Monday, October 18, 2010

Druid time again

Pleased to see Druidry, the ancient faith of Britain, has received official acknowledgement as a religion and duly been granted charitable status. The faith that built Britain's most enduring monument has had to wait around 1900 years to get the nod from officialdom.

That this has prompted the rancour of Melanie "Mad Mel" Phillips can only be a good thing.

Astonishingly, around 100 members of the Armed Forces now classify themselves as pagans, and a further 30 as witches.


Well, thank God we've got the witches on our side, is all I can say. I could quote almost every one of her sentences for a choice absurdity, but like so much these days its actually beyond parody. One has to worry for her immortal-or-otherwise soul however. I mean really, it must take an enormous effort for an Oxford graduate and former Guardian journalist to manufacture such ill-informed outrage. Why bother?

Needless to say Druidism was actually a fully-fledged religion on British soil for far longer than Christianity has been to date, and had the further qualification of being home-grown. England was in fact a spiritual superpower, right up to the second Roman invasion when the Druids and their faith were suppressed, and its certainly no more silly than worshipping a dead Israeli prophet as a Sky God born of a virgin (no less), no matter how wise his words may have been.

So congratulations Druids and, indeed, our Pagan wing!

3 comments:

Editor: Tim Powell said...

"Needless to say Druidism was actually a fully-fledged religion on British soil for far longer than Christianity has been to date"

I fear your 'Needless to say' is a litle misplaced. If it is a contest, then there's a good chance Christianity wins. Only if we give Druidism as 'a fully-fledged religion' the years 600 BC-800 AD, which is pushing it, can it claim a draw.

uni-talian said...

Well I'm no expert but I based it on the foundation of Stonhenge in 2500 BC, which I suppose could count as a bone fide "cathedral" of Druidism, and certainly points to a consistent and complex faith.

Editor: Tim Powell said...

I think it is generally accepted, and has been for many years, that the Druids had absolutely nothing to do with Stonehenge. It predates them by many centuries.