And no, I'm not making this up: So besides the WTF matter of MTV educating people about a religion blink, I'm pleasantly surprised that they're taking an alternative religion to open people's eyes to. If they did something like this on Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Jehovah's Witnesses, or any other religion that gets the shit-end of the stick, I think it would be enlightening. What's your view on MTV actually doing something seemingly mature and not pop-culture oriented for once?
My parents need to see this. No matter what, they need to. For two people who claim to be "accepting", they don't accept a lot of stuff, and Paganism is one of those things. Although, the fact that MTV is the one talking about it might just make them laugh. I'm happy about this though, because it's not just another frivolous trend. It's something that's been around for centuries, and there are so many misconceptions about it. Hell, even I have my misconceptions about it, and I actually took the time to read about it. However, I can't help but think MTV has some sort of hidden motives. That aside though, this will be a good opportunity to educate people on the actual truth about Paganism, rather than the whole "it's from the Devil" that you're bound to get from conventional sources.
There's no way in my atheist's hell that you can call something like Islam a "alternative" religion when it is the second largest in the world. Also, sadly enough, if people were really educated about some of these religions they would see they are 1) absolutely nuts and/or 2) disgustingly barbaric. And I include Christianity in that. The thing is, most people don't even know much about their own religion (if you are Christian please, I beg of you, actually READ the Bible...). I think this should be dealt with before you start trying to learn about others. As for this Witchcraft or Wiccan or Paganism or whatever archaic idea dressed up in new age gibberish- it's just another religion followed to look cool, to rebel, to seem open minded, etc. Not to say that it's followers don't agree with it's ideals, but you can believe in equality of the sexes with believing in some asexual spiritual power, and can believe in accountability without some mystical sense of Karma. I'm not meaning to say the Craft is somehow worse than Islam or Christianity (although admittedly taking pride in that is like taking pride in being less evil than Hitler), just that it is still a mind-shrinking falsehood. --- I mean educate away, it is good to clear up misconceptions. But at the end of the day it's no different from teaching people about the Lord of the Rings to better understand any insane individuals who actually believe it is true.
Wow. I could point out all the flaws in that post, but I don't want to start an argument. All I'll sayis that Christianity, Islam, Paganism, etc., isn't barbaric, nor is it absolutely nuts. There are a select few practitioners of said religions that are barbaric. It's not the religion though. There will be zealots no matter what. Paganism has also been around for centuries. It's not something "dressed up" with new age gibberish, nor is it followed to look cool. These are some of the exact misconceptions I'm talking about. More power to MTV if they can clear up this whole thing for everyone. Oh, and as Islam came AFTER Christianity, it is indeed, an alternative religion.
I don't really see your point if you think not following a religion makes you any better in that respect. Mao, Hitler, and Stalin were all anti-religion.
I don't see the point of telling each other what is wrong and what is right. After all, only the dead knows. If a certain religion makes you feel right and complete then who are others to judge you? It's good to learn about all sorts of religions in my opinion, so MTV does a good job.
i didn't know atheist's had a hell? thought that defeated the purpose of being an atheist. unless someone was trying to be all smarmy and cool, though it didn't exactly work. also, a true alternative religion is something like scientology.
In the strictest definition of the phrase "alternative religion," you're right. But to someone who's a follower of one religion, any other religion is going to be an "alternative" religion.
i'm of the personal belief that scientology isn't a true religion, it's just a theory that has alot of followers, like the Big Bang or how Tupac is still alive. To clarify, I don't worship anything. So all religions are alternative to me.
It's an "alternative religion" because it's so wildly different from all the others. That's how I look at the phrase itself, because I don't consider it a religion either. I consider it a cult. A scary cult. Like Red Sox fans.
Scientology is a business. But if wasting money on useless shit makes certain people happy then good for them, I guess.
Well I meant alternative for Islam as religions that get the shit end of the stick. Technically Jehovah's Witnesses aren't alternative, it's a form of Christianity. I think we should just educate people, because just because it's number 1 religion, doesn't mean everyone gets it. And by shit end of the stick, I mean the religions that most people don't understand nor try to put the effort into understanding.
Any sort of education about any religion, as long as it clears up the misconceptions, is fine by me. However, if it paints something as a "fad" or something that people do to be cool, I'm gonna get pissed. Except for Scientology of course.