirement was an option. I was basically going to have to stay preaching until they put me in a box and to be honest, that image did not appeal to me. The thing is my wife and I had drifted by that point because even though the kids had grown up she kept injecting herself into their lives. At the time I felt that if I was a priority on my wife’s list it was down near the bottom and I didn’t feel at all supported as I tried to do something to make a better life for us now that the kids were gone.

Over the next three years, a gap began to develop between us. It became pretty much church, the kid’s life, and other small talk items. As someone who hates small talk, this began to drive me nuts. As early as 2016 I began to think about divorce because from my perspective it seemed our marriage worked great for her but it sucked for me. Throw in at that point a lost faith and frustration with the Dirty Pig and his control of the church and my mind is pretty much in a very dark place about the whole thing.

As I have said before in this series, my plan was to finish school, get a new job, resign from the church and file for divorce. I wasn’t going to provide a better life for someone who hadn’t been supportive and didn’t seem to care that from a financial point of view we were in the middle third quarter of our life and down by 35. Time to get off the bench and put up some financial offense. My view was if she wasn’t going help with that, I needed to either play on my own or find a new teammate.

My affair with Miss Salty accelerated my departure from the church and it also caused the troubles in our marriage to be brought to the forefront. My wife and I spent the next three months separated including our 29th anniversary. We had a couple conversations and the same problem presented itself from my end. I never fall out of love with a woman completely. That was true for my wife as well. I just didn’t feel at the time I had the right kind fo love. I felt also that my wife and I’s passive aggression had also hammered most of my love right out of me for her. I just could bring myself to love her the way a husband should love his wife. Plus all the practical concerns listed above.

I filed for divorce in middle June and given the 60-day waiting period before a hearing, we were slated lat August and that would have been that. It was an interesting test at times because when the severance was denied my letter written in response said that the main person they had hurt with that decision was not me but my wife who had to shoulder all the bills seeing I was not working. I had also wanted to give her some of the money to help her transition, but that was no longer an option. It demonstrates that I wasn’t out to hurt my wife in any way on this. I just wanted out of a relationship that at the time wasn’t very good for either of us.

Then Miss Salty left me for the last time and I found myself alone, again. People remarked later how quickly I made the decision to return to my wife. It was a 10 day or so wait. I remark back it only took Miss Salty about 3-5 days to get over dumping her fiance and moving on, so what is their point? My main concern was I knew that Miss Salty was no longer an option for me. My two choices: 1) go to something new or 2) try to fix things with my wife.

My decision to try to fix things with my wife was predicated on a few factors. 1) I would never be able to trust Miss Salty again with my heart, so that was done. 2) My children had remarked that I hadn’t really tried to fix things with their mother. True. (I want to give a shout out to my daughter if she reads this – a lot of your comments my dear were spot on – take a bow girl, you probably saved your parents’ marriage.) 3) There was that little bit of love for her left. That said, it was my wife’s reaction that ultimately made it work. For my kids’ sake, I contacted my wife and asked if we could try to work this out.

My wife listened to me and then she talked. She did something I didn’t expect. She forgave me. She also took responsibility for her part in all the crap that went on before. She didn’t tell me it was all my fault and she listened to my story and believed it. Long story short, we got back together, I canceled the divorce with like two days to spare and we took a mini-vacation where we spent a lot of time naked in bed talking and doing what married couples do when they’re naked in bed. We got counseling and moved into our own apartment on our own. It isn’t perfect, but we are working on it.

There is one element of church nonsense that happened during the whole thing I feel the need to address. When word got out one member of the church, Miss Salty’s aunt; she tried to contact my wife about what an evil person I was. How I had committed a felony, had a teenage girl problem, etc. My wife’s friend basically told my wife to tell her to shove off as a busybody and move along with the reconciliation. My wife was kinder than that but the basic advice was followed to tell people to mind their own business.

Later in counseling, our counselor made the simple observation that the affair was a typical one that had nothing to do with Miss Salty’s age, but our marriage being shitty. When a marriage doesn’t help the people in it, these things happen because you are vulnerable. For my part, I simply fell in love with someone who started to meet the needs I had that my wife was not meeting. That’s it. Anything else people want to think is Bull Shit.

