I read something the other day that said the word "Pagan" used to me "one who lived in the country" but when the Xains came over to convert the "pagans" the wouldn't convert...so it became what it is to day. Is this true? If it is....*snickers* there are alot of Pagans in the Tenesee/Kentucky/ West Virgina area *no offesnse and not trying to insult you*
The word 'pagan' derives from the latin 'pagus', its literal meaning being 'country-dweller'. It is important to recognise that to a Roman, the application of the word Pagus to a person, was not just about that persons spirituality or religious practice. It was very much more about what we, in our modern times, would call social status and class. The sophisticated and wealthier Roman urbanite (who considered himself a 'citizen') used the word to look down upon his more rustic yokel countryman. The Roman citizen would have used the term to encompass; housing, access to slaves, access to new ideas on philosophy, architecture, art, etc - what we today would call 'high culture'. This, of course, would also have included religious practice. For our Roman forebears religion would have been an integral part of their daily life, not a distinct and separate aspect. Therefore when a sophisticated city dweller used the term 'pagus' in reference to the religious practices of rural countrymen what he actually meant was not to denigrate the practice itself, instead it was rather to highlight the fact that he had access to larger, grander, more important temples and priests/prieistesses. It was a term of snobbery. The nearest equivalent today would be our use of the term 'provincial', to describe something not quite at the 'cutting edge', or the current very clear division between high cuisine (cordon bleu) and simple, rustic peasant fare. Following the enforced acceptance of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire (cheers Constantine!), it was the sophisticated and politically savvy urban ruling classes who embraced the Gospels (drawing a discreet veil over the fact that a few years previously, they themselves had been cheering on the lions). However, the rural country-dwellers (the farmers, merchants, etc) who were effectively cut off from the main influences of the Empire (and who, incidentally, had previously been tolerant of multiple faiths) took many, many years to accept this imposed religion. They were much slower to give up their honoured ancestors, and age-old practices. It was at this point, that the word pagan came to develop its derogatory connotations, indicating a backward, 'un-civilised' yokel who was either too slow or stupid to adopt the one true faith - Christianity. As the centuries went by the Christian Church began to flex its muscles, and the previous tolerance of the religions it had usurped was lost. As a result, the term pagan, lost its 'country-bumpkin' overtone and was replaced with the more sinister connotations that we are still struggling to overcome today.
it stands for People Against Goodness And Normalsie or so ive heard from the eighties movie Dragnety with Tom Hanks it was so funny anyway their bad people non the less oi no that for shure oh darlin if you leave me ill never make it alone believe me when a tell you ill never do you no harm from a beatles song im listening to right now lol
its a walaby but yu probably were joking and really thought it was a kangaroo smile and the world smiles with you
any thing that comes from the romans is as suspect as the term "roman alphabet" expecialy if it has to with the old ways, as a matter of history there was a people in the britons that called themselves pagan's, about the same time as the goths, were there name came from i havent a clue, nor can i find any reliable info on them
it's origins were country-dweller, but now I suppose it's just the term for people who practice religions with more than one religion.
