QUOTE(Crom Cruach @ Mar 27 2005, 08:07 PM)
"Christianity by the way (and I never said it was), was not spread by torture and genocide. Torture and persucution came around 400 years after the death of the man Jesus, perfected under the auspisces of the Roman church, again well documented for those willing to read"
So basically what you are saying is that 400 years after the death of Jesus, it was not christianity...Extrapolate?
Also torture and genocide is not as much historically inaccurate, as a lie. Care to give any examples? Christianity was not spread by military force, and small groups of monks (often individuals) could hardly apply "genocide" to a nation of big rugged guys with even bigger swords. What you mean is the crusades and inquisition, which was however in the first case about 500 years after the definitive demise of pagan cults, and in the case of inquisition, close to a millenium. Sorry, that is not "spreading", that is called "petty politics" and "settling old debts among neighbors", if you think the inquisition was targetted at the remnants of pagan cults, you have swallowed a misinformation of certain fluffy wiccan sources which has no shred of evidence behind it.
Interesting historical fact: it was common in scandinavia for blacksmiths to manufacture both thor's hammers and christian crosses simultaneously, based on the customer's preference. That doesn't sound like a violent ussurpance of religious power.
"As to the old ways, the knowledge is passed down from generation to generation, in the old tongue, through the female line. "
Beyond doubt.
AFAIK, there is supposedly a couple of witch families in ireland (no more than ten). I have already heard from them, and on each occasion, they displayed two characteristic: 1)a very open and relaxed relationship towards christianity, absent of the typically neo-pseudo-pagan persecution seeking, christianity demonising attitude you display 2)not shoving their witchery in everybody's face
What this implies about your connection to family witchcraft is obvious.
" or for that matter by presenting more fact than mere conjecture"
Sounds like Kunta Kinte is calling me black;)