If there is any possibility this still might not work, it lays with me and a few issues that are between us because of who we are:

I place a high value on my freedom to act as I see fit. I don’t like a constraint. I accept the few constraints that our marriage puts on us because it is a marriage, but outside that I want the freedom to do what I want and what is best for me. That could pull us in different directions.
Part of my problem related to this is that I tend to help others at the expense of myself. This leads to a building up of a deficit emotionally that eventually will blow up like a bomb. If someone doesn’t make a point to stop and ask me genuinely how I am, or as an INFJ I will go on my merry way on destruction. My wife has learned not to take my “I’m OKs” at face value which is good, but I still have to watch myself on this and on occasion do what is emotionally right for me even if it seems selfish to others.
My values are rapidly changing. My social mores are also changing. This means in our religiously mixed marriage, I a Deist/Pagan don’t see things as evil or sinful anymore. As a Christian she does and so compromise is definitely the order of the day. I measure things in terms of building virtue and benefit to each other, not avoiding what is wrong or bad. If our values get too far apart, our counselor said it could still be our marriage downfall.
Our compromises have to be genuine give and take. I call bullshit pretty quick if I don’t feel they are. Some things are still in tension because of this and it is going to take time to work them out. With our values, she and I have to really watch this because it is pretty significant if a couple values different things from one another. You can still love one another and the marriage can still fail because of this.
My Weaknesses are now pretty apparent. I miss certain things about another relationship that speaks to these weaknesses. I either have to go without or find alternatives. In some of these areas, there is no alternative so it becomes a major internal battle. I concede now that I could very well lose those battles. I’m am indeed vulnerable to these things.

I am not trying to create doubt here, but state the reality of where I am. I view marriage as a pagan would. In particular, the brand of paganism that renews vows every year. This forces you to be constantly working at it to make it mutually beneficial, rather than just taking it for granted as a lifetime commitment does. It is far more realistic in my opinion and the vows don’t set you up for failure.

That said, our vows are Chrisitan ones, so the basis for me is gone except for my commitment to the Asatru Virtue of Fidelity. I still honor the spirit of those vows for that alone and nothing else. That said, one aspect of Fidelity is loyalty to self. It is possible given our different faiths/values that loyalty to my marriage and loyalty to self might come into conflict. How I view the virtue of Fidelity is starting to solidify with self at the center and all my other relationships in a circle around it. If that circle is broken or weak in some spots, it needs to be addressed or changed but the center needs to always be strong.

One part to go and that will be me directly addressing some of the people I mentioned in this series so far. For now, know that my wife and I are good and we are working to be great.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

“Year Ago Retrospect (Part 2) – Church Nonsense” – The Rabyd Skald – The Grey and The Wayfarer – Part 17

August 5, 2019August 5, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / 3 Comments

Happy Moon’s Day

This is part two of a Year Ago Retrospect. These are going to take the place of my normal journal posts this week in a mini-series:

Click Here for Part 1

In Part 2 of “Year Ago Retrospect,” I am going o deal with my other break up – with my faith and my last church. The major trouble with the church started the moment I let certain people know I was having an affair with Miss Salty, Most notably The Dirty Pig. But I need to do a little background on my relationship with him first so you know why his betrayal was so painful. It is this relationship that is central to the Church Nonsense so bear with me.

When I first came to my last church, the two of us hit it off. He made the observation that I was going to be myself and that people would just have to deal with that and from then on I considered him a friend. A lot of people think they know this guy so when I talk about this stuff, they think I am lying about his character and actions. You need to understand that I knew him a lot longer than any of them. We were friends, we did the same small group together for over nine years, I did him a lot of favors over the years and while I never asked him for anything he would on occasion give me something or help me out. I know the Dirty Pig from long experience and only after he betrayed me and I looked back did I see the painful truth that I suspected, but could never prove and didn’t want to believe was true.

Our friendship was good; not best friends but solid and he was a part of my circle. Note that for me, an INFJ personality type to say that is significant. But also I knew the emotions of the man as an empath and sometimes what he felt was troubling. It was contradictory to what I felt he should be feeling at times. Amusement when something was pretty tragic. Over time I would say it was like a cat looking at mice as far as his emotions. Given that he had been a cop all most of his career, somewhat understandable although a little uncomfortable. There was always this element of ‘my viewpoint on life is superior and people better respect that’ with him. He also was highly competitive and I never saw him happy when he came in second in anything.

