The problem with christian/muslim reverts to Paganism/Traditional Religion is that they still tend to be stuck in the backward mentality of their former birth faiths. These remnants then seep into pure Paganism as practiced by Traditionalists by birth and like a cancer, eat away at the foundations of Traditional Religions, leaving it empty and meaningless.

They try to incorporate elements of monotheism , anti-idolatry , chruch worship, proselytization, etc.

As in the recent case below:


https://www.nairaland.com/3392196/pastor-turns-born-again-preacher-traditionalist/2


I commend the guy for seeing sense finally but he has got it wrong and he must be educated before he spreads a very wrong ideology to the masses.


1) Traditional Religions are Polytheistic: The Creator Force is present in all creations. Therefore it is worshipped indirectly by worshiping the evident GODS/Spiritual Forces. Never directly because the Supreme Force is very abstract and vague and for material beings, they can only relate through experience.

2)Idolatry: We do not worship the idols (made of stone/wood , etc.) itself as a material but rather as an aid in the worship of the Gods. The Gods are intangible forces so they have to be worshiped by materialistic humans by something they can touch, sense, see, feel,etc., i.e., something which they can relate to. The Reality. Idols are the reality. They are aids in worship just like how xtians use crucifix, etc and muslims use the quran, kaabah, to remind them of their deity.

Idolatry is helpful to concentrate our prayers on the Gods. we cannot show emotion to thin air because we belong to the material world. Our ancestors knew this fact but todays generation has lost the idea. the reasons behind our forefathers customs was not explained properly and was just passed down as practice and oral tradition resulting in the loss of the real reason behind certain Core Pagan practices which we must not question. Unfortunately some of these neo-revert Pagans go anti-core tenets to appease the xtians-muslims in their environment.

3) Shrine worship: We Pagans worship in shrines or forest groves. not churches . churches are very in line with european forms of worship. Pagan worship must be very natural and in line with certain cultural rites.

4) Non-Proselytization: PROHIBITED. Pagans do not proselytyze . proselytyziation leads to religious conflict as what xtians and muslims are masters at. Lets not become them. Religion (Spirituality) is not a commodity.

You are already born into your faith when you are born into your tribe. You dont need official conversion inless you are being initiated into a cult. Yet for normal worship initiation is not necessary too.

Every tribe has its own form of worship in the Pagan way as passed down by the ancestors to us.

It doesn't make sense for an Igbo person to "convert" to Yoruba Ifa Religion. Think about it. Yoruba religion invokes the Gods, prayers etc. according to the Yoruba tongue, culture, etc. even the ancestors are not yours. You can ofcourse pray and pay respects at a Yoruba shrine because all Pagan religions have the same concept. but you cannot make it your religion. because you will follow the path of your ancestors.

Paganism is all about religious harmony and respect.



Lets be clear in these concepts. Learn from the Indians, Japanese, Chinese, etc.. who are born into Great Pagan civilizations and see how they function. They are not polluted by abrahamic faiths but have developed their own religions.

Don't judge religion from the yardstick of islam/christianity. Try Paganism.