h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Ah, but there was a certain naivete to "Kung Fu" that the films just didn't capture. Perhaps this is because the films were made by a bunch of commercial raptors, while David Carradine used his "Kung Fu" money to finance 'arty' productions that would otherwise never have seen the light of day.

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"Who cares, wins"

Hey people , we've got time, we've got how we got to our current (lack of) religious beliefs, we've got cult TV, we've got RPGs ... and we've got silence.

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What exactly does that equal? (Other than our conversations I suppose)
Quille the little lost

It equals the start of a new topic.

Self-Paradoxical (a wandering mind)

lol. Sounds good. So what's the new conversation.

Quille the wandering

OK then, RPGs, which in my case means AD&D (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, formerly from TSR, now owned by Wizards of the Coast, the "Magic - the Gathering" company). In keeping with the ethos of this forum, we should consider the connection (if any) with God(s), religion and faith.

As I said in a note not long ago, I have a long-term interest in the Old Gods, stimulated by the tales that've been passed down the years, reaching us as legends, myths and fairy tales.

When I took up AD&D, I was impressed by how closely the game followed the legendary nature of the Gods and monsters. And I think it did have an effect on my faith. As I played in worlds where the Gods were a part of daily life, they became more familiar, more like real people and less like characters from old stories.

[Sounds trite, eh? Wait: it gets worse: ]

I think this prepared me to recognise that I am a pantheist, to some extent. My views didn't really change, but I took them a little more seriously. I suppose I would've been embarassed to admit 'belief' in the Old Gods, in any sense. Then I discovered pantheism, and found out that I had been one (more or less) for a long time.

And that's my story, children. Have RPGs affected your lives, like mine and Madent's (it *was* you who said that, wasn't it, Madent?)?

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I suppose if I hadn't read as much fantasy and played as many fantasy-based computer games (including some RPGs like Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, which are both AD&D Forgotten Realms games), I might not have taken as much of an interest in the little snippets I heard about other religions, and I might not have spent as much time thinking about what I believe, which is what led me to realise I'm a Wiccan.

It seems very common, don't you find, that people who are Wiccans, pantheists or more or less anything of a sort which believe in tolerance, personal interperetation of and communication with the Divine, and perhaps worship of the Earth, Moon or Sun, often seem to have come to it after finding out what their particular religion is and realising "hey, that's just what I believe!"

"Many atheists and humanists may be pantheists without realizing it." [Google for "Natural Pantheism: a spiritual approach to nature and the cosmos." and you'll find Paul Harrison's site.] Some believe there are many millions of pantheists who have yet to discover the name for the beliefs they hold.

Is it just that these faiths - and what they believe in - are much less well known than christianity, islam and the rest? Or do they satisfy some inherent need in humanity and human beings?

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Less well-known. Since when do kids routinely get taught about Paganism, pantheism, Druidism, Wicca or whatever in RE lessons? I never was. Although at work the other day (I'm temping for a large, well-known examining board at the moment) I did see that part of one of the GCSE Religious Studies syllabusses for upcoming years does include a suggestion that candidates look at the beliefs and activites of a Wiccan alongside those of some other religions to compare their attitudes and so forth. I thought that was nice.

What I didn't like recently though, is that there's a new book out as an unofficial companion to the TV series 'Charmed'. Now, I'm a fan of the show, but I know enough not to take it seriously (I mean, the main characters aren't Wiccans at all, they just happen to have magical power of some fantasy sort). This book, however, claims to explain the show's Wiccan roots and contains guides to casting one's own spells...

Now, I'm not against anyone who's interested finding about about Wicca and magick and so forth, but that's just not the way to go about it. It feels like Wicca and neo-Paganism in general is being exploited to make some money... and I don't like that at all.

Hey, watch yourself, MaW! It's OK for you and I to moan on the h2g2 website about our loony leanings, but blasphemy is serious:

"Wicca and neo-Paganism in general is being exploited to make some money... and I don't like that at all."

Money has many powerful and fanatical followers. It's the biggest religion of all. Make a fuss and they'll have you tied to a stake before you can say "burn the witch!"

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So is this the place where I post if I want to join the FFFF? It seems to be a business forum....

I was a little hesitant about joining, but now I think I'll do it. Does the foundation have positive aspects as well, or is it just an escape from Christianity? (Not "religion" but just "Christianity"?) Either way I'll be a part of it.

