Britain Recognizes Druidry as a Religion
By Rallon
@Rallon (441)
United States
October 3, 2010 1:17pm CST
Just saw on CNN that Britain has just passed into law the right of Druids to be recognized as a religion for tax and charity reasons. This is not exactly big news, in that other countries, like the U.S., already recognize Druidism as a religion. What I was surprised to learn, however, was that they are not condemned and ridiculed in Britain as they are here in the U.S. The irony is, of course, that we came here, from England, for religious freedom and now they are seemingly the more tolerant. The article says that Druids are not the sacrifice-obsessed priests that they once were and have conformed their practices to modern-day thinking which has created a new Druidism. Would you be tolerant of a neighbor if you found out that he/she was a Druid? Would you still talk to them in passing, or shun them all together?
2 people like this
9 responses
@Galena (9110)
•
3 Oct 10
I know Druids. they're okay.
I tend to get on better with Asatruars (sp) though, when it comes to types of Pagans.
here in Cornwall, the bit that sticks out on the bottom left corner of the UK, Pagans are fairly commonplace.
in one of my workplaces, Pagans outnumbered other religions 2-1. so especially where I live, people don't really bat an eyelid at someone being Pagan.
Druids. not entirely my cup of tea, but it's more that I don't really gel with any of the more formalised Pagan traditions that well. I don't often get on that well with Wiccans either.
there's a lot of debate about the historical accuracy of the idea of Druid sacrifice being commonplace. a lot of the evidence from the time was anecdotal accounts, and considered to be likely to be a biased source.
and besides that, even if it was accurate, it wouldn't have been that unusual at the time.
if you delve back into pretty much any religion you will probably find a history of human sacrifice. it was more related to the times than it was to the specific religions involved.
people have moved on from it. in all religions. so you can't really judge any religion by them performing human sacrifice in a time when human sacrifice was a normal expression of religious devotion. it was the time, not the path.
2 people like this
@Rallon (441)
• United States
3 Oct 10
Yes, it is very different here in the U.S. You do meet Pagans, Wiccans and other similar spiritualistic type people, but never any Druids though. Maybe the locality of Stonehenge has something to do with the popularity over there versus here? Seems that Wicca is more widespread here.
@TheMetallion (1834)
• United States
3 Oct 10
Here in the US, one of my best friends was a Druid, though he passed on recently.
1 person likes this
@Rallon (441)
• United States
4 Oct 10
I don't know. Everything changes constantly, so I would expect these practices to evolve over time. I think it is interesting that they are carrying on long practiced traditions (even if they have changed) and in some sense are reconnecting to the past. I wonder if they will still be practicing such religions in another 4 thousand years. If so, it would probably be that much more different than compared with today vs the past.
1 person likes this
@gjabaigar (2200)
• Philippines
5 Oct 10
Yeah! The Druids, Celtics, Bohemian Groups, The Owl People, Stonehenge. There are really something going to happen on December 21, 2012 11:11 a.m.
1 person likes this
@Rallon (441)
• United States
5 Oct 10
For more information on this very scary rock, Wikipedia has a decent page about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis There are, of course, many other sites with info on it. I also recommend checking out NASA scientist, Neal deGrasse Tyson on Youtube and see what he has to say about it.
@gjabaigar (2200)
• Philippines
6 Oct 10
You have to be a multidimensional to know all know what is really going on, specifically on the date December 21, 2012 11:11 am. ..... This was on the prophecy, and then was mastered planned a very, very long time ago. Everything is or was already setting into place. Everything is already set to a multidimensional alarm clock.
December 21, 2012 11:11 am is not the end of the world, but a new knowledge and consciousness is going to emerge. Or a start of a new experiences of the world we are going to live life. If they the enlightened made or reincarnated a new kind of Jews, Christians, Catholics, Moslem and so forth just to make wars for their own satisfactions, they also can make or reincarnate a new sets of priests or masters of the Bohemian or Celtics called Druids to be as a religion. To prepare THEIR OWN AGENDAS on December 21, 2012 11:11..... What I mean, is the enlightened just coincides simultaneously of what will gonna happened on that date.
But the whole question we don't still yet if is bad or good to all everyone of us. All the answers and the freewill will be according to ourselves.
@Pose123 (21635)
• Canada
4 Oct 10
Hi Rallon, Britain today is one of the most tolerant nations in the world. I think that many in the US have forgotten that the early settlers went there for religious freedom, and now they are treating others as their forefathers were treated in Britain. It happens everywhere, not just in the US. Blessings.
1 person likes this
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
3 Oct 10
i didnt even know it was a religion. i just knew there was an ancient people called that. i would likely not be real friends with them as i know nothing about them. im not friends close to anyone else that i have nothing in common with. 
so, that being said, i would scorn them either. i believe in live and let live. i dont know what you mean about americans though. they even allow freaking islamic religion here even after 9/11, so why put us down about some religion that did nothing to us? i imagine its allowed here. every other one is
@Galena (9110)
•
5 Oct 10
just because they are a druid and you aren't doesn't mean you wouldn't have anything in common.
you may like the same music, the same books, be into the same sports or tv programmes, have the same hobbies.
it's very strange to assume that you wouldn't have anything in common with them.
@RebeccaScarlett (2532)
• Canada
4 Oct 10
The Druids were never sacrifice-obsessed. I'm not sure where that reporter got his/her information, but that is just like the "fact" that wiccans dance naked in the moonlight. Propaganda spread by other religions to discourage people from practicing any religion but their own, in times past. Most people are far more tolerant now. I live with and have a daughter with a man who considers himself pagan and identifies most with the Druidic path.
1 person likes this
@Rallon (441)
• United States
4 Oct 10
I think that back in the olden times they would sacrifice animals on a regular basis, but things are much different now. I read that they believe everything has a spiritual side to it, even if we can't see it or take for granted that it doesn't (such as a rock or another inanimate object).
@urbandekay (18278)
•
3 Oct 10
Yes, but did you here the reason they were recognised? These so called Druids were formed by the society for antiquities and have no connection with the original Druids
all the best urban
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
4 Oct 10
hi Rallon I am in the US Californina. Yes I would be tolerant of a neighbor if he or she was a druid. Religion is a personal thing and our forefatghers came here to the US just to avoid being persecuted for their various religions.I would treat my neighbor just the same as always as
their religion is their own business.I would never shun anyone because
of their religious beliefs.
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