We got along fine for a long while but our friendship got strained more and more as time went by. I am very accepting of people’s flaws and other viewpoints and he is not. The first real issue I noticed there was a problem here was when I was trying to get a modern worship team started. It was going OK, but he would make comments like ‘that hippie music’ and such. He said he didn’t mean much by it, but it had a negative effect. I went away for vacation and when I came back he basically tells me that the worship team is no more. Funny, as the pastor I was constitutionally in charge of ministry – the spiritual head of the church.

I had dealt with powerful influencers in the church before. If thy are for the most part benevolent then the best course of action is to make them allies if possible. The problem with the Dirty Pig is I would classify him as a traditional obstructionist. That is the preferred a very traditional view of what a church service and function were. If he didn’t like something along these lines, he would pretty much not support it or even actively block it.

His basic tactic was to control the agenda of the church by using his position as the moderator to channel what was talked about and what was not. I am now firmly convinced in that church, in particular, the moderator is the most powerful position because of this and should have term limits because of it. He also added the fact he maintained a good relationship with enough people to vote both on the council and in the congregation to get what decision he wanted. If the church grew or added people who did not share his view, something would be said by him that would cause them to either backdown or stop attending. The church could never really grow too big because that gets harder to control and the people in it were his supporters with only a few people that were detractors.

One thing that really bothered me about his attitude, but I could never do much about, is his belief that by being cop he could also be a good pastor. I would probably tell him now there is no direct correlation and he has no fucking clue what he is doing when it comes to building a church and ministry. But it is all irrelevant to me now.

In the summer of 2016, I took a sabbatical of one month. I had two issues at the time 1) my faith was starting to crumble, and 2) the church was not going to be able to support me long term unless changes were made and there was no way effective change was going to be made as long as the Dirty Pig kept interfering in everything new I proposed that he didn’t like. When I got back I wrote a letter to the church board outlining my problems and what needed to be done. A good chunk of it was directed at the Dirty Pig and his church political control, and he knew it.

There were only two responses: 1) One guy who understood I was right said so privately but also didn’t want to fight any more about it. He stayed on the council long enough to got something for his departed wife done as a memorial and left the church. 2) A second guy who was not on the council challenged the business dealings of the church and was basically silenced through the Dirty Pig’s moderator power. Everyone else stayed in line and stayed quiet.

After that, I basically said to myself: “This church is going nowhere as long as the Dirty Pig runs it.” I am just going to come, preach and help people where I can. I had a couple years of education to do and then I was out. I could do the job and then walk.

Then, of course, Miss Salty came along and kind of upset all that. One day in April of 2018, at a prayer meeting, she bounces in and announces that the Dirty Pig is no longer her favorite person, but I am. I could see his face. That “I don’t like to finish in second’ look all over it. I am not saying there was anything romantic in his intentions toward Miss Salty, but like all people who came into his life with problems he always wanted to be the one that ‘fixed’ them, so he could pat himself on the back. The sides were set at that point.

The following events are as best I can reconstruct them in order and true as I know:

