According to New Scientist, Joshua Oyeniyi Aransiola, a sociologist at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife has the inside scoop on the Nigerian email scammers and it turns out their secret to success is voodoo:
Those unfamiliar with Nigerian culture might find one of the study's findings particularly surprising - scammers make regular use of voodoo. As one Yahoo Boy put it: "The Voodoo thing exists for real, I have used it but I have stopped because of the fear of repercussion. With the aid of Voodoo the money comes faster. I have friends that still use it, they can collect money twice or thrice a week and it helps. I have a friend that uses a calabash filled with black substance; he hides it in his room and says incantations."
There are a couple of interesting posts on the Christian origins of Wiccan rituals over at Pantheon. See Is Wicca a Christian Heresy? and The Watchtowers and Abrahamic Wicca. I'm glad a Pagan said it. It echos my own surprise upon first reading the earlier Golden Dawn rituals, on how Christian they sounded in comparison to later forms of Paganism.
I am often amazed when Evangelicals find it so amazing that I converse so readily and easily with Pagans. I gather many assume conversations with Pagans are unavoidably adversarial and therefore scary and best left to "experts. But this need not be the case. It helps though if you follow a few simple do’s and don’ts:
Do … focus on relationship
God is about relationship so relationship is where we should begin. Instead of charging in with an adversarial stance (or alternatively, a timid and fearful stance) in anticipation of an adversarial response, why not dare to anticipate the opposite? Funny enough I find that works 90% of the time. Pagans are people, just like us, and they appreciate a personable approach.
Do … listen in order to understand
Have you every had one of those conversations where the other person was more interested in what they were about to say next than what you had to say? Not pleasant is it. Well, the tip here is, let’s not be that “other person”. Let’s actively listen. But less obviously, also be mindful that 80% of communication is nonverbal and the average Pagan is far more sensitive and attuned to symbolic communications than the average Evangelical. Don’t just listen to what they say; listen also to what they do.
Do … clarify what are the most important questions
Conversations can easily ramble on all over the place if we’re not careful, never getting to the meaty stuff. Try to go deeper. Find out what really divides each of you, not just what seems to. I’ve had many pagans say to me, “Oh I could never be a Christian because I love experiencing divinity in nature and expressing my spirituality through creative arts, incense burning and meditation.” I’ve said, “That’s curious, because I love those things too, as a Christian.” Going deeper however, I might find that they find polytheism more compelling and plausible than monotheism, or find Messianic particularity offensive. Then we’ve found some more substantial issues.
Do … focus on Jesus
Focus on Christ, not church; on Jesus, not Genesis; on the Messiah, not the wars of Moses and Joshua, on the Lord, not abortion. Or where we must focus on such things, make sure we link it back to the life and teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus in the course of the conversation. Christianity is centred on Christ, so lets keep Christ-centred as we communicate what it means to be a Christian.
Do … share your own story
Your story is what makes the good news real, plausible, and hopefully even attractive. Your story is what takes grounds the resurrection story in lived (and liveable) experience. Share yourself as you share God; share God as you share yourself.
Don't … be so quick to demonize
There is nothing worse than confusing witchcraft with Satanism, or reciting urban legends about child sacrifices, or demonizing practices you understanding nothing about. It destroys conversations. If you do something so stupid, give up now. And while you're at it maybe refresh yourself on that commandment about not bearing false witness. Yes, there are some things Pagans do which are incompatable with Christianity, but please, please, please, check between real things and imagined things before you launch into critiques. If you don’t know the difference: ask first.
Don't … dump on women or gays or the environment
Pagans venerate nature goddesses as well as gods and tend to be strongly eco-feminist. You may not agree with their values in every respect, but a bit of tact and diplomacy goes a long way. And consider, even when you consider them unbalanced, who created the imbalance that necessitated this counterbalance? Yes, us! So maybe we can learn a thing or two from them here.
