The following study was conducted under scientific conditions and under the supervision of two highly trained psychology professors. The results demonstrated definite attitudes of discrimition from individuals following either no religion or one of the three mainstream religions towards individuals following pagan religions.
Keep in mind that the participants in this study were not uneducated zealots who hate everyone who does not attend to their specific church. These were average, everyday people living in and around a small to moderately sized city in the Midwest. These are people you, and I come into contact with everyday.
Please be aware when reviewing the results of this study that they MUST be considered with a grain of salt if for no other reason than the fact that the sample was small. However, with such a high increase in religiously motivated acts of violence, we need to consider the implications carefully and work towards educating non-pagans about earth-based and other pagan religions. Every mainstream person who learns that paganism is not evil is another person who will not tolerate the hate crimes that violent people feel are socially acceptable.
And, while interests in the occult are NOT well understood in the general public (the word "pagan" had to be defined for the participants in this study as most of them regarded terms like pagan, wiccan, and witch to be interchangeable with Satanist) we have to remember that there was a time when people practicing each of the three mainstream religions feared each other. Religious discrimiation is to be expected for religions new to a particular society. With effort and education, they can be overcome.
INTRODUCTION
The ignorance of the participants in this sample was in and of itself a major obstacle to overcome. So in order to eliminate the preconceived notions participants had towards the darker aspects of the occult and the left-hand path, the survey focussed on the right-hand path of pagan spirituality. Magick in any form was underscored so as not intimidate the participants and possibly provoke a fear-induced "knee-jerk" reaction. The phrase "pagan religions" was defined as follows:
PAGAN RELIGIONS - NON-CHRISTIAN, NON-JEWISH, NON-MUSLIM FAITHS THAT EMBRACE A BELIEF IN MANY GODS OF BOTH MALE AND FEMALE GENDERS. MOST PAGAN HOLIDAYS REVOLVE AROUND THE CHANGING OF THE SEASONS.
The following study was conducted at a commuter college in the Midwest United States. All students signed an informed consent form in which they confirmed that they were at least 18 years of age. The form clearly stated that all participants were free to terminate their participation in the study at any time.
PARTICIPANTS
Participants in this study were 55 (one student's results were discarded because he failed to list his age) undergraduate students drawn from introductory psychology courses. 23 participants were male and 31 were female. 41 participants were under the age of 21 and 13 were over the age of 21. All participants received extra course credit for their participation.
PARTICIPANTS' ANSWERS LISTED BY STATEMENT
| Statements |
YES
%Of Participants that Agree with Statement with an answer of
4, 5 or 6 on a scale of 1 to 6.
1=Most Strongly Disagree
6=Most Strongly Agree | NO
% Of Participants that Disagree with Statement with an answer of
1, 2 or 3 on a scale of 1 to 6.
1=Most Strongly Disagree
6=Most Strongly Agree |
| I support freedom of religion even if it differs from my own. |
93% |
7% |
| I think the govenment should monitor some religious activities. |
48.1% |
51.9% |
| I think some religious practices should be prevented altogether. |
62.3% |
37.7% |
| I think the idea of more than one god is unlikely. |
58% |
42% |
| I think the idea of more than one god is ridiculous. |
47% |
53% |
| I think the idea of more than one god is dangerous. |
46% |
54% |
| Pagans gathering to worship their pagan gods is disturbing to me. |
46.3% |
53.7% |
| I think pagan gatherings should be legally prevented. |
33.3% |
66.7% |
| I would vote against pagan supporters in an election. |
46.3% |
53.7% |
| I would attend town or council meetings to protest pagan religions. |
35.2% |
64.8% |
| I would tell pagans to their faces that I disapprove of them. |
37.3% |
62.7% |
| I would try to disrupt a pagan gathering. |
15% |
85% |
| I would feel comfortable having my child in a class where the teacher was privately a pagan. |
43% |
57% |
| I would feel comfortable having my child in a class where the teacher was publicly a pagan. |
28.3% |
71.7% |
| I would feel comfortable being treated by a doctor who was privately a pagan. |
49% |
51% |
| I would feel comfortable being treated by a doctor who was publicly a pagan. |
35.2% |
64.8% |
Part 2
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