|
Author
|
Topic: WITCHCRAFT is the fastest-growing religion in Australia
|
helpforhomeschoolers
Advanced Member
Member # 15
|
posted
Wichcraft is also alive and well in these United States and it is put in front of our children daily, just look at the Harry Potter phenomenon, and there have been main line churches whose pastors have said this kind of thing is perfectly innocent. Have you look at the Disney Channel lately?
Posts: 4684 | From: Southern Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged | 
|
|
Kindgo
Advanced Member
Member # 2
|
posted
Wow Debbie!
Thanks for shareing that. So many young people
searching for something, why do so many turn from God? ![[fie]](graemlins/fie.gif)
Jesus is so easy! If only we could tell them! ![[Cross]](graemlins/cross.gif)
Jesus loves you, He is calling you, go to Him! ![[Prayer]](graemlins/prayer.gif)
Oh well just keep plowin on..... ![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup2.gif)
--------------------
God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged |
|
|
Debbie
Advanced Member
Member # 32
|
posted
Although raised solidly Christian, I nevertheless came perilously close to joining Wicca. ![[eek]](graemlins/eek3.gif) This was right after college, and being involved with the very liberal mindset of that time. Everything was psychedelic and groovy. ![[cool]](graemlins/cool.gif) I was curious, really, not actually joining, but a frowzy, caftan clad, (but very nice) lady was so enthused about her new found Wiccan group and tried to lure me to a meeting. But God wooed me away in a very gentle manner, and I look back at that time and just give huge thanks for His presence in my life. It is extremely (!!) seductive to those that aren't grounded in the truth. And we have generation upon generation, that seems less and less grounded. They want the spiritual, but too often turn to the wrong spirit.
Thinking back on those days, it was way more fun to get instant gratification with the Ouija board or a psychic, then praying to Our Father. Crystals and their meanings, or tarot cards were much more interesting than the Bible. But how empty and confused I was; my mind was in a constant turmoil. I knew enough to turn to Jesus, so I wasn't in that morass for too long, but my heart goes out to the little girls, dressed in black, reading about witchcraft at the bookstore.
Is America really to blame for Australia's rise in the occult, or isn't it just fallen mankind everywhere, that turns their back on the Creator?
Posts: 23 | From: Tampa Bay Area | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged |
|
|
Kindgo
Advanced Member
Member # 2
|
posted
web page
Witches win converts
By JASON FRENKEL
01jul02
WITCHCRAFT is the fastest-growing religion in Australia.
Census figures show an increasing number of worshippers are looking towards the earth, rather than the heavens, in search of God.
There are now nearly 9000 witches in Australia, up from fewer than 2000 in 1996, while the number of pagans more than doubled to 10,632.
Druids, animists and pantheists, considered to be pagan traditions, also increased their ranks between 1996-2001.
"I wouldn't say there's been a mad stampede, but over the past few years there's been a steady stream of inquiries," said Galen, a Victorian Pagan Alliance co-ordinator.
Religious experts said the shift towards nature religions was consistent with a growing emphasis on the esoteric beliefs in Australia.
Most of the major Christian denominations lost followers during the past six years.
Dr Neville Knight, a sociologist at Monash University, said there was plenty of religious expression on offer.
"There's certainly a smorgasboard of religious expressions out there," he said.
"There's so many different forms. You find people will be attracted to crystals and all kinds of expressions of new age stuff."
But Consumer Affairs Victoria warned that con artists were keen to profit from those seeking the divine.
It has received more than 100 complaints about clairvoyants, palm readers and astrologers in the past two years.
A quick Internet search shows there is no shortage of costly solutions to spiritual problems, such as certificates in spiritual healing philosophy for $480 offered by a Melbourne school, and a four-hour soul retrieval for $60 offered by a Queensland company.
The same company can perform a "DNA upgrade", while a NSW venture is selling a $37 moisturiser linked to a traditional Indian healing system.
Dr Steve Russell, a sociology lecturer at Monash University, said religion was increasingly mixing with marketing and commerce.
"In some ways this is a reflection of the Americanisation of the current religious scene in Australia," Dr Russell said.
"We don't follow American religious trends slavishly, but this is one way in which we do; the commercialisation of those kinds of religious involvements."
--------------------
God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged |
|
|
|
Printer-friendly view of this topic