Don't … expect others to find the Bible as authoritative as you
Not only should you not expect Pagans to take the bible as authoritative as you do, you should not expect them to take any scripture as authoritative as you do. Pagans tend to take experience as more authoritative than scripture and the Wiccan “Book of Shadows” so many have heard of is closer in function and form to Anglican prayer books and Catholic missals than the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Don't … expect every Pagan to be the same
Given the priority of experience over scripture (or should I say general revelation over special revelation) Paganism is consequently very diverse, even in terms of which goddesses and gods are worshipped. Not only are there many different traditions (such as Wicca, Druidism and various forms of Pagan Reconstructionism) but even within each tradition there is much variety. Don’t assume one Pagan speaks for all Pagans.
Don't … be afraid to challenge, as long as you’re respectful
Through many years of experience I’ve found Pagans aren’t beyond being challenged, provided the challenge is respectful, and preferably within the context of relationship. The words of Peter are very pertinent here: “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
So I hope you find this helpful. Nothing is guaranteed. With such a history of bad blood between Pagans and Christians I can’t promise you won’t have a bad experience, that you won’t ever experience rejection, even following these tips. But I can say that most the time, if you approach Pagans with the right attitude, you’ll find them quite open to conversation about things of the Spirit.
Postscript: In this article I have focussed on "how" we might improve conversations with Pagans, from a Christian perspective. But in the conversation that followed, here and elsewhere, many have challenged "why" I would seek such a thing, having made huge assumptions about my intent, presuming it to be myopically focussed on evangelism (which I assure you it is not). If that describes you, before rushing to judgement I would ask you review John Morehead's article on eleven reasons for dialogue, which closely reflects my own view, which you'll find here and here. I would also ask, that where you feel critique is still necessary, to please keep it "constructive" rather than "destructive" and model that which you would ask of others.
The new edition of Sacred Tribes Journal, Vol. 6.1, is now published, focusing on Dark Green Religion, with contributions from Bron Taylor and Loren Wilkinson. If you're interested in Paganism, nature religions and eco-spirituality you may want to check this out.
Isn't this a beautiful quote: “It was not Christianity as I was used to it, which was someone with a sign on the street, yelling at you,” said Alario, who is now a Christian and attends The Gathering. “I went in to argue with them, but they were basically just very relaxed. They were asking me what I thought and believed. As I shared, I got to thinking: what do I believe?”
Not sure who the original artist was or the precise intent, but it's interesting to note how the Jeses of this image has been completely decontextualized from any possible New Testament reference.
My initial interpretation is that it seems to be suggesting that Jesus is a manifestation of the Horned God, with the sacred arcana replacing the sacred heart.
Obviously I see Jesus as much more than one half of a divided divinity, but I'd like to hear your interpretation.
Yesterday, in introducing the book, Encountering New Religious Movements and the Thin Places missional worship experiment, reference was made to a colloborative project "in designing an artistic reinterpretation of the sabbats that visually portrays Christ's mission."
Well, here's the actual artwork.
You'll find more, including the expaination at The Wheel and the Tree, the online version of the project.
In retrospect, having used this at Winter Magic Festivals and the like, I don't think it worked as well as we'd hoped (the tarot cards were far more effective as a communication tool IMO) but I learned a lot from the project, so in that respect I think it was very valueable.
Oh, and just for a treat before I move onto the questions, here's some art you won't find on the official website. An earlier draft and other experimental designs.
Folks, I have been asked to provide some background on the Thin Places missional worship experiment I led some years ago for some US seminary students studying the book, "Encountering New Religious Movements: A Holistic Evangelical Approach". Thinking my responses may be interesting for some of you as well, I've decided to blog some of what I have to say.
For those of you unfamiliar with the book, it was co-edited by my friend John Morehead, along with Irving Hexam and Stephen Rost, and featured articles from a number of top scholars and innovative missiologists, a number of whom were also friends I'd met in the course of moving and ministering amongst people from New Religious Movements, locally and globally. This ground breaking book, published in 2004, ended up winning the 2005 Christianity Today award for Missions/Global Affairs.
In the course of its writing, Encountering New Religious Movements made reference to some of my activities in an article entitled, "Reaching Wiccan and Mother Goddess Devotees". For your reference, here are the pertinent bits, authored by Philip Johnson and John Smulo:
Thin Places
Our apologia is not just a cerebral exercise, but also translates into a missional approach to worship where Wiccans can experientially find the fulfillment of their quest in Christ. Bill Stewart and Steven Hallam have collaborated with us in designing an artistic reinterpretation of the sabbats that visually portrays Christ's mission. This artwork has been used as an evangelistic tool in the context of booth ministry.
