[1]  My initial reactions to Neopaganism and Witchcraft occurred many years ago when I first developed an interest in the subjects (mostly Witchcraft). Like many things, it first stemmed from my involvement in music- two of my favorite guitarists (Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple) were known practitioners, so I became curious. Jimmy Page went so far as to purchase the former estate of Aleister Crowley.

I think we all bring some negative connotations and stereotypes to these religions, due to their portrayals in literature and film, plus the Christian views that many of us grew up with. So my first readings of books written by Wiccans changed these preconceptions significantly- they were not the evil, black-magic, Satan-worshippers that many outsiders imagine. Their focus on nature, and the refreshing female deities/goddesses they include- it's very similar to creation stories and myths of other cultures, such as the Native Americans. While not my particular cup of tea, I can admire the approach. The only exception would be the few and rare fringe groups that take it to a darker place (violence or murder in the name of Satan, for example). I can see how Wicca and similar pagan societies would appeal to certain segments of the female population (both in ancient times and now), and also to "disgruntled" Christians- in either case, paganism can be seen as a way to rebel against the patriarchal and monotheistic beliefs of the church.

[2]  From this module's readings and overview, we learn that there is very little written record passed down from the Wiccans, Druids, and other ancient pagans- all followed mainly an oral tradition. The few fragments that did exist were further compromised because they were translated and transcribed by early Christians, who would have been biased. For neo-pagans, there are no authentic "instruction manuals"- it's either based on very fragmentary historical texts or guess work at best, and re-invention at worst. Like the Asian ideologies we studied earlier, paganism has been subject to a vast amount of commoditization as well- you can go to any of the commercial bookstore chains and buy books of spells, how-to manuals, "Witchcraft for Dummies", etc....

I think all religions disagree on how to interpret historical texts. And it goes further- even within one given religion, there are always factions that disagree (Baptists/Lutherans, Catholic/Protestant, Sunni/Shia, Theravada/Mahayana). We can expect no better from the pagans.

[3]  Scientology is admittedly a sore spot for me. I don't like it, nor the celebrities (*see below) that endorse it, and that's not going to change. That being said, I will concede the points that have been made on behalf of it being such a new "religion", and that it is not fair to judge it too harshly after only about 60 years. Yes- burning bushes, seas that part, messiahs born of virgins who later rise from the dead; these ideas would have seemed outlandish in their day too. All religions, even the ones we believe in, were invented at some point in time. No deity nor extraterrestrial traveler has ever communicated with me directly to indicate otherwise.

I see very few similarities to more established religions. Most, including Scientology, want our money, and promise to make our life (either this one or a later one) better. That's about all I see. The differences- I don't know of another religion that was created by a bad science fiction writer (or whatever the ancient equivalent of a "hack" would be); that so closely resembles a pyramid financial scheme; or that would dare to expound the ridiculous notion that galactic forces have been influencing earth for trillions of years. (Apparently he didn't remember that earth did not exist then- the entire universe neither). How could Mr. Hubbard possibly be privy to that information? Was he the best human these aliens could find to share their history? Wouldn't they have wanted to talk to more than one of us? I don't know- I guess the Mormon story compares. If anyone can convince me that Scientology will someday be a major established religion, I'll gladly admit I'm wrong. I don't think it will happen...

It's been a great religion for Tom Cruise, at least. He seems fairly happy. It didn't seem to help his three marriages very much, however. (and we think alike, Professor McKinnon- I didn't see your photo of the Oprah incident until after my first submission of this!)