The rather latent interaction of our society with paganism always amazes me. I am often that told that my tendencies of withdrawal and of seeking solitude partly drive my often awkward observations of pagan roots of our social customs. It is true that my withdrawal from society often enables me to see, for example, roots of Christianity in blood rituals or images of martyrdom that the early Christianity expanded with.
It is not just for amusement however that I find paganism in our modern notions of martyrdom and sanctity of war. Reading modern media of all kinds, it is war it seems, of one kind or the other, that justifies and perpetuates our existence in the world. Celebrations of war in our society may not be very compatible with the compassion of Christianity (or any other "religion" for that matter) but the celebrations survive - the pagan roots of our societies having not been superceded by any religion as yet. Religion or government which descended from the former, only cherrypicks the means of violence while the our pagan untamed tendencies of violence remain wild and uncontrolled. Instead of sanctifying such tendencies, which war does, it is better to understand our tendencies. Sadly our governments don't always help us do that.
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