Another practical outcome of this apologia is that it has recently (2002) inspired a lay missionary experimen known as Thin Places. The creative impetus came from our collegue Matthew Stone, who has for several years been involved in evangelism with New Age and NeoPagan devotees. The expression is borrowed from remarks made by George Macleod, founder of the modern Christian community in Iona. Macleod indicated that a "thin place" is one where the physical and spiritual realms are so close together that we sense that Gid us not far from us. It is a place of pilgrimage. In geographical terms, a "thin place" can be a transition point, such as where the earth and sky touch on a mountaintop, where urban dwellings touch the boundaries of a forest, or the coastline where land and water converge, and can become a sacre place for worship. Another nuance is that of transition zones or rites of passage in our lives - such a sborth, puberty, moving from school to employment, marriage, menopause, and death - where God's presence should also be felt and acknowledged.
Thin Places is a nomadic network of lay evangelical Christians in Sydney (some are theologically educated), who are committed to a missional theology of worship that gathers on each sabbat. By "nomadic network" we mean that the group is geographically scattered and that the local changes each time they convene for worship. This reflects the sociological realities of contemporary urban life where people network with each other across the eight points of the city's compass and do not necessarily associate identity and primary meaning in life with the suburbs in which they live. The motif of the nomad is grounded in the scriptural example of the Patriarchs, who were often mobile, and the wilderness sojourn of the post-Exodus people. In like manner, Thin Places invokes a "portable faith" that goes from locale to locale according to the six weekly cycle of the sabbats. The locales oscillate between private dwellings and open public spaces (e.g, beaches and parks).
Another motif in Thin Places is that of Christians in exile, which draws inspiration from the Israelite experience of exile in Babylon. the exiled Israelites were compelled to face up to what their spiritual priorities ought to be as they found themselves inhabiting a strange place that was multicultural and religiously diverse. Today's Australian evangelical cannot help but feel a spiritual exile because the Church is in a multicultural social context where other religions flourish and Christianity is no longer regarded as the definitive expression of faith.
A multilayered missional theology informs the activities of Thin Places. There is recognition that, biblically, worship and misisons go hand-in-glove. The immanence of God's Spirit within the creation (Acts 17:27) grounds the basis for the notion of there being "thin places", precisely because God is near. This then links into a theology of the creation that acknowledges it belongs to the transcendant Lord (Psalm 24:1; Colossians 1:16-17) and that we are stewards of the earth. It encompasses the awareness that the creation praises God (Psalm 148), and animals are included in the new heaven and new earth (Isaiah 11:6-9; 65:17-25). A Christocentric focus takes centre stage, because the incarnation of Christ occurred in the sphere of the creaion. By the Cross and Resurrection, we see how th redemption of humanity and the renovation of the creation takes place.
Participants form a circle around an alter dedicated to God in Christ that is erected at each locale as a focal point for a contextula form of worship. Each one contributes with music, art, prayer devotional and meditative exercises, mutual encouragement through personal storytelling of what God is doing in their life, Scripture and communion. At these gatherings, the participants also tithe their time and resources to support prophetic practical action on issues such as the degredation of the creation, cruelty to animals, and social injustices.
Matthew Stone has encouraged the participants in Thin Places to cultivate friendships with Wiccans and Neo-Pagans. the aim is to invite them to the sabbat gatherings. As discipleship occurs, it is envisaged that a church for pagan converts will develop. Our Melbourne collegues, Bill Stewart and Peter Jolly, participate in "Pagans in the Pub," where opportunities for personal witness are unfolding. Mark and Mary Muss have recently settled in the alternate spiritual community at Mullumbimby, where they are establishing themselves as tent-maker missionaries through booth ministires in local markets and permaculture. Our collegues, Warrick and Diane Saxby, are tent-maker missionanies with Neo-Pagans in Tasmania.
There's more to the article of course, and the book, but that's the guts of my involvement. Next I'll share some of the artwork by Steven Hallam, some more about what we did, why we did it, and how my teaching and practice has shifted in the past 8 years through this and other experiences.
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