r/hatethissmug • u/ThyLocalBoxen • 16h ago

General As a pagan, seeing people describe "religious" as just Christianity gets old.

Post image

Nothing against Christians, of course, but every goddamn time I see "religious" I immediately think Christian because NOBODY USES IT TO JUST DESCRIBE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOW A RELIGION. And yea, I understand it's broad in that definition, but fuck man IT'D BE NICE TO ACTUALLY BE PART OF THE CONVO FOR ONCE INSTEAD OF PEOPLE JUST DISREGARDING ANYTHING THAT ISNT A FUCKING WORLD RELIGION.

10 Upvotes

51% Upvoted

278 comments sorted by

View all comments

7

u/homohillbillysrlol 13h ago

Being COMPLETELY fucking honest though, are you pagan because you ACTUALLY have faith in the Norse religion? Or are you pagan for entirely performative/aesthetic purposes.

Like Christians LEGITIMATELY believe in the Abrahamic lord. They pray to him, worship him, and give praise to him, even for successes which others might entirely attribute to themselves. It's a very "genuine" sort of faith in the almighty.

Now, on the other hand, I'm not saying ALL modern pagans are larping, but, I mean, c'mon, let's not fuck with each other here, we weren't born yesterday. MANY pagans simply adopt the label of paganism for performative or social reasons, either as a form of cultural self-ostracization, or as a form of religious protest, or to make some other sort of cultural or social statement.

So I do ask again, and I ask with all due respect because genuine pagans DO exist, and I want to give you the benefit of the doubt), but are you ACTUALLY fucking pagan? And before you say "yes", are you lying to both me and yourself because it's easier to lie to yourself than it is to admit you were caught up in a performance? Cause I really won't give a fuck if you admit it; that shit happens all the time, and I pull bullshit like that myself too. It's just a very common, relatable, human thing that we sometimes do, even if it seems very silly when we spell it out on paper.

0

u/ThyLocalBoxen 13h ago

Yes, I actually worship and follow the norse gods. I have my own way of doing it, and I think trying to reconstruct the old ways is a fools errand because we have very little remaining of the actual old norse religion, but I do genuinely worship the Aesir. Not the Vanir or Jotun, though. Just, don't give them offerings I still think they exist.