You probably don't care or are more confused.

Step away from the computer.

Find out what you believe first. Really ask yourself "what are things I KNOW deep down inside that no one can take away from me."

Once you have that, which will take some time, you can find a religion that supports your core beliefs and then you can learn what you are willing to work with  (example: can you handle a strictly regimented living style, or do you want to do whatever you want that doesn't go against your core beliefs?)

Also, don't go to any religious leader until you want to know more about the religion. As in, lets say Buddhism is your thing now. Once you really want to start comitting, but aren't 100% sure, go to a Buddhist temple and talk to them to see what that is going to be like if you want the community involved. Make sure you know about the religion though, because they might try to sell you something too. Sometimes you can't have a "religion," only a spiritual path.

As for your girlfriend, tell her that you need to find your own way now and that her telling you about her religion and her opinions on other religions is just making things more difficult. The time for that will come again, but right now it will only muddy the waters.

Best of luck. If you have any questions, just message me. Or google "Belief-O-Matic." Sounds funny, but it's a good place to start.

-------
In a city made of steel
The concrete rage is all we feel

So what do you do? Go out there and study what religions actually teach. Read a books. Look at websites (though this will probably result in a lot of misinformation on your part). Understand that just because your girlfriend believes a certain way doesn't mean that you have to believe a certain way.

Furthermore, I'll echo what others have said: Wicca has only existed for ~80 years at the very most and 50 years at the very least. Ask your girlfriend if she knows about Gerald Gardner or the 161 laws. If she says no, ask how she can possibly call her self a Wiccan without knowing who the founder of Wicca is or the laws of the religion. Should be fun.

-------
Let yourself be enchanted,
You just might break through
To ever ever after

---

If you're having a crisis of faith just because you found out that a religion (namely various Pagan religions) is older than Christianity and one person is telling you that Christianity is comprised of lies, I daresay that your faith wasn't that strong to begin with.  

So what do you do? Go out there and study what religions actually teach. Read a books. Look at websites (though this will probably result in a lot of misinformation on your part). Understand that just because your girlfriend believes a certain way doesn't mean that you have to believe a certain way.  

Furthermore, I'll echo what others have said: Wicca has only existed for ~80 years at the very most and 50 years at the very least. Ask your girlfriend if she knows about Gerald Gardner or the 161 laws. If she says no, ask how she can possibly call her self a Wiccan without knowing who the founder of Wicca is or the laws of the religion. Should be fun.

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This is a good strategy for a debate, but that's supposed to help their relationship how? I don't care how inaccurate I am about something, if my boyfriend was that  antagonistic towards me about the inaccuracy, it would only show me he was a dick and didn't give a shit about me, my feelings, or my understanding of the subject.

-------
In a city made of steel
The concrete rage is all we feel

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Quote: from exceedinglyrare at 6:22 am on Nov. 19, 2008

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If you're having a crisis of faith just because you found out that a religion (namely various Pagan religions) is older than Christianity and one person is telling you that Christianity is comprised of lies, I daresay that your faith wasn't that strong to begin with.

 So what do you do? Go out there and study what religions actually teach. Read a books. Look at websites (though this will probably result in a lot of misinformation on your part). Understand that just because your girlfriend believes a certain way doesn't mean that you have to believe a certain way.

 Furthermore, I'll echo what others have said: Wicca has only existed for ~80 years at the very most and 50 years at the very least. Ask your girlfriend if she knows about Gerald Gardner or the 161 laws. If she says no, ask how she can possibly call her self a Wiccan without knowing who the founder of Wicca is or the laws of the religion. Should be fun.

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This is a good strategy for a debate, but that's supposed to help their relationship how? I don't care how inaccurate I am about something, if my boyfriend was that antagonistic towards me about the inaccuracy, it would only show me he was a dick and didn't give a shit about me, my feelings, or my understanding of the subject.

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Or that he does give a shit about you, your feelings and your understanding of the subject and therefore wants to make sure that you actually want to follow what you're following and actually understand it. Generally speaking, correcting someone isn't a way to be an asshole; it's a way to correct them.

-------
Let yourself be enchanted,
You just might break through
To ever ever after

---

Agnostics, as I see it, are almost as bad as Christian fundamentalists because they make the choice to ride the fence and be ignorant their whole lives. They're either too scared to drop faith all together, or to ashamed of what being "Godless" entails. While I don't go as far as to call the average Agnostic "stupid", I do believe it is a serious flaw in reason and logic and condone the choice as "stupid".

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Apparently you don't know what agnosticism is, as you are an agnostic.

