Why is paganism so prevalent in public schools?

Question

Some high school students are openly pagan, but no one seems to care. Could it be for the following reasons:
1. Pagans are recruiting students
2. Students want to be counter-cultural
3. Christianity has been excluded from schools
4. The teachers are encouraging them

I don't know how many students are pagans, but it seems to be on the rise.

Answer 1

Well, the Schools do have the ACLU on their side. Certainly Planned parenthood and NOW. The President and just about the whole Democratic Party who controls the media, the newspapers and most of the TV stations and news.



Now Obama wants to do even more to make our education system reflect his secular and godless regime.

Who can dig us out of this mess? God can.

Answer 2

First of all, having been a Pagan I can tell you that not only do they not recruit other people’s kids, but they'd prefer the immature stay far, far away from their spiritual practices. No one wants their religion to be a fad, like Beanie Babies.



Second, students should want to learn, that is why they are students. Learning often means encountering new information and considering it. Some people after consideration find they want to go further and adopt certain life philosophies full time. Teens often find themselves through exploration and Paganism is something that can be explored. It seems on the rise because when you start with very few people and a few more join in, you get a mini population explosion without actually having that many individuals involved.



Third, in no way has Christianity been excluded from schools. Prayer and religious clubs are in every school nationwide.



Fourth, teachers are rarely Pagan, as there are few Pagans to begin with compared to Christians, therefore teachers would not be encouraging students to join a religion they themselves seldom share.



If you don’t have an actual number, how would you know if it was on the rise nation wide?

Answer 3

Many people follow Pagan religions. You just have to deal with that as by law under the constitution we have a right to be the religion we choose.



The reason you are seeing it more in high schools is



1) The information highway... people now have access to information on things that they may not have known much about 50 years ago. Much of the silly rumors about devil worship and human sacrifices have been dispelled and people can see the truth about these earth-centered spiritual paths. Many find the real thing appealing.





2) The explosive growth of Paganism in the last 30+ years Paganism is no longer a religion of converts-- many people who became Pagan in the 60's, 70's, and 80's are now raising Pagan children of our own. When you go to Pagan holiday festivals, you can find generations-- grandparents with their children and their children's children-- celebrating our holy days together.



3) Less fear of persecution than there used to be. The law is less tolerant of violent acts against minorities and people are more quickly caught. Plus, people have become more open minded about different faiths and no longer seek to oppress them.









Some other things you should know



1) Christianity should be excluded from schools-- at least, endorsing practice of it, or any religion, should be excluded. Christianity is but one religion among many and deserves no special treatment.



2) Pagans don't recruit minors. Generally, Pagan groups won't even accept minors and turn them away until they grow up. It's hard to be accepted into any Pagan group as a minor unless you were born into it.



3) Teachers don't encourage Paganism, that's a ridiculous paranoid assumption-- most teachers consider themselves Christian anyway. Teachers can lose thier jobs in public schools by encouraging the practice of any religion.



4) Sure some kids are drawn to Paganism because they see it as an opportunity for rebellion-- but if there is no sincere interest in the religion they grow out of it. Kids go through phases... some even become bible thumpers for a while.

Answer 4

Er... It's called cultural diversity and free speech. Next you're going to be preaching at us about how we need to get anybody that isn't white with blonde hair and blue eyes out of our schools and away from our poor little children, right?



Heil, Fuhrer. *Rolls eyes*





And you know what else? The entirety of your question is misinformation and crude, unfounded accusation.



Pagans don't recruit, and especially not students. That's cults, like the Jehovah's Witnesses and Scientologists. (I don't recommend that previous comment being disputed, I have seen this happen before, several times.) If anybody is recruiting, it is the Christians; and our basic rights as Americans, whether I'm proud to be American or not, are being intruded upon. (Open letter to the Kansas School Board by Bobby Henderson; The polite (and funny) way to change bad circumstances: http://www.venganza.org/about/open-letter/)



Paganism isn't generally the counter-cultural path taken; Neopaganism is, and those that are Neopagans are also those sort that would proclaim that they were, because it sounds cooler. However, this is a fake religion patched together from books and movies like Harry Potter. People usually grow out of this, and real Pagans call these people "Qwiccans" or "fluff-bunnies."



Christianity has not been excluded from schools; in fact, it is being forced on students (see letter to Kansas School Board above).



And teachers, in my experience, often persecute Pagan students and support Christian students with impunity, which, in the United States of America, is actually a crime and an infringement of the students' rights.





And there has been no rise in the number of Pagan students. Families that have been Pagan for generations, no longer afraid of persecution by the Nazi-esque regime that you seem to suggest, with Christianity in schools, simply voice their opinions now.

Answer 5

It seems that in High School, many students are trying to find themselves.



Being brought up in a family that only went to church every once in a while, such as on every other holiday, I struggled to find myself in that time. I knew enough about the Christian religion to know that it wasn't for me. I looked into other religions and found one that fits. I have been a pagan ever since.



Thought I admit, many students could only be interested in paganism because they want to be "cool" or for the "shock-factor", but I can most assure you that the reasons you have given have little or nothing to do with it.



1) Some students may be trying out the religion with friends. While you may see this as "recruiting", it is merely not wanting to be alone in uncharted territory.



2) Students wanting to be counterculture? Like I said, sometimes it is for shock-factor, but that phase usually wears off.



3) Christianity has been excluded from schools because there is such a thing as Separation of Church and State. Schools are not allowed to promote a certain religion over another while receiving government funding. If you don't like it, go to a parochial school.



4) Like I said, teachers are not allowed to promote a certain religion over others. And many times, in history classes, there is an overview of the world's religions, though not promoting them, the students do need to learn about how the major religions gathered strength over the years and how that led up to current times.

Answer 6

At a guess I would say you live in the US, but I live in the UK and we aren't even taught about paganism (which i think is wrong as many people do not understand it). It sucks, and I would like to point out that I had to learn about christianity for two years solid AND had no choice but to do my GCSE about it and write about it as though I believed it.

Does that sound like christians or pagans doing the recruiting? and also I never announced my beliefs to any teachers so they couldn't encourage me. I never learned about my own religion in school so I don't see how christianity is getting excluded.



I chose paganism because it felt right, and I have never been happier knowing my God & Goddess are in my life. I am openly Pagan to anyone who asks me about my beliefs but I would never try to make anyone else the same it's about free will.

I don't think paganism is on the rise it's just being heard about more because others have stopped persecuting us and trying to burn us at the stake for having our own beliefs.

Answer 7

If your opening statement regarding the increase in paganism in public schools is true (and that is a huge assumption on my part), I would also offer the following possible reasons:



1) The existence of the Christian version of "God" is logically disprovable.



2) I'm not sure why would ANYONE worship the disprovable Christian "God." Perhaps at least some of these "pagan" students have a chance (however improbable) of finding the truth. Christians have no chance of finding the truth whatsoever. It sounds like you believe that anyone who believes differently than you is wrong. Sad, especially since you're PROVABLY wrong.



3) Questioning ones beliefs and religious doctrines is a healthy way (in my opinion) of growing and learning as a human being. If these pagan gods/beliefs are logically disprovable, then intelligent and well-educated students will (hopefully) discover the logical discrepancies in their new belief systems and abandon them.



4) Kids will be kids. They may want to be "counter cultural" as you claim, but if they learn how to logically evaluate the claims/descriptions of different books/beliefs, they will eventually learn to eliminate those claims/beliefs which cannot be true, and will hopefully find the truth (whatever that may be). I mean, Christianity is a logical and intellectual dead-end, so why worry about students who are at least TRYING to find the truth?



You've freely chosen to immerse yourself in the intellectual dishonesty and self delusional quagmire that is Christianity. Please don't try to drag others down with you. Take a course in basic logic and get back to me. As a self-proclaimed aspiring Christian apologist, your arguments are disappointingly weak. Since you're obviously afraid to respond to my emails, I can only hope that some day you'll learn how to build a decent logical argument. Maybe you'll be ready to debate me someday...



Good luck :)

Answer 8

News to me. In the High School my son attended, any pagan symbol was frowned upon and many rock groups have symbols that look pagan but are not. As for questions 1-4 No, No, No, and No. Most schools won't allow it unless the student's whole family is Pagan. Most are Christian.

Answer 9

When I went to High School, my sister and I were the only Pagans.

1. We did not recruit other students.

2. We were not doing this to be counter -culture it felt right to us.

3. Christianity has not been excluded from schools. There are still clubs that are for the Christian athletes and all that, so don't give me that crap.

4. Actually, the teachers called my mother so many times because of my sister and I, for our jewelry, that it was easier to hide the pentacle. Not to mention, I got called to the office for having a Nine Inch Nail and Marilyn Manson sticker on my car. The Principal told me to remove them and I told him, when the Christian students remove their Jesus and God loving pieces of crap, I will remove mine. I also was not allowed to read my Wiccan books at school, they were confiscated and my mother had to pick them up.



So I have no idea where you are getting this crap from, but you seem to be very anti pagan, which is bad. You are judging others and that is not fair.

Answer 10

1. We pagans don't "recruit". People join paganism because it makes sense and it's cool.

2. It's not counter-cultural anymore. Like it or not, paganism has become mainstream (although it's still minoritary). I personally like it.

3. There are Christians on schools, as there are pagans. Equality before the law and freedom of religion.

4. Nope, teachers don't chastise them for being pagans anymore. That's not encouragement but respect of their rites.



It's on the rise because most of us aren't closeted Pagans anymore, and because we're a set of religions that grow fast.

Answer 11

1. Not as vigorously as Christians are recruiting students. Recruitment is not part of the pagan belief system.

2. Possibly, but there are lots of ways to do that.

3. Give me a break. No religion can be taught, all religions are welcome as private practice.

4. Sure, most teachers are pagans. (eye roll)

Answer 12

1) Pagans don't recruit people (That's christians)

2) Don't know what counter cultural means

3) That's a GOOD thing

4) Teachers don't influence your religion



Really it's not that big a deal that people wish to change religions, it doesn't effect you now does it? I became a pagan in High School myself and never once regretted it.

Answer 13

Because the "good old days" when pagans, wiccans and atheists were harassed, ostracized, and ridiculed for their beliefs (not only by other students, but often by teachers and staff) with impunity are finally passing.

Answer 14

As a pagan, i would just have to say that believing that all Gods are the same God make sense. Christianity is fine for some people, i believe in Jesus too, but i also believe in buddha, and krishna and kalima. i think that faith should not be practiced in school, christian, pagan, jew, not in school. school is for learning how to read, write, think and come to rational conclusions.

Answer 15

Because the Xians flunk out?

Answer 16

answer: why should anyone care? Let me guess, you don't mind religion in school as long as its yours and yours only.



5. None of the above

Answer 17

I go to secondary / high school.

I know of no pagans.



But, anyway:



1. Probably not

2. Probably not

3. Probably not

4. Probably not

Answer 18

You need more evidence than just an intuitive "seems to be."

Answer 19

what are you talking about?

Answer 20

They are influenced by the society that they live in. They have lost their values and once upon a time Scripture was taught in schools but I don't know what happened.These are really the last days when you see this is happening.They need to get back to God.



https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20090720171510AA9cwwq

Answer 21

And this is bad because....?

Answer 22

Goths suck. That's why.



None of your reasons are even close to the reason why.