Miss Salty and I announced our affair to her aunt and my wife on Sunday evening. Monday, the Dirty Pig got the news from the aunt and I headed over to his place of business to talk.
I had written my resignation and gave it to him. He argued four things: 1) That I shouldn’t resign, 2) That I was going to ruin my pastor career, 3) That I was going to not have a future career in anything else. and 4) That I needed to dump is Salty because she was ‘a deranged little girl’ that is never going to amount to much and be an embarrassment to me. My responses: 1) No, I am going to resign. Inside my head, I knew he would use this against me to control me. 2) Didn’t give a shit anymore. 3) Maybe. But as my one friend would say later, people don’t really care why a pastor leaves the ministry when they switch to something else. He is right. 4) That’s an interesting opinion of a woman who has a very high opinion of you Mr. Dirty Pig. I told him I didn’t know where this relationship was going but I knew I loved her and wanted it to be mutual.
One might argue that at this point I should have known the Dirty Pig was dirty, but he told me he would do as I asked and read my resignation and would handle things as my friend. Given all I had done for him over the years pretty much because he was my friend, I was grateful. I trusted him to do the right thing in this regard because of our friendship, and it is what I would have done for him. I had not seen him be dishonorable in that regard and that was my downfall with him.
On Tuesday, Miss Salty and I broke up the first time.
Wednesday, The Dirty Pig calls me up and asks me to revise my resignation to not have the confession line. His reasons: not wanting to start gossip in the church and not wanting to drag Miss Salty into this. I felt the reasons were sound and because I was planning to tell the story myself the next Sunday after, I agreed and told him I would get it to him in the next couple days.
On Friday, I handed him the revised resignation, no confession line in it.
From a conversation I had later in July with Miss Salty, I was made aware that it was also Friday and about the same time that he called her asking her permission to tell the story.
Sunday The Dirty Pig reads my resignation and then tells the story. This information got back to me as well as the information that the congregation had been whipped into a lynch mob for all practical purposes. I knew then I could not go back and talk to them now as from their perception I was hiding something, which was never my intention. The Dirty Pig absolute dragged Miss Salty into it and used her, and had every intention of starting gossip in the church to use for his own purposes.
I was also told there was a plan in place to vote for my resignation or to fire me. They already even had the ballots from one report I got. That speaks to a lot of intentional planning for a certain result long before the announcement was even made. Hmmm.
Second Monday, I texted the Dirty Pig as to what was going on? He never responded and still never has said one thing to me since.
Miss Salty and I began our second dating cycle on Tuesday, In retrospect, my need for someone to talk to given the whole weight of this made me open once again for this relationship. I was hurting and she was there.

I was fired and then denied any kind fo severance. They even made it retroactive to May 27th, 2018. I could probably just walk away from it if it had been fairly treated but I wasn’t. The deck was stacked against me and I didn’t know it until it was too late. A person I love was used against me and a congregation I loved turned against me by the Dirty Pig.

Later on August 2nd, as a related in part 1, all this came to the attention of Miss Salty who couldn’t believe The Dirty pig would do that to her..probably. Through my sources, I learned she called him up when she read my post on August 2nd about this and asked him to refute it. He wouldn’t talk to her or give her an answer. I guess that was right after she hung up on me for the last time. After that, she gets high and drunk all the way to the end of the 3rd probably. She found out the hard way what I knew from early June – I was no longer relevant to the Dirty Pig and now she knew neither was she.

The fact is I now know one thing about him. If you are no longer of use or you are going to tarnish his precious reputation, he has no problem discarding you. His view of friendship is purely utilitarian. I would have given him love enough to squash all the rumors and I certainly would have at least have given him time to think about things. I would have also made sure both sides were represented fairly. I would take heat for him as a friend too.

There was a ton of rumors at the time and 95% of them were nonsense. Some of them affect my reuniting with my wife so I will deal with them in part three. But I want to set the record straight about my relationship with Miss Salty from May 21st, 2018, to the time of my resignation.

We never had any physical contact beyond holding hands once, hugs and a kiss on the forehead from me to her. There was no sex or sexual conduct.
Our relationship was a lot of ‘I love you’s’ and genuine concern for each other’s happiness and welfare. At least for me, I can’t speak for her.
There were no other women, girls or whatever. Just Miss Salty.
Miss Salty was a legal and functional adult at the time of this, the entire time. No crime was committed.

The other things that burn me:

That I was never informed at any time of what was happening by any official channel of the church. I was also fired without once being asked if I could come and defend myself in any way. If it hadn’t been for a few friends, I wouldn’t have known shit.
I currently make more money where I am now and have more benefits than the entire almost decade I served that church. It seems one mistake costs you a lot of years where I was there for people, held their hands in tragedy and backed and encouraged them. Severance isn’t just about the money.
Very few from the church have come to me to talk to me about this.
They actually sent Miss Salty a voting ballot about my fate. I love the dual accountability. Hammer for me; free pass for her. After all the time they said I was being too soft on her and not treating her like an adult, what they do? Treat her like a child, and actually make her decide something about someone she loved. I applaud her for throwing the thing in the trash.
Because I was fired, I can’t even list anyone from the church a reference because primarily I don’t trust any of them. But it would be impractical and counterproductive too.
I preached for nine and a half years on grace and forgiveness. I gave people a lot of grace and we as a church even forgave a couple that actually stole from the church and welcomed them back in. Me – throw me to the wolves.