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"Hey, that's not very nice, Mayor--
just because a person's gay doesn't mean he's a fag!"
-Stan

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Quote: from pseudo neurosis at 1:18 pm on Nov. 19, 2008

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Quote: from exceedinglyrare at 6:22 am on Nov. 19, 2008

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If you're having a crisis of faith just because you found out that a religion (namely various Pagan religions) is older than Christianity and one person is telling you that Christianity is comprised of lies, I daresay that your faith wasn't that strong to begin with.    

  So what do you do? Go out there and study what religions actually teach. Read a books. Look at websites (though this will probably result in a lot of misinformation on your part). Understand that just because your girlfriend believes a certain way doesn't mean that you have to believe a certain way.    

  Furthermore, I'll echo what others have said: Wicca has only existed for ~80 years at the very most and 50 years at the very least. Ask your girlfriend if she knows about Gerald Gardner or the 161 laws. If she says no, ask how she can possibly call her self a Wiccan without knowing who the founder of Wicca is or the laws of the religion. Should be fun.

---

 

 This is a good strategy for a debate, but that's supposed to help their relationship how? I don't care how inaccurate I am about something, if my boyfriend was that  antagonistic towards me about the inaccuracy, it would only show me he was a dick and didn't give a shit about me, my feelings, or my understanding of the subject.

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Or that he does give a shit about you, your feelings and your understanding of the subject and therefore wants to make sure that you actually want to follow what you're following and actually understand it. Generally speaking, correcting someone isn't a way to be an asshole; it's a way to correct them.

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But your approach is not appropriate for a romantic couple. A relationship is about compromise also, not about everything being right, or correct. It is important that she know what she is really doing, but that is for her to realize. Yes, he can tell her "you should really find out more information on your own religion before saying things about others." And if she doesn't find out more information, so what? If he can live with her inaccuracies and indiscretions (which you do when you're romantically involved), then she should do the same. If they can't, they should see other people that they are more compatible with.

-------
In a city made of steel
The concrete rage is all we feel

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But your approach is not appropriate for a romantic couple. A relationship is about compromise also, not about everything being right, or correct. It is important that she know what she is really doing, but that is for her to realize. Yes, he can tell her "you should really find out more information on your own religion before saying things about others." And if she doesn't find out more information, so what? If he can live with her inaccuracies and indiscretions (which you do when you're romantically involved), then she should do the same. If they can't, they should see other people that they are more compatible with.

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...no.

Sorry, but letting someone continue to do something inaccurate and false isn't loving them. It's avoiding making waves so that you can still get laid. When you really and truly love someone (which can be a difficult concept for teenagers to grasp, I know, I was there), you're honest with them and you tell them if what they're believing is a bit off. Personally, I would be extremely offended if my fiance didn't tell me when I was speaking of things inaccurately or incorrectly; I know and trust him, and I'd rather that he correct me than that he let me humiliate myself when I start saying something similar in front of someone who actually knows what they're talking about.

So, no. Sorry, but no. Your "don't rock the boat" approach may work for people who are only in it for the nookie, but for an actual relationship, it doesn't work at all. It's not a question of compromise; it's a question of allowing the person you love a little embarrassment now so that they can avoid a larger humiliation later.

-------
Let yourself be enchanted,
You just might break through
To ever ever after

---

Quote: from pseudo neurosis at 6:36 pm on Nov. 19, 2008

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But your approach is not appropriate for a romantic couple. A relationship is about compromise also, not about everything being right, or correct. It is important that she know what she is really doing, but that is for her to realize. Yes, he can tell her "you should really find out more information on your own religion before saying things about others." And if she doesn't find out more information, so what? If he can live with her inaccuracies and indiscretions (which you do when you're romantically involved), then she should do the same. If they can't, they should see other people that they are more compatible with.

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...no.

Sorry, but letting someone continue to do something inaccurate and false isn't loving them. It's avoiding making waves so that you can still get laid. When you really and truly love someone (which can be a difficult concept for teenagers to grasp, I know, I was there), you're honest with them and you tell them if what they're believing is a bit off. Personally, I would be extremely offended if my fiance didn't tell me when I was speaking of things inaccurately or incorrectly; I know and trust him, and I'd rather that he correct me than that he let me humiliate myself when I start saying something similar in front of someone who actually knows what they're talking about.  

So, no. Sorry, but no. Your "don't rock the boat" approach may work for people who are only in it for the nookie, but for an actual relationship, it doesn't work at all. It's not a question of compromise; it's a question of allowing the person you love a little embarrassment now so that they can avoid a larger humiliation later.

