Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "country dweller", "rustic")[1] is a word with several different meanings.
In its broadest definition, pagan denotes all non-Abrahamic religions, that is to say it denotes all religions other than Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Other usages are:
- Paganism may mean Polytheism: The group so defined includes most of the Eastern religions, Native American religions and mythologies, as well as non-Abrahamic folk religions in general.
- Paganism may denote a narrow historic definition not including any of the current world religions. This may be restricted to local or rural currents, particularly those not organized as civil religions, or may focus on the ancient, largely extinct, polytheistic religious traditions of Greece, Rome, and other classical civilizations. Characteristic of pagan traditions is the absence of proselytism and the presence of a living mythology which explains religious practice.[2]
The term "pagan" is a Christian adaptation of the "gentile" of Judaism, and as such has an inherent Abrahamic bias, and pejorative connotations among Western monotheists,[3] comparable to heathen, and infidel also known as kafir (كافر) and mushrik in Islam. For this reason, ethnologists avoid the term "paganism," with its uncertain and varied meanings, in referring to traditional or historic faiths, preferring more precise categories such as polytheism, shamanism, pantheism, or animism; however others[who?] criticise the use of these terms, claiming that these are only aspects that different faiths may share and do not denote the religions themselves.
Since the later 20th century, "Pagan" or "Paganism" has become widely used as a self-designation by adherents of Neopaganism.[4] As such, various modern scholars have begun to apply the term to three separate groups of faiths: Historical Polytheism (such as Celtic polytheism and Norse paganism), Folk/ethnic/Indigenous religions (such as Chinese folk religion and African traditional religion), and Neo-paganism (such as Wicca and Germanic Neopaganism).
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CNN International
... faithful trickle into his church on the outskirts of town, coming from across the district hoping this Christian pastor can exorcise their pagan demons. ...
