Thought of the Day
Thought of the day:
It doesn’t matter what you call yourself, or by what term you may know yourself. All that matters are your actions. They are what define you.
It is deeds that will be remembered, and not what you called yourself. In the words of Odin the High One:
Cattle die,
kinsmen die,
oneself dies likewise,
but good renown
will never die
for him who earns it.
- Hávamál, 76
So you may call yourself a Heathen or what have you, but you cannot be a Heathen by calling yourself a Heathen. You become a Pagan by being a Heathen. Not talk, but actions. Every day, when you rise, decide to be a Heathen. You be a Heathen by honoring the gods, by living a life of honor, a life worthy of your ancestors, a life that will allow you to join them in the halls of your ancestors with head held high.
All the good intentions in the world will avail you little in this life if you keep them inside you. Let them come out in your actions. Good is what is good for your family and your clan and your tribe and your community. Evil is what harms them.
This means we do what is good because it is good, and this means that virtue is never inconvenient. If you set virtue aside, you have no honor. You will have no good renown.
Hrafnkell Haraldsson is the author of A Heathen’s Day, which since 2005 has addressed the life and thoughts of a modern day Heathen. He maintains a second blog, Digital Gods (www.digital-gods.com) which focuses on polytheism for the digital age. He is also the founder of the Mos Maiorum Foundation (www.mosmaiorum.org) which is dedicated to the study and support of Paganism as ethnic religion. 
Certainly. The difference between monotheism and polytheism is the difference between belief and deeds. The pagans of the 1st century CE were willing to break bread with and consider those Gnostic Christians one of their own, who lived honest lives and did not interfere with the pagans' ways.
In Hinduism, any individual has the right to be called 'good' as long as he or she is leading a life which benefits others, this individual's belief system is of no matter.
Why can't monotheism follow this example? Why in order to be acceptable in the eyes of god, must I have to accept the Lord as my creator? Why must I have to listen to god-fearing Christians telling me that the only way to heaven is unwavering faith in Christ?
I remember a conversation I once had with a Palestinian student friend of mine named Adel Jamal Al-Awadeh. Way back in 1996 I had once asked him what he thought about Hinduism. He replied saying that he considered Hinduism as the superstitious, traditional religion of India. He was even hesitant to use the word "religion" to describe Hinduism, he told me. All because we Hindus did not believe in the Almighty Allah. I can at least admire his frankness, but his response left me with quite a few questions in my mind regarding the nature of Islam, questions that would not be answered until late 2001, when I came into contact with Hellenes from Greece who explained to me the underlying philosophical differences between all pagan religions and the monotheistic ones.
Let the 'good' Christians believe what they want. All I ask of them is to stop preaching their faith to me. I don't need Jesus. I'm fine with my heathen status and I believe I'll go on to a better life or maybe even salvation, as long as I do good and keep my faith in all the heathen/pagan deities.
Well said, Indrani. And the worst of it is, you have hundreds of Christian sects all claiming that you have to accept Christ THEIR way or you're still damned. Incredible. A 2,000 year-old nightmare.
Amen, brother! *ahem* Sorry…a little flashback there. (: I jest.
For me, what does it say about a deity who is going to punish me for wanting to live a spiritual life of compassion to all things, service to others and loving my gods and spirit guides? Because I didn't *think* the right things and consorted with unapproved of spirits…but otherwise walked a path of love as best as I can…I'm going to burn? I'll take that and yes I will curse his name for all eternity. Such a being *deserves* to be cursed.
As it is, I don't think their god is who/what they say. I think he's more like our gods. But…the Abrahamics just don't want him to be so they made up a bunch of BS lies so he could be better than ours or something. Still, their scriptures portray a not so nice individual and that's all we have I suppose. Meh.
I agree, Gran. I think if there is a shocked and bewildered god out there, it's YHWH. If a god can have a "WTF?" expression on his face, YHWH does.