Christans hate Witchcraft

I'm a Christian. born and raised as one. its true that there are some aspects of witchcraft that Christians may find... offensive or "wrong" but its mostly just because of how most people who know nothing about witchcraft think that witchcraft is "evil"

This seemed like a fun forum so here I am :D

Anyway, I blame it on medieval christian propaganda. If you read deeply into the rituals of the church you will in fact find Magick in the prayer and ceremony. They just know it separately than witches. Because that propaganda ran so deep and people continuously use bible quotes out of context, many Christians will say witches are evil, but this is only because of a lack of education and superstitions that began with their ancestors. Thankfully, many Christians are becoming educated in the ways of witches, and the stigma has lessened in the Church (I say lessened, not considerably). I hope, pray, and believe one day this stigma will be gone and both cultures can coexist! Blessings!

Christianity is a fairly young religion when compared to many others, yet it goes back quite far still. The witch trials ruined many lives. Sadly, the seeds of hate run both ways. It has been stated more than once in this forum that every religion has extremists, and this is more true than many would like to believe. People who practice the crafts have been persecuted by Christians for a long time, Simply because they don't understand power unless it's "God's Work". However we are not without blame as well. Because of the witch trials many wiccans, pagans, spiritualists (and basically anyone who studies magic) harbor a deep seeded hate and mistrust for Christianity. Much like Hitler and the Jews. It's the same concept in principal, though on slightly different scales. I am happy to see however in this day and age people more openly accepting magic, instead of shuning it. Magic can be used for wonderful things. And when you get right down to it magic makes up most of our every day lives. For instance herb magic can be found in modern medication. Most of the herbs used have healing properties. Anti burn cream usually has alovera in it, a plant known for its healing properties.

I suppose my point is, ignorance creates fear, fear creates intolerance, intolerance breeds hate. Hate is a powerful feeling and takes so very long to heal. Perhaps try explaining what you use magic for. I was raised by my grandparents and they were hardcore Christians. They found my research one day and thought I was trying to summon demons. They ended up burning all my notes. I lost so many personal spells that I had created. After that I spoke to them. Explained why I used magic and for what purpose. After they finally calmed down and listened to me, they agreed to let me continue my study and practice, so long as it wasn't on the property. Now it's to the point that they are so comfortable with it, they will help me get supplies like wine, candles, etc.

The influences of history and politics are also a large factor. From what historians have been gathering, a large part of the untfication of Europe, and the subsequent temoval of the tribal systems that were in place at the time, were done through forced conversion. It was a method of bringing order under the rule "convert or die." As justified that God is jealous and no other god is to be worshipped before him. To that end anyone who followed any other deity (not just satan) was subject.

A few henerations later the first 'witch hunter's manual' was actually believed to be intended to stop the random accusations by giving a (then considered) logical reasoning and process. In fact the king/lord (i can't remember which) that wrote it did so after having people brought to him for judgement under accusation of witchcraft. He ended up teleasing the victims and punishing their accuser for being blatantly false.

Actually, under study most, if not all, people being tried were not even witches but the village undesireablesthat people just hated. Or it was instigated by one man. I can't remember the name but he had basically appointed himself the 'witchfinder general', travelled from town to town, and charged a fee per witch he tried and executed. It would start by the village accusing one... who would be tortured to confession and made to name others. And it would continue until the village was out of money then he would move on.

It is my guess that as the years have rolled on such things, even if they weren't a part of the bible, became justified by association, and then accepted as necessary, and then "it's just what you do."

Nowadays it not only affects the average attitude of Christians towards other faiths... (if you aren't christian then it is the devil) but also those other faiths as well. Like children assuming that to be a witch you 'need to' call on the devil. Or other Christian demons.

chritian devote believers are prejudiced in my school the moment they found out i practiced they started repeating psalms and using their fingers to make cross signs

I will agree with some of the posts that i read stating that not all christians hate witch craft, paganism, atheism, etc.,etc. A person learns what is taught to them by others. Its not the religions fault but rather the teacher and their interpretation of said religion. If I had a nickel for every time that i've been told that "the man (god) I worship is better than the man you serve", I would be rich by now. Bear in mind here that I am a hardcore atheist. But many do not know the definition of atheism, even though its listed in the bible at least in 3 different places. Something else that is generally forgotten or ignored is that christianity actually has pagan roots, hence the similarities. another little known or ignored thing is that the old testament and the egyptian book of the dead start off word for word, or close to it if memory serves, sans a few name changes. And the egyptian book of the dead was around long before christianity. But it is also is as was stated in another post or three before my ramblings. Not all christians hate other religions, many of them are usually the ones that better understand their own religion, maybe even a few others. More often that not though, the blame is on misinterpretation.