My debate with a Devout Christian..

Hey guys, Tanulis here.

This was an email I received from my Uncle, who lives in Michigan. He is an uber-devout christian and sent an email to me last night attempting to (i guess?) convert me, and voice is concern for my ''evil demonic activities''. Here's what he said.


Hi Ryan

How are you doing? I spend time on Facebook when I can and its fun to
reconnect with family even though we are so far away.

Ryan, I know I don't know you very well (it doesn't help with me living up
here in Michigan). But we are family and you are my niece's son.

I wanted to write to you about a very serious subject. I couldn't help but
notice on your Facebook page that you are into the Occult, Paganism, Wicca,
and a practicing Druid.

Ryan this is not innocent stuff you are into. Spiritually, it is the most
dangerous thing, without a doubt in my mind, that one could be in to. I am
very, very concerned for you. I know you are an adult but I have to present
what I believe to be the truth from the Bible.

The Bible teaches that God forbids becoming involved with this, for our own
safety.

In the book of Deuteronomy chapter 18, verses 10-12 says "There shall not
be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the
fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets
omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist,
or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an
abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives
them out from before you."

Leviticus 19:31 says "Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do
not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God."

Leviticus 20:6 says "And the person who turns after mediums and familiar
spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that
person and cut him off from his people."

Deuteronomy 4:19 says: "And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven,
and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven,
you feel driven to worship them and serve them." (astrology)

Many times we go to these things to seek information about the future.
Fortune tellers get their ability to have partial knowledge about you directly
from demonic spirits. Once you step into the fortuneteller's office, you are
exposing yourself to demons. If God should allow it, you have given them a
right to follow you home and start wrecking havoc with your life.

This verses tell us that God the Father means serious business on this type
of activity.

These verses are very strong language (abomination) and this is the maximum
intense kind of warning given from God so that under no circumstances are
we to engage, expirment, or even try out for one time, any of these OCCULT,
demonic activities.

Things we are to avoid for our own safety (and the safety of others
including our loved ones) include:

1) Fortune Telling
2) Tarot Cards
3) Ouija boards
4) Seances and any involvement with mediums or spiritists
5) Astrology
6) I Ching
7) Hypnotism
Transcendental Mediatation of any type of Far Eastern Mediation
9) Crystals
10) Witchcraft
11) Satanism
12) Voodoo
13) Channeling
14) Reincarnation
15) Astral projection
16) ESP
17) Dungeons and Dragons role playing games
18) New Age Movement
19) Necromancy

Ryan, I know I said a mouthful and that you were not expecting this.
Understand that I AM NOT JUDGING YOU. I believe that the The Living God is our
Judge, I am not. But I do believe as a born-again Christian what the Bible
says and teaches, and this is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. I have sent this email to
your mom, your aunts and your grandpa and grandma because I want them to pray
for you as well. THIS IS SERIOUS.

Ryan, you have a free will to do what you want. You are a reader and
curious about the things. Being very curious is great. But this stuff is extremely
dangerous. My prayer is that you will leave these practices far far behind.
And I will be praying for you.

Your friend

Uncle Jeff

So, yes thats quite alot to read. If you skip past the bible verses, its not as long. ANYWHO, This is what I responded with. Hope you like!

Hi Uncle Jeff,

While I sincerely appreciate your concern and aid if I need it, this is a path that I chose to take many many years ago. I have studied just about everything on the list you sent at the bottom, except for Necromancy, Hypnotism, and Voodoo. I have studied many different religions, spiritual paths and dogmas, including atheism(it doesnt fall into those categories, so I chose to list it separately).

Druidry for me is far beyond some title I place on my Facebook. I am extremely connected with nature and the gods, and after much research and meditation on the subject of what I EXACTLY believe(over MANY years) I chose Druidry with an unfaltering and unwavering heart. Furthermore, I believe in the gods as wholeheartedly and stalwartly as you believe in your own. Its my personal theory that we all worship and pray to the same spiritual entity and power, however every culture or community in time interprets it differently. This power I see in my life is (to MY interpretation) the work of the (Celtic)gods. My ''patron deities''(the ones whom I solely pray to) are known as Sucellos, God of the Forests, and Taranis, the Storm God. There are other gods who encompass different things - and they are just as important to me - but these are the ones I pray to, and ''draw power from''(layman's terms). Once again, I believe these gods exist as wholeheartedly as you believe in yours.

Not meaning to be offensive, I am merely connecting you to my system of belief. This is, unfortunately, contrary to what you sent me, which was a conversion attempt. If we spoke of this more(in person perhaps), the entire conversation would be you completely disregarding the fact that my gods exist, and telling me to ''try Jesus''(per se). However, If i beckoned you to ''try my gods on for size'' you would feel as If I were pressuring you into ''lies and evil propaganda'' which you could never possibly see as the truth. As I've turned the tables, you can see that I feel the exact same way when I am subjugated to attempts at conversion - as if I am ignorant, confused and wanting attention, blindly choosing whatever religion would jump out and grab me & my intellectual/spiritual infancy.

