"Priscilla H Ballou" wrote in message
...
In rec.pets.cats.rescue Cat Protector wrote:
Nobody was picking on Pagans here.

Making use of stereotypes about Pagans could certainly be interpretted as
"picking on" them. I found myself somewhat bothered by the post in
question myself. And I'm not even Pagan!

You seem to mention the Star of David as being similar or looking similar
to
the Pentagram. How is that possible? They look nothing alike.

IIRC, the comparison was to the stars in the US flag. And she's spot on
with that.

Actually I did mention the Star of David. I know that star has six points
and
looks more like entertwined triangles but if an upside pentagram can look
like
a regular one...well... g.

I was Pagan before I knew what pagan was :-). I researched everything
including
the pentagram before I started wearing one. It's really a beautiful
concept...the
symbol itself, and it has a long long history. The use of the inverted
pentagram
didn't happen until the 20th century when the statanist or "black magic"
cults
started inverting it to represent the individuals goals over the spirit.
Even that isn't
evil as much as it is selfish and short sighted.

I think a little sensitivity towards a group of religions which has been
traditionally discriminated against would be in order.

Agreed. That's all I was really asking. I guess it's hard for some people
to
believe that persecution can actually still exist in this day and age. You
would
think we had grown beyond that. Just as jokes about racism are harmful to
those still dealing with it...jokes about religions are harmful. And I
don't mean
the "a rabbi, a priest and a minister walk into a bar" jokes...I mean the
comments
that perpetuate myths and stereotypes spoken in jest. Not everyone gets
that it's
a joke unless it ends in some punch line so the stereotypes live on.
Sensitivity
is not everyone's strong suit. :-)

Priscilla, who's learned what the five points of the pentagram stand for,
thanks to this thread!|

Cool, I learned something too. I looked up the whole satan aspect. I had
read something about it moons ago but wanted to be sure before I posted
my concerns. Good habit that :-) I am sorry I carried on so long though.
This is a fun group about cats..not a religious discussion group. I didn't
expect it to get so out of hand. To bring it back on topic....Sasha
was almost named Silver because she kept stealing my silver chain (and
pentagram) off my night stand. I guess it just looked like something she
needed
to play with. Now I hang it up at night and she has moved on to other off
limit items. :-)

AG