Some of the rest of the church nonsense comes into play in my marriage discussion, so I will leave it until then.

One last thing, some argue this is the reason for my leaving the faith. Not true, it is more the final crash from a falling faith that started falling back in 2015-2016. My objections to Christianity are theological and philosophical and I will be rewriting them soon in Odin’s Eye for the next month or so. All this really does is make me thankful I left the world of church politics and hypocritical Christianity behind. I haven’t been in a church for a service since May 27th, 2018 and I feel so much better for it. The only justification for a pagan for being hypocritical is making it right or conflict through fire and steel for honor sake. I will have a message for my church and the Dirty Pig in my last post in this series on Frigg and Freya’s Day.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

“The Christian Invasion – Asatru (Part 4)” – The Pagan Pulpit

August 4, 2019August 5, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sun’s Day

Announcements:

Theme Song: “Viking War Song – Fehu” – Wardruna

Meditation:

There have been a lot of really shitty things that were legal for people to do. Legal is no metric for right and wrong. Truth and Justice are not about what is legal.

Text:

If you want more details about Asatru, I can’t recommend this book enough.

Sermon:

It is at this point, that I hope that why I am going through the history of the Germanic/Scandinavian religion that it will be clear why the modern movement of Asatru is necessary as a reconstructionist effort. The main cause is that the Christians were very good a wiping out paganism for the most part. It certainly made sure that whatever aspects of paganism that survived had to 1) go underground or 2) hide in the midst of Christian tradition.

As a former Christian pastor, I lived with a couple very terrible bits of historical revelation. 1) That the spread of Christianity was due in large part to missionary efforts that involved bribery, diplomacy and violence more than the truth of the religion as it stands on its own, and 2) That these tactics have continued to the present day. There is what Jesus taught and what Christianity does to spread the faith, and they are miles apart. Light years really.

Paganism in the middle ages started to face a new invasion from a religion that was relentless in its missionary zeal. The basic tactic of Christians was to approach a ruler and offer them salvation in the church. The offer was often sweetened by the fact if that ruler was facing an opponent that was difficult or wanted some sort of help in a conflict they were having with a neighbor, conversion to Christianity brought church financial support as well as the support of Chrisitan allies as they went after those ‘unwashed’ heathens.

Inside each new ruler’s country then the process would start of identifying pagan practices, making them illegal and then purging the pagan practices and if necessary the pagans themselves. There are stories that survive of the slaughter of heathens on a grand scale, destruction of pagan sacred sites and the seizing of pagan property which found its way either into the church’s hands or the ruler of the country. There came a tipping point in Europe where it was either join the church or die and many chose to join the church. A few brave souls chose to die with honor along with their countrymen.

The problem for those who now follow Asatru with all this is that Christianity was very effective in wiping out a lot of the old ways to the point that much has been lost. Asatru is a reconstructionist movement at its heart trying to search out and find things that were lost and then restore them.

It is only recently in the history of the world that some countries have added the Norse/Germanic religions to their list of accepted state religions and thus opening up even the ability to try. For the most part up until then, pagan practices survived by bastardizing their practices by combining them with Christian ones. See Easter’s bunny and Christmas’ trees and lights. Or they went underground passed secretly from one generation to the next. Some things survived in ancient writings and mythology. This is why Asatru is necessary as it is trying to put back into place what has long been lost.

For myself, I knew all these things as a Christian for many years about what my faith had done but justified it. Now, I call it out for what it is – gross hypocrisy. I would also say that Christianity has acted in greed, malice, and lust but called it manifest destiny, the divine right of kings (government), and missionary zeal. They really should be ashamed of their history, but they go on merrily talking about how loving and humble they are and a force for ‘civilization’. There is nothing very civilized about running a sword through someone simply because they have a different faith than you.

The problem for me is I live with a Chrisitan and my family is mostly Christian. They are good people and for the most part ignorant of their religion’s history. That said, I know that their faith has blood on its hands going back quite a bit and in some contexts, they would, because of their faith, do some pretty shitty things to others. For Me, Asatru is about getting back to my spiritual roots before Christianity came into my ancestors’ lives and changed things. It is about finding that which is lost and restoring it back to my weary soul.

