How the Post Christian West Turned Pagan

Ann Carriage
4 min readMay 15, 2019

People scoff when it’s pointed out the post Christian west is now pagan.

By definition a pagan is someone who holds religious beliefs outside of the world’s main Religions or in the case of the west it can be said it’s someone who embraces beliefs contrary to its Christian-Judeo heritage.

In 2005 the U.S, Supreme Court adopted a broad constitutional definition of Religion that included non-theistic and atheistic beliefs making Religious pluralism the new equality, turning the traditional understanding of the guaranteed right of Freedom of Religion on its head.

Just recently the Satanic Temple in the U.S. was accorded the status of a tax exempt church and now a sub sect of Humanists are pushing for recognition as a religion mulling over establishing a church.

The idea of non -Christian churches is nothing new with Atheist churches open for business over the last five years or so.

Many were outraged that Christians attending Easter Sunday services during the Sri Lankan terrorist attacks by Jihadists were referred to as Easter worshippers by Hilary Clinton and Barrack Obama.

Was this stubborn refusal to call a group of people by their proper name just ultra-political correctness in a climate where Christianity is anything but?

Because victimhood is valuable currency in our society people use this currency for political and social gain.

So it goes without saying that in a world as polarized as ours, those who oppose orthodox Christianity are keen to ensure believers don’t get to claim victimhood, ever.

But there’s more- this year the U.K’s advertising authority took the unprecedented step of warning marketers of Easter merchandise like hot cross buns and Easter Eggs not to offend Christians with their campaigns, recalling one such campaign in 2017 featuring Jesus as an Easter Bunny which elicited an outcry, reminding them Easter is a day of religious significance for Christians.

Stranger still was the secular attitude of; so it’s Easter but why worry about offending Christians.

It seems a lot of young people in the U.K. don’t associate Easter with Christianity much to the chagrin of Anglican Bishops, other religious spokesmen and the public in general.

The point is Christian holy days like Easter and Christmas are being appropriated as celebrations for everyone irrespective of beliefs or non- beliefs in true loosey-goosey style, with it being emphasized that no particular group has a monopoly on these holidays.

Ancient Paganism makes a comeback

It looks like the old-style Paganism that predated Christianity over two thousand years ago is making a come-back.

It’s a fact pagan converts to Christianity infused their traditions with their new beliefs; the difference now is modern day pagans are taking back ownership of such traditions minus the Christianity of course.

The Guardian recently published an article titled; The Pagan Roots of Easter, noting Easter is a pagan festival, it’s not really about Jesus but the Spring Equinox, so while Christians observe their beliefs secularists celebrate the former.

Arguing early Christianity made a pragmatic acceptance of ancient pagan practices; it then veers off into pagan myths said to rival the Christian Virgin Birth, Crucifixion and Resurrection.

Easter bunnies, eggs and hot cross buns are all byproducts of paganism asserts the article, then goes onto make the pedantic point the date of Easter is not fixed but instead governed by the phases of the moon, saying; How pagan is that?

This ignores the fact the date of Easter ties-in with the Jewish calendar which is lunar based, with it more or less in step with the Passover.

The writer of the article also points to Easter sunrise services being derived from pagan solar worship, playing on words like sun and son, which pretty much proves anyone can make up as they go along.

As modern paganism is only around fifty years old the association with the ancient version relies on improvisation at best, or the objectivity and accuracy of Wikipedia authors which comes down to the same thing.

Mass Migration is a factor

Migration from the Middle East and northern Africa is a big factor in the changing religious, political and social landscape of the west.

With populations in the west more diverse than ever it impacts the religious arena with beliefs like Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism on the rise, even among westerners.

Secular universities demand ‘professions of faith’

Religious universities have historically used statements of faith in support of their religious mission.

Now secular universities are copying the model, well sort of, branding it a diversity statement in line with their own mission.

Professors and faculty are being asked to pledge their commitment to equity and inclusion and demonstrate how they managed to fulfill this pledge in the past.

And just in case you thought this practice is confined to the humanities school, Harvard’s Engineering and Applied Sciences Department recently had to submit reports detailing their actions in support of diversity, inclusion and belonging.

The same secularists, who take religious universities to task over their statements of faith, citing concerns over academic freedoms, are strangely silent about the effects of the secular kind.

It’s been argued that diversity really stands for homogeneity of opinion.

In any case it looks like secularism is but another religion that can be added to the post Christian pagan line-up in the west.

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Ann Carriage
Ann Carriage

Written by Ann Carriage

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