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I've been with my fiance for 5 years. Between us we've had lots and lots of debates, and disagreements, and I knew something and it wasn't right, and he knew something and he wasn't right. Compromise is something we still have to work at. I'm a control freak and he likes to do things in his own learning style way. I like to stay home to recharge, he likes to go out. We compromise by me letting up the control freak part a bit and letting him take over things half of the time. We also compromise by us going out a couple nights a week and staying home a couple nights a week. He's a non-theist, I'm a Neo-Pagan. I talk to him about my religion sometimes and he talks to me about his spirituality sometimes. He has some ideas I think are stupid (like his plan on how to rid AIDS) and I have some ideas he thinks are stupid (like rehabilitation instead of capital punishment. That's what I mean by compromise. We see each other's point and work with it until we're both happy.

Now. Example of what I'm talking about (I'm thinking that I'm just not getting my message across because I haven't developed it in text; examples are easier for me, hopefully for you too): (This is a real conversation we had, by the way)

Me: Do you know about Asatru? The Recon Norse Pagan Religion? I've been interested for quite some time.

Him: You mean you want to be a Viking?

Me: No, Vikings do something different.

Him: Well, you said Norse. Norwegian, you know, Vikings. Odin and all that is Viking stuff.

Me: Asatru wasn't even around til like the 70's. It's based on Germanic Paganism, which is dead and pre-Christian. The Vikings were circa 700 BCE. So... just because of the timeline, it couldn't be Viking stuff.

Him: Okay. Cool.

What I got from you is that he should go to his girlfriend and say "You need to learn about your religion, because I read online from a bunch of people that I don't know that you don't know shit!" Which would be seriously antagonistic. If you come off like you want a fight to someone, they're going to immediately become defensive, which leads to no resolution and could lead to a break-up, over time.

Best idea, and it just came to me, why don't they look it up together? Informative and totally non-aggressive, plus, they're together and it will hopefully make them bond closer.

-------
In a city made of steel
The concrete rage is all we feel

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Where did I say that he should take that approach? It's a valid point: how can you call yourself a member of a religion if you don't even know who the founder is?

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I guess that was a misunderstanding on my part and I apologize.

It is a very valid point and I agree with you, she doesn't have a right to call herself Wiccan if she has these ignorances. But for the sake of their relationship, it may not be their biggest issue. I think what I said stands though: they look it up together, and he can then find out more, accurate, information on other religions as well.

-------
In a city made of steel
The concrete rage is all we feel

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Can anyone give advice/tips or just ANY kind of help?????

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"Maybe God doesn't care how you say your prayers, just as long as you say them" - Jeffery Sinclair

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"I give the probability of this working at zero" - Dan DeMatteo

I am partially anti-christ because of the stupid things some of them have been doing lately. Christianity isn't necesarily all lies, but it will be hard to tell if it is true or not because of A) lack of some important physical evidence, and B) how long ago it happened.

Religion is, once again, a personal thing. Believe what you want. [url]http://www.religioustolerance.org/ is a website which says plenty of things about all religions. Check it out and decide for yourself.

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Poetry by Envy the Sin
http://storywrite.com/story/by/This20%Means20%War20%

I know that alot of people say that Christians stole our holidays - like Yule (aka Christmas). As Jesus wasn't really born on the 25th December. And there are tons of other things which Christians stole from us - according to some people. None of us will truly know really. It's just belief in ourselves.

I would never ever say Christians are liars. BUT there is a fine line until they start saying Pagans are evil or whatever. Cause that is lies.

Paganism has in a sense existed in the beginning. Like people worshipped earth and the moon and stars and they held life very highly - and that is basically what many Pagans do now. Though it more along the lines of respecting those things, rather than worship. We have deities for that.

Don't let it get between you and your girlfriend. All you have to realise is that there are different beliefs, and no one is really right or wrong.

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Stickam
Myspace DeviantART

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I am Wiccan, have been so for years. And honestly - there is no right or wrong. Christianity helps so many people in their day to day lifes, and so does Paganism and other religions.

I know that alot of people say that Christians stole our holidays - like Yule (aka Christmas). As Jesus wasn't really born on the 25th December. And there are tons of other things which Christians stole from us - according to some people. None of us will truly know really. It's just belief in ourselves.

I would never ever say Christians are liars. BUT there is a fine line until they start saying Pagans are evil or whatever. Cause that is lies.

Paganism has in a sense existed in the beginning. Like people worshipped earth and the moon and stars and they held life very highly - and that is basically what many Pagans do now. Though it more along the lines of respecting those things, rather than worship. We have deities for that.

Don't let it get between you and your girlfriend. All you have to realise is that there are different beliefs, and no one is really right or wrong.

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Wait, are you a Wiccan or just a general Pagan? Because Wicca hasn't existed long enough for Christianity to steal anything from it.

-------
Let yourself be enchanted,
You just might break through
To ever ever after