~Wes

RPG's really haven't influenced my religion, since I don't have one..Oh well!
Hi Wes (or whatever you prefer to be called that you didn't sign by)..positive aspects..how exactly do you define positive? Oh well, I really don't know enough about it here to tell you anything. Haven't been here long-I bid you welcome all the same.
Quille the semi-permanently schizophrenic

Yeah, money does seem to be a religion, doesn't it? But that doesn't mean I have to like it.

And I thought blasphemy was only defined as being against Christianity, because they're about the only people who care...

Hello....Wes or Ex Libris is fine.

I guess by "positive" I mean "not negative", which is different, I suppose. For a time in my life I went around just intensely disliking things for no better reason than that they were Christian, until I realized I was being silly. I was hoping this group isn't like that...and it seems I was right. That it isn't, I mean. That is...I mean...After looking over the business forum it *does* seem to be not one big long rant against Christianity. That's to say, keep it up. Um.

As for RPG's, the religion aspect has never bothered me. I had a friend whose mother forced him to stop playing last year...forced him to call me up on the phone and tell me so, with her on the other line. Reviewing that, I think I should have said something to her--something along the lines of, "What do you think you're doing? Give it up!" (But with more tact. A bit more. Just a bit.)

s and s, (as always)
~Wes

So does this mean I'm a full-blown member of the FFFF now? Oh, goody.

You sound nearly as confusing as I normally am. (Actually I'm normally confused, thus confusing others by not understanding what I am saying and saying it all the same.) At least you had a reason to dislike things even if it was ..I've heard of worse.
oooo! s! love the books...praise the books...(sorry I am a very avid reader and I even attempt on occasion to write [which always turns out quite abysmally]).
You probably should have said something like "Get off the phone you religiously paranoid control-freak! How dare you call yourself a human!"..well, actually that's just me..it sounds pretty now that I think about it..(but my specialty is not to think and just to say pointless things).
I guess welcome aboard in a sorta kinda way..
Quille the perpetually confused with no authority

Well, it seems to me that if you can't deal with exposure to other points of view, cultures, religions or whatever (be it personal exposure or exposure of your kids to it), then clearly you're admitting in a certain way that your own faith (or the one you're trying to get your kids to follow) isn't secure enough to withstand that, and that's a bad thing - if it can't withstand that, is it really worth the effort?

Then again, that probably doesn't apply to religions which think that everyone should believe in them no matter what, because there's no element of personal choice there (or rather, there is - eternal life or eternal darkness, according to the Christians at least, and that's not much of a choice if you happen to believe what it says in the Bible).

So me applying my standards to everyone else just isn't going to work. What a shame

Hello Wes, welcome.

Actually, you're not a member (the full-blown kind... I'm feeling kind of half-blown lately... ) until you name your chair. Then I'll add you to the roster, and the good times can basically roll. Got any interesting beliefs we can ridicu.... er, learn from? We've got atheists, pantheists, pagans... me, I'm a capricorn, but that doesn't mean anything.

Hey! I'm a capricorn too! though just barely...a day later and I wouldn't be.

I don't really like putting a label on my beliefs (it makes it way too easy for others to make assumptions about me, plus they're liable to change) but if I DID want to be gettin' out the labeler, I'd be an atheist--that much is constant. Basically I'll believe whatever's suggested to me, as long as it makes sense. And not much of what's out there DOES make sense, a whole lot less than one might expect. (And of course, I'll admit that "sense" is relative....) If you were to pick only one thing to ridicule--er, learn from--it would have to be that. If it's reasonable, why not add it to your core beliefs? It's not like beliefs have to immutable.

My chair, eh? I got to name it? How 'bout "Umberto"? It sort of looks like an Umberto. No, wait, you mean my position...well, then "Head of Commingled Philosophies" sounds good to me.

s and s,
~Wes

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It also makes it way too easy for people to question your views, as they will know what they are...

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What's that saying? Two's a coincidence, three is synchronicity and four is the work of Satan and all his minions? Something like that. Anyway, my birthday is January 20th, and I normally claim to be Capri-quarius, or whichever of the two suits me at the time.

BTW, welcome, Wes! We're not anti-christian, we're anti-everyone, depending on who pipes up on what topic! Christians don't seem to survive long here though.... Maybe they have some deep-seated lack of something or other....

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