Religions of the United States

Religions of the United States.

Ok, this may seem like a side-track to many people (especially those waiting for various part twos), but it is actually not a side-track. It is actually related to both topics.

The graphic above I found on Ananael's blog; he was talking about how Christians have been praying for the economy of the United States for the last deecade. Yeah, I did spit-take. You just can't help chocking when you realize that prayer has been involved in the slow death spiral of the last decade of the US economy.

Looking at the graphic, which shows the membership percentage of each religion in the United States, I could not help thinking about both part twos that are being awaited on.

What this graph has to do with the size of the Golden Dawn market? (skip down for Ouija part)

On the Golden Dawn market front, it is obvious that Golden Dawn Orders must cater to Christians and their viewpoint if...if...if they want a shot at the biggest section of the pie. After all (provided that you think that Roman Catholics are Christians), they represent 78.5% of the potential market.

Of course, this is assuming that the overall potential market for Golden Dawn memberships and products mirrors the overall population religious outlook.

There is a chance that those interested the most in Golden Dawn come from particular religions and sectors, and do not mirror the overall population figures in religious outlook.

But let's presume that the potential market for Golden Dawn mirrors the religious percentages for the overall population.

Now, what Christians find comfortable often other religions do not find comfortable. For instance, the idea that sheep go to heaven and goats go to hell (hehe) is not something that the pagan religions find comfortable, especially when own their gods are classified as demons. Heck, what Catholics are comfortable with Protestants are often uncomfortable with.

This does lead us to the possibility of product differentiation (a nice economy and business term) in the Golden Dawn marketplace. For instance, one Golden Dawn Order could focus on serving Roman Catholics, another on serving the needs of Protestants, and another on serving the needs of the Wiccan community.

Unfortunately, past experience makes this unlikely to happen, except on the small scale. The bigger Orders, and those who want to become big, tends to take everyone in...and then either alienates them or converts them to the religious and philosophical standards of the leadership of the Order.

Please note that I do realize that such differentiation goes against the advice given to the Neophyte...if you are a literalist. I am not saying that the other religions are bad, just that perhaps focusing primarily on different religious comfort zones would be a way to avoid a lot of the in-fighting that we see flaring up on occasion. It is lot easier to live and let live when you are interested in completely different sections of the market.

Teach respect for other religions; don't try to convert your membership to your religion. And be honest when you see someone of a religion that will find your emphasis unbearable and send them to an Order that they will be more comfortable with.

What does religion has to do with Ouija boards?

One of the problems with a Ouija board (a point I will be expanding upon in that particular part two) is the fact that there is a living human being(s) involved. In fact, without a living human being involved, an Ouija board would do nothing.

(Ok, this ignores really powerful entities---but what would they be using a Ouija board for if they were so powerful that they could communicate without one? If you can move the planchette without using a living human being's help, then you are powerful enourgh to get their attention in other ways. For me, this is one of the reasons that the whole Secret Chief myth seems rather shaky.)

Now, the majority of people who would be using an Ouija board would be Christian (definitely counting Roman Catholics as Christians for this thought). Which means that there is a Christian component to the operation and interpretation of Ouija board activities.

Please note that I will expand on this thought in part two of the Ouija board series. I merely wanted to briefly mention this as a factor along with this particular graphic. But for those who want more, consider this---would a pagan view some of the entities that communicate though Ouija boards as hostile (and demonic) as Christians encountering the same entity?