Parting Thought:

An obvious note in Asatru. Loyalty is, but not obedience. That belong to the religions that expect blind loyalty and servitude. We are free people and respect and allegiance are earned.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

“Naked Before Who?” – Odin’s Eye – The Grey Wayfarer’s Spiritual Side

August 1, 2019August 1, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day.

Discussion:

On May 17, 2013, I wrote this post: Naked Before God – Part 1 – The Positive Spiritual Side of Nakedness. It was the first post in a series of posts called Naked Before God. At the time, I was trying to reconcile some findings I had found in my biblical study of nakedness and current Christian practice and its perception of nudity. At the end of that post, I reflected on six positive spiritual aspects of nudity. Vulnerability, Openness, Intimacy, Genuineness, Wholeness, and Equality.

Those qualities are very spiritual when you think about them as they go to the core of who we are and how we perceive ourselves in relationship to others and the world. Of course, the problem with this series of posts now; for me personally, is what do I mean about the word ‘God’?

I personally still find being an at-home nudist beneficial. I am actually quite private about it with no real exhibitionist tendencies being introverted as I am. That said, I am as comfortable in my own skin as I am in clothes. Actually sometimes more comfortable because of the spiritual qualities I outlined so long ago still remain true despite my change in faith/religion/spirituality. My issue is redefining how this means to me spiritually. The change is not the spiritual qualities of nudity so much as the notion that the Christian god is the one I am naked before is no longer true to me.

I suppose this is going to take some time and meditation to redefine, but the problem seems to be that some of these spiritual qualities are dependent on there being some divine force to be naked in front of in the first place. There is also the issue of whether such a divine force ~~gives as shit~~ cares about it. Yet, I feel at these times that I have spiritual peace or at least a better possibility of spiritual peace than at others.

Time to Look Through the Eye:

“To see the truth, change one eye for another”

Faith:

I know it sounds strange, but I feel that my faith in myself grows in my times of spiritual meditation and part of that is connected to the fact I meditate in the nude. All the spiritual qualities combine at the time. I am open to the universe around me and vulnerable to it. I can see myself for who I truly am (genuineness) – equal to every other man and woman. There is a non-sexual feeling of intimacy with myself and the world I don’t experience otherwise. I am the whole and true me and me alone. This faith or whatever you want to call it has lead to a lot of inner healing for me. To those of you out there who practice ‘magic’, is this magic?

Religion:

Of course, I have to from time to time shuck off the shackles of my former religion which trains people to be ashamed of being naked. I now believe this is what leads to a lot of body image problems and poor self-image problems for people. There was a fear developed in me from an early age by my past religion that if I was naked I should be ashamed of it, my body and being naked automatically lead to sexual sinful thoughts. None of this is objectively true, but if you are going to dominate and manipulate a person, engaging in shaming people for who they are in truth is a good start. Nudity and sex are great targets for this. I don’t buy any of it anymore but the indoctrination still has a few things that cause irrational fear that I have to throw off.

Theology:

It is interesting that in pagan theology, there seem to be a lot less moral codes about nakedness. If anything, there is at worst neutrality about the subject, or at best blatant positivity about its benefits. The naked pagan walking in the woods is probably a common and an accepted image. We are human and come into this world naked. It is our most natural state and foundational spiritual state, and so it is considered beneficial by most. Whatever power that be that made/evolved us, doesn’t seem to mind our nakedness, so why should we.

Spirituality:

If there is a spiritual challenge to nudity for me now it is twofold. 1) The dumping of artificial man-made social mores that no longer apply to me. 2) Coming to terms with the fact there is a call in my heart to more social nudism. The first I find it easier every day I spend in the buff doing normal and everyday things. The second is the simple fact that much of the spiritual qualities I have outlined that nudity possesses are incomplete without others to experience them with you. It is a value shift for me that is probably been long in coming, considering how long I have been addressing the subject of spiritual nudity. It isn’t a question of spiritual negativity anymore for me, but a practical question.

Conclusion:

The main question of this post still remains as to who I am naked in front of anymore. If not god, then who.? Do such powers even care? Mostly I think I am naked with myself and coming to terms with the fact that I am very comfortable with it and becoming more so every day. It is a part of my daily at-home activities particularly when I am alone. Only time will tell if I gain a more spiritual understanding of myself and the people and world around me as a result. There is a part of my journey that now involves walking this path.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

“Asatru and Discipline” – Of Wolves and Ravens – Discipline

July 30, 2019July 30, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day

Discussion:

“Discipline is the willingness to be hard on oneself first and then if needed help with the development with others, so that greater purposes may be achieved.”

