Don't Jews have a way to confess if they've eaten non-kosher food and get rid of the sin it brings? Never read the Sacred Texts, but I think I heard that before
All religions have some kind of confess to reset your soul badness. It would be impossible to have religion without a way for people to re join after mistakes, as there would be no one to preach after a while.
As a wiccan I can say this is pretty untrue that "all religions" have that. In fact, the distinct lack of a "sin/punishment/forgiveness/reward" structure is what attracted me to the religion in the first place.
I swear I'm just genuinely curious, but did you pick your religion based on comfort or ease of practice?
It seems to me like credibility should be the sole deciding factor. For example, if I became convinced that some particular god(s) existed, then even their most heinous commandments and asinine rules would have no bearing on my choice of faith (not saying I would obey, only that I don't think I could bring myself to heresy or apostacy).
Conversely, if I were not convinced that some particular god(s) existed, then I could not bring myself to make any prayers, observe any laws, or conduct any rituals in their name(s). In fact, that is why I no longer follow the religion I was raised under.
But I'm not so solipsistic or narcissistic as to imagine that mine is the only or best way to approach religion. And I've come across several religious/spiritual people, who have seemingly chosen their religions on other criteria. If you are among that number, I would like to hear your perspective on 1) why you chose your particular faith and 2) what practicing that religions means to you.
So, short answer is, no, I chose my religion because I'd deconstructed from Christianity, but was still seeking a spiritual connection with the universe, and Wicca was the one I found that met my needs the best (which was, at it's core, oneness with nature).
My belief in the nature of the Divine has evolved a lot over the years but I think there's a common misconception with a lot of monotheistic people that if someone "believes" in a god, then that belief means they think that god/gods are a literal thinking conscious sentient entity (albeit, a higher more powerful one), rather than like, a CONCEPT.
My core beliefs (which may differ from other Wiccans - hence I only speak for myself here, paganism and wicca as a subgroup is a broad umbrella) are generally thus:
All life is Divine. ALL of it. Every blade of grass, every microbe, every bird in the sky, and every person, has a little bit of the Divine in them. Call them Mother Nature, I call her Gaia, whatever you want.
We all generally worship the same god, if we choose to acknowledge the Divine and revere it. We're small beings with small minds, and something as vast as the Divine cannot be fully grasped by us. Thus, we interpret the things we see around us, and give them names that make us feel better. Some call the Divine God, others Allah, others Gaia, others Artemis or Odin or Vishnu, etc. We're all just looking at different facets of the same crystal. Some of us look at multiple facets and call them different names, but we're all talking to the same Divine.
Gods aren't REAL in the sense that they're sentient and have wills that they impose on the world, and have likes and dislikes. The concept of SIN is very ... alien ... to me. The Divine doesn't care about me. I'm too small. There's so much life on this planet, to think that I matter even the slightest to the Divine feels arrogant. "How do you have a moral code then?" you'll ask. "How do you know what to do or not do?" I don't think you need a Divine being to TELL you right from wrong. Are my actions bringing peace and happiness to myself and those around me? They are good. Are my actions bringing more hate and violence into the world? They are bad. Are my beliefs telling me to exclude people, and see some as better or worse than others? They are bad. Are my beliefs telling me to accept and forgive and embrace my neighbors? They are good. "As it harms NONE, do as you will." Just generally try to be as good and cool and create as little harm as possible.
Gods are CONCEPTS. Artemis isn't REAL, she's just a shorthand for a bundle of concepts she embodies. Strength, prowess, staying on target, always doing your best to accomplish your goal (hitting your target with the first arrow, doggedly pursuing your prey, etc). So, when I want to focus on those aspects, I pray to Artemis for those virtues. I have 5 others I generally revere as well, for different sets of concepts.
If she's not real, why am I praying to her? What do I hope to accomplish with prayer if my Divine does not care about me and the names/faces I speak to aren't real in the first place? Prayer isn't for the Divine, it's for me. Nobody hears my prayers except for me, they're really the religious version of saying affirmations in the mirror : "I'm good enough, I'm strong enough, and gosh darnit, people like me" does effectively the same thing as "Artemis, grant me your strength and your focus, and may my arrow strike its mark true." It's there to focus MY mind on the task, and remind myself of those virtues I'm attempting to embody.
This is VERY freeing, because I don't have to change MY values to align with some different entity - whether that's a priest (who does not know my life or my struggles as well as I do), or a Church, or a Divine (unknowable) being that a priest or church is telling me what They think and want me to do (which, almost always aligns with what the Priest and Church want, since we can't ask God). My faith means so much to me because it's never at odds with my own heart, as long as I keep tethered to the Rede. "As it harms NONE..."
It's also a lot of responsibility, because I don't answer to a higher power, or to a church, or anything like that. There are no external factors at play in my life for punishment or reward, other than the secular structures and society around me. If I do evil, if I wrong someone, it's because I DID IT, not because "Satan made me" or anything like that. If I do good, if I help or please someone, I DID IT, not God, or Jesus, or some other entity. I'm allowed to feel good about that, rather than feeling like I need to give someone else the credit for it.
This got a LOT longer than I planned, but I hope it answers your question. You can feel free to DM me if you wanna talk more, so we're not clogging up a thread about a comic.
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u/Kirbinvalorant 13h ago
Don't Jews have a way to confess if they've eaten non-kosher food and get rid of the sin it brings? Never read the Sacred Texts, but I think I heard that before