I dont think your beliefs are evil, I really don't. Its unfortunate that you don't feel the same way about mine. I think the gods touch us all in different ways and influence us in our lives through different interpretations. I think all cultures interpretations of spirituality are unbelievably beautiful, you can almost see them as a magnificent work of fine art. If we all came together as one people - instead of killing one another and accusing each other of heresy and godlessness - the wealth of our knowledge would be great indeed.

I sent my response back to the same number of people, hoping to enlighten them as well as inform them. As your concern is not needed, it is nonetheless recognized and appreciated. I bear no less love to you than I did before you sent the message, and I do indeed love you, as you are family.


I pray for you as well,
I pray that Sucellos and Taranis bless you with grand wisdom, tolerance, peace & good health!

Your Nephew,
Ryan


Send me back what you think, or ask me any questions you may have. See you at the next meeting!

-Tanulis
Order of Sucellos

Amazingly well said.

oh wow, I couldnt have said it better myself! you have a talent for speaking, that was great. has he responded at all?

Quote :

oh wow, I couldnt have said it better myself! you have a talent for speaking, that was fantastic. has he responded at all?

No, I havent received anything back yet, Im not sure what he thinks of the response. I hope it helped shed some light on the subject though, and maybe he will indeed show more tolerance. =D

I got this email from you through Terra Peer'aa.
What I did Not notice was the disapproved item:
17) Dungeons and Dragons role playing games

It's a game.
You said it yourself.

Leah and I laughed together at that one, lol. If dungeons and dragons is bad, then WoW, Everquest and every other MMO ever created would be ''demon worship''...


As a matter of fact, lets ban all ''pretend'' playing! Like letting your child play with a barbie in a dollhouse, or letting your little boy run through the house with a sheet tied around his neck thinking hes superman.


eeeviiilll....eeeeeeeevvvviiiillllll!!!! *hiss*

I have friends that are severely addicted to WoW. They never leave the house and they are afraid to socialize with anyone that's not on their server.
Golly, that's just terrible. God will smite them for this evil deed.

Barbie's can take out eyes. Those darn pointy feet.
Superman-cape bed sheets can choke/hang a small boy.
Haha.- that's not funny. Why did I laugh?

Our all-knowing GOVERNMENT should do something about this children hanging menace! Ban all sheets!

in fact..

Ban all clothing! Its so confusing to use and it kills dozens of people each week!





That would be a blessing and a curse... lmao

Tanulis wrote:

Ban all sheets!

That made me laugh ridiculously hard.

On the topic of the Government,
I say we ban it,
and form socities based on religion.

Of course wars would arise.
And that's where the politicians come in.
Politicians form a human barrier between the socities.

Quote :

On the topic of the Government,
I say we ban it,
and form socities based on religion

Ban the government? lol thats an impossibility in itself. It requires a gov't to ban something, so if it banned itself, wouldn't the act just cancel itself out? And societies are formed based on or around religion. Most countries have a principal faith that the general public believe in: Italy has catholicism, Japan has Zen Buddhism or Shinto or no religion, and the USA has a majority of Christianity(in various forms). Some countries have a ''state sponsored religion'' as in Catholicism with The Vatican lol. Others like USA, Netherlands and New Zealand do not.

I understand what youre saying, but it just sounded funny the way you worded it lol(unless you really were referring to banning sheets! rofl). =D no offense

No. All a government is is the majority of the people deciding on one opinion for the better. In this country those ideas are called laws, which the majority of the people typically do not agree with. for example smoking marijuana.
I don't do it, and do not condone it, but I know many many people that don't agree with the law.

Our government is out of control and I cannot wait for the next American Revolution.

nah i dont like this government either. I understand what youre saying =D

I'd move to Pakistan before staying here.
At least there life is simple, there's no laws, and you follow a God that won't smite thee for breathing wrong but is still all forgiving.

Well, Pakistan is an Islamic Republic, and countries with Islam as a state sponsored religion are known to be extremely oppressive to women. Im not sure about foreigners, though.


And yeah, the law there is ''Sharia Law'', and it strengthens my statement that Islamic Republics (generally) are oppressive to women

Source: http://www.americanthinker.com/2005/08/top_ten_reasons_why_sharia_is.html

Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pk.html

That is one thing I do not believe in. That is very wrong.
Mohammad is no better than any other self proclaimed profit.

He abused many woman.

Jesus had children. "Virgin" Mary had other children. Blah Blah Blah.

Tanulis wrote:
Ban all sheets!



CRAP!!! My last name is sheets.... Im banned?? aaawwww

:*(

Hmm... This topic amuses and intrigues me at the same time! What a paradox!

I too have been on the receiving end of proselytization, but don't think I could have handled the topic with your uncle as well as you have... I admire you for that!

I woulda just said exactly how i feel.. Bugger off.. in less nice words..