Comments on: Defining Paganism IV: Is Paganism a Religion?

By: Jeff Lilly

Jeff Lilly — Wed, 11 May 2011 13:43:12 +0000

Kilm, point taken. And thus part of our work will be to broaden the definition of religion to accommodate paganism — although I worry somewhat that the definition of ‘religion’ will itself be widened until it’s effectively meaningless.

By: Kilmrnock

Kilmrnock — Tue, 10 May 2011 21:17:08 +0000

i sorta agree w/ your point that paganism doesn’t fall under the definition of a religion as xtianity does . but for politcal and constitutional rights porposes we should be . just for the info , i’m druid and an ADF member. the way the current laws and prevelant definitions are used these days , i think this will be the only way we can get our constitutional rights. paganism can be and is a furball, but as prevoiusly stated thats part of our charm .and i also believe we can unite as a group under the pagan/heathen banner . this way we can flex our polital muscle as a group . people will listen to us better if we have a more united front . i do understand getting pagans to agree on anything is like herding cats . but we won’t be heard untill we get past all that . Kilm

By: Jeff Lilly

Jeff Lilly — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 19:22:11 +0000

Karla, thanks for your comments. I’m afraid I have to disagree with you; I still don’t think paganism should really be called a religion. I think the problem lies not with paganism, but with the word ‘religion’, which, as I tried to explain above, is a confused concept rooted in Western ideas about Christianity.