Link - Catholic Church View on Paganism

Here is a much skewed look into what the Catholic Encyclopedia thinks paganism is. First, I have to say that this is either very badly written or very badly translated from a different language. Some paragraphs do not even conclude the point that their headings infer. There seems to be a lot of finger pointing and of course, there is the fact that the Catholic Church is always right (in their eyes).

I must say that I learned nothing about Paganism from this article other then that the church says it is wrong and evil (by linking it to their idea of Satan). Nothing else. Of course, if you think something is evil, in your eyes it is. Most pagans don’t believe in the Christian devil, making it something that Christians, not Pagans, believe in. But when they have no real information to back it up their statements other that their say so, how can we, as consumers of information, take it seriously. This article is more about the Catholic Church than paganism. Just as the scientist of old thought that the world revolved around the earth (and therefore themselves), so too does the Catholic Church think that religion revolves around them.

One particular passage about women had me shaking my head and wondering if the authors were still in the dark ages. Here are some examples taken directly from the text.

As for woman, the promiscuity which is the surest sign of her degradation ……

Essentially connected with the fate of women is that of children.

Now, I know some Catholics and let’s just say that not all of them out there are like this. I think this is an extreme case of very conservative ideas being pushed onto the public.

Catholic Encyclopedia

Here are some other links to what Paganism is according to other sources:

Wikipedia – Paganism
Wikipedia – Neo-Paganism