Nov 19, 2007 -- 8:24AM, Creedofcrusades wrote:

Willow Rhiamon wrote:

Don't believe me? Yeah, the Pagan Student alliance at the local college changed their name to the Spiritual and Pagan Student alliance because non Pagans said they wanted to attend but wouldn't feel comfortable doing that unless the name was changed. They changed the name and those new people never attended a meeting.  .

This is what happens when you have no hard and fast belief. Its also why .1% is about the top limit for this movement in the world. *Disbelief* alone just isnt enough to fill the needs of souls or form a solid anchor point and the relativism means there will be no other glue to hold the organization together against the centrifigal forces of individual ideas and worldviews.   To put it in simple terms...when you stand for nothing you fall for anything. A "spiritual seeker" meets the criteria of rejecting Christianity but doesnt have anything else in common with the larger group. The group can find no reason to not accept the "seeker" and then finds another bit of chaos moving in its own direction inside the group.

The reason no one else attended is because when they said they wanted the name changed, what they really wanted was for you to take out the name PAGAN.  

PS I see no harm in Circle, or a group like that.  BUT I've seen some of these so called smaller alliances around and they are very political within their own group.  Frankly, I can do without any of them.  Form a circle of like minded pagans, or pagan/pantheists and keep it limited to a certain amount of people. Stay out of the political groups.  They tear people apart.  I've been a pantheistic pagan since 1976, and I'm telling you that these so called "alliances"  are not really interested in your beliefs, they are intested in politics and power, and I've seen them try and wreck some circles and ruin some people's lives.  Stay independent!

Jan 25, 2011 -- 11:30PM, rideronthastorm wrote:

I belong to an Earthbased UU church and yes I feel like were united. But sometimes I wodner, I mean right nowe it seems like we have been celebrating and focused on Bridget, its like  aBridget church and sometimes we seem more Wiccan sometimes more eathen so its been different, but right everythign is Bridget based. We are a UU church also which means we ahve other religions tehre too but all of our rituals are Earthbased and we celebrate the Pagan holidays, so its interetsing, I like being i the church, I couldnt learn much about Paganism if we didnt have my UU church available. Ive heard rumours that even though many UU churches have Christianity at its absed or are Christian or Judeo based that the Pagan mystic community in UU is so big now that UU is becoming  abig huge mecca for Pagans.

I think that one of the major benefits of larger religious groups, especially those with structures dedicated to those groups, is the fellowship which accompanies such groups. The idea of belonging to a (physical) community is a huge draw for a lot of people; it is a reason that moots and pagan pride days continue to thrive, despite the fractious nature of the pagan community. I know a good number of people who continued to hold onto past religious associations for no other reason than there were no local pagan groups who could provide that sense of community.

My experience with UU is very limited, though since they are considerably open to "earth based" religions, many Pagans find themselves drawn to them.