The Attack on Religion and Paganism

It is that time of year when the atheists come out of the woodwork and begin harassing "religious ceremony" that usually brings communities together in light of the holiday season at the end of every year. Most recently, atheists have been looking to ban Christmas trees from common areas of their communities because it offends their sensitives as a "religious symbol."

If I didn't know any better, I would beg to differ that Christmas trees are a "religious symbol" altogether and actually hold pagan roots. European pagans worshipped trees and would decorate them to ward off evil spirits. Christians adopted this when many pagans kept this tradition after converting to Christianity. Again, Christians might practice the art of "tree worship," but it began with pagan tradition.

To clarify what a pagan is, they "take up no religion." This means that they are not part of any cult faction and they do not adopt the teachings of any church or organized religion. They are also regarded as "unenlightened and inferior" and likened to "heathens" by the church because they do not assemble nor practice the common types of worship as the church. So, because they do not accept the doctrines of any major church or religion, they are widely regarded as such and often compared to witchcraft when these two are completely different. Comparing Pagans to witchcraft is much like judging Christianity as a whole for the few who practice "tree worship" and how does that make any sense?

Pagan "un-enlightment" is an interesting notion. I say this because a scientific journal recently published an article detailing that religion and religious experiences debilitate critical thinking areas of the brain, particularly the hippocampus which is primarily responsible for conscious memory.