Principle: Apply discipline to every aspect of life that it can be applied.

I have to give the website Ravenbok credit for their views on Discipline and their contrast with legalism because it is spot on. Discipline is about being hard on yourself first and letting others be free to do as they see. The disciplined person seeks to improve themselves and doesn’t presume to have the answer when it comes to others. The disciplined person is motivated by the happiness he finds in changing himself to be a better person. To be disciplined requires one to focus on self.

The legalist, by contrast, thinks happiness will be found in changing others into their vision of what they think is fair or right. So they attempt to dominate and control through law in its various political and religious forms. The legalist disciplines others but does not lift a finger to discipline himself.

That is not to say that as a leader the follower of Asatru does not discipline those under him or lead them in disciplined activities to improve the company or team. The main thing is that the disciplined person leads from the front by disciplining himself first and never asking people to do something they have not demonstrated a willingness to do themselves. To achieve greater purposes requires people who focus on changing themselves first and then each other through example, not coercion.

“It is the exercise of personal will that upholds honor and the other virtues and translates impulse into action. If one is to be able to reject moral legalism for a system of internal honor, one must be willing to exercise the self-discipline necessary to make it work.”

Website: Ravenbok – The particular page is: The Values of Asatru

To the Wolves and Ravens:

“Feed the Wolves, but Listen to the Ravens first.”

Needs (Geri):

I very much need discipline for a lot of reasons but mostly it keeps me walking life. There is a connection between Perseverance and Discipline that is so integral to my self-concept that I need the discipline to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Without the disciplined action, I have done all these years to improve myself, I doubt very much that on a couple occasions, I would have gotten back up.

Wants (Freki):

Discipline is also something I want as the actions of it allows me to focus on the one person who can make me happy – me. Discipline is what helps me make progress on me and do something else that is essential – mind my own damn business when it comes to others. I can only change me and I would be presumptuous to think that I have the right or the knowledge to effectively change others without demonstrating how that change works in me first. Self-Discipline taught me that.

Reason (Huginn):

It is an emotionally immature person, in my humble opinion who seeks to control others. Even if said person has good intentions, they will probably cause more harm than good because they are not knowledgeable in and of themselves to know every possibility or what the other people might consider good. Reason says it is better to focus on self so that one is not a burden to others and to be in a position to help. You don’t do that by forcing others to be charitable for you. You do it by disciplining yourself so you can be charitable yourself.

Wisdom (Muninn):

I think the path to wisdom and thus happiness is the road which requires a disciplined mind and pace to walk it. The wise man is a disciplined man and visa versa.

Conclusion:

On a more personal note, discipline gives me a lot of tools that I fight The Grey with. Depression often takes a lot of tools to beat it. Most of them are formed and created through discipline. My victories will come, but with every one of them, I will look back and say that discipline gave me the skills, strengths, and abilities to win them.

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

“Viking/Germanic Paganism – Asatru (Part 3)” – The Pagan Pulpit

July 28, 2019July 28, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sun’s Day

Announcements:

Theme Song: “Song of Odin (A Cappella)” by Alchemical Poetry

Damn son, this kid can sing and all the parts too. Salute.

Meditation:

It depends very much on what you value: power at the cost of freedom or freedom which has a power all its own.

Text:

If you want more details about Asatru, I can’t recommend this book enough.

Sermon:

My purpose for going through the history of paganism in regards to Asatru is to assess whether it is possible that the current practitioners of Asatru have as a genuine foundation the beliefs fo old. It is also to point out that once we hit the Christian invasion that for the most part religion was not a cause for people to fight so much as needs and wants That would change with Christianity’s arrival.

It can be simply stated that as the area entered the Viking era, religion had become far more sophisticated. The pantheon much more developed and regional differences smoothed over. To the area’s credit, it seems that any religious differences were actually swallowed up by the mythology itself where the Vanir and Aesir both made peace and one pantheon formed. Rituals evolve and the priesthood of the pagans established.

With the fall of the Roman Empire, the areas did gain some distinction as the Scandinavians pretty much became separated and developed their own lines of religious thought while the Germanic peoples on the continent continued to be influenced by the Empire’s final gasps.

What the Viking people became was a culture based on the old gods, fishing, herding, and some farming. They became very adept at either trading for the other things they needed and raiding for the rest. Their gods evolved to reflect their culture and became integral parts of it with festivals, rituals, and calendar. The population grew and the Viking leaders began to adopt the style of government on the continent known as feudalism. This caused migration and that lead to the Vikings doing their raiding more and more frequently not just for loot but for land.

The one thing religion did id create a ‘professional’ clergy for the gods. The hof was a place where the gods were worshiped and the idea of being a friend of the gods or a particular god is born. Being ‘Thorsman’ of “Maiden of Freya” is reflected in this time and some Scandinavian names still reflect this. The idea of worship in one place – the hof while the rulers were in their ‘hall’ was in some respects the first ideas of religion and state being separate but integrated.

For my part, I like this part of history because everything is unspoiled by Christianity. If I had lived then, I would be an Odin’s Man and perhaps a teller of tales – A Skald. It would have been my desired profession to keep the stories alive. It makes me wonder if one of my ancestors was a skald or bard.

This, of course, would all change as the pagans and Christians would begin to clash. But it should be noted that modern practitioners of Asatru look a lot to this time for their inspiration. More on these things in the coming weeks.

Parting Thought:

There will always be someone better than you at something. The quest we should be on is self-improvement. The only competition we should have is what we were yesterday.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

“Paganism: Religion or Spirituality?” – Odin’s Eye – Religion Problems

July 25, 2019July 25, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / 2 Comments

Happy Thor’s Day.

Discussion:

I have little respect or use for religion anymore. That said some things in my spirituality are parts of religions as parts of religious ceremonies and rituals. I suppose you could say that my meditation and my other parts of my morning routine could be considered ‘religious practice’ but that I am not rigged about it. I suppose the definition in paganism between religion and spirituality is a little fuzzy and I kind of like that.

In my readings on paganism in some aspects it is important that it is a religion as in some countries that allows it to be recognized as such and allowed to be practiced. In America, with religious freedom, we sometimes forget that some religion is banned or heavily regulated in other countries so having Asatru be recognized as a religion that can be practiced is important for a lot of reasons.

That said for me personally, I don’t like religion in general and the Abrahamic religions in particular. Weel, to be fair, I dislike it when anyone for any reason tries to force their religion or ideology down my throat and certain religions are notorious for that. Believe what you want, just don’t make me follow your beliefs by force, or force me to live by your moral code.

Time to Look Through the Eye:

“To see the truth, change one eye for another”

Faith:

From a faith standpoint, paganism doesn’t seem like a religion. That is no one in paganism is trying to proselytize me into it. In fact, when I explain my differences to some of them, they nod and say that it is great. I have had a lot of good discussion about it, but no arguments. There is a commonality about faith in the universe and the world around us to give spiritual life and direction but no dogma or creed. We all have the faith that each one of us can shape our own spirituality.

Religion:

There are however pagans who engage in various religious forms of paganism. Asatru, for instance, has its rituals and festivals. You might even say that across the board the celebration of holidays and festivals and events are religious and so in some resepcts, I can see the religious tone to it all. That said you will never hear a pagan speaker tell you that if you don’t do the rituals or attend things then you are a lousy person or going to hell. There is respect for individual choices.

Theology:

Theological systems are also hard to find and often to be blunt all over the place in paganism. There some unified viewpoint about the universe but overarching belief runs the gambit. You know what else, everyone is OK with that. No arguments that end friendships over obscure theological points. There just isn’t that kind of definition of what is true and no authoritative ‘holy book’ to define these things.

Spirituality:

Which is why I lean on the side of it not being a religion but more of a form of spirituality. At the same time, the more religious pagans are OK by me. We don’t have too much to fight about. I enjoy the spiritual side of the parts I practice and the principles of paganism, but the religious aspects I can take or leave at my discretion. so I love it for that reason alone.

Conclusion:

In the Pagan Pulpit, I will be developing this idea more and more as I go through the book I have on Asatru. The issue is how much religion do I want in my spirituality? I guess time will tell how much of a religious pagan I become, if at all.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

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