Gods Dang-it (Another Oceanstar rant)

[oceantail]

If you read the title you have been forewarned that this is basically me complaining about a instance in life and what my opinions about why it is bad. I welcome you to share like experiences or to tell me that's just the way people are. Ultimately I feel I need to share this with someone that can see the world from an angle more akin to mine, most people don't seem to get the problem. Metarant over.

I am in a classical mythology class in my university. I have always loved Greek and Roman myth so I generally like the class. But my professor clearly either knows little or has a negative opinion of the neopagan religions that still hold those deities as sacred.

In one class they were discussing the terminology of myth and how many people resent the term "Christian Mythology", basically calling something a myth can be seen as dismissive. (I don't find that particularly valid but to each their own). They basically said that scholars call them myths because they are a story that is revealing of a cultures beliefs and ideas of the world and way it works. This was all fine and good until one of my peers raised the question: "Why didn't we clarify this when we were talking about Greek Myth?" To which they replied, Zeus worshipers don't exist anymore. Then they went on on a little story on how there were a group of people who claimed that they were merely pretending to be Christian but worshiping the gods in secret, but most scholars believe they are full of it. (I don't personally care about the veracity of the story but it is offends me to learn I apparently don't have a religion ).
Then today we were discussing the biblical account of creation as compared to the Hesiod's Theogany. A student asked "why do we capitalize the G in the name of the Christian God, but not the Greek gods?" To which they replied, "Because we won't offend any Zeus worshipers". I interjected, "I always thought that the God of the Abrahamic God was a title, and the god for the Greek pantheon was a class of being i.e. Proper noun vs. normal noun." To which they said, "that might have something to do it" and moved along.
I know that it probably is the case that my professor simply is unaware that the modern pagans who revere the Hellenic Pantheon exist. It is most likely this isn't reflective of a negative view they have of the pagan community. But it is still offensive to me. Don't get me wrong I'm not going to cry in a corner about how my professor holds me in contempt, but I am mad that my beliefs are treated with such little regard and dismissed. end rant.  

[Bloody Rosen Knight]

I can understand your point, 'cause I have found a strange interest(this phrase is used cuz I feel close to them) in the Greek gods and goddesses Aphrodite, Asklepios, Nyx, and Gaia (If i named any of these in the wrong religion, please tell me; I dun wanna offend anyone) and saying something like "We won't offend any Zeus worshipers" is like saying "Those people are dead and gone, or otherwise unimportant, or don't take those things seriously" to me. In my opinion, that's just showing ignorance of other religions. Does this correlate to your view any?  

[oceantail]

Bloody Rosen Knight

I can understand your point, 'cause I have found a strange interest(this phrase is used cuz I feel close to them) in the Greek gods and goddesses Aphrodite, Asklepios, Nyx, and Gaia (If i named any of these in the wrong religion, please tell me; I dun wanna offend anyone) and saying something like "We won't offend any Zeus worshipers" is like saying "Those people are dead and gone, or otherwise unimportant, or don't take those things seriously" to me. In my opinion, that's just showing ignorance of other religions. Does this correlate to your view any?

First off, all those deities are from the Hellenic or Greek tradition, Aesculapius and other deities can have a variety of spellings. Your really close to my point of my professor makes sweeping statements assuming a fact that in fact is false (that the Greek Religion is dead, having no adherents) I can see someone making the case for a it is a broken lineage, the Greeks then aren't the Neopagans of today because of a gap in religious adherents from time x to time y. But that is dodging the matter and is something that would probably be best asked to a reconstructionalist. For my purposes they assume an otherness to the ancient Greek religion that they posses on the part of the students. Basically I don't think the Greek gods are a thing anyone