Usenet group: talk.religion.misc From a thread titled: Pagans and Christians have a discussion or debate? Sure! :)

Speaker 1: "I finally have some topics I think are worthy of being posted here for discussion. First, to Pagans: What is it about Christianity that you don't like? How is that contrasted with Pagan beliefs or people? Second, to Pagans who used to be Christians: What made you change religions?"

Speaker 2: "I am a Christian in the sense that I believe in a higher god . . . to me it is the same god, just worshipped in different ways than in other religions. However, the appeal of paganism (to an extent) to me, is that Christianity's goal is to go out and conquer the environment. In the bible it says everything is here for you to use. I disagree with that. It is the avid environmentalist in me I guess that is unhappy with Christianity."

Speaker 3: "First, I appreciate that pagans - as far as I've experienced them on irc - seem to be able to talk very openly about sexuality and all that concerns it. But I've got difficulties with the concept of sex magic, i.e. using sexuality to achieve certain goals concerning yourself or others. I do not think that paganist thoughts about sexuality are wrong, they just differ from ours. Pagan beliefs seem to be based on the Eastern paradigm. This also means that they are regarding life as cyclical, not linear. Some Christian critics claimed that the thought of yielding to the circle of life and the circles of nature would make real change and new developments impossible."

Speaker 4: "Personally, I do not dislike Christianity. My trouble is with a Christian Religious Structure that teaches narrow-mindedness. A structure that has for centuries persecuted anyone different and continues to do so today. The very nature of that structure (which I was a part of for far too long) is one that stifles growth and wisdom. Christian teachings are great; it is the Christians who seek to dominate the world with their "salvation" who sicken and disgust me. I don't know if I really want to say I changed religions. I think that my views of what my religion was became greatly expanded. I still hold to many facets of Christianity, but now my eyes have seen more. I know that Christianity is part of the whole, and not the whole. That is what our journey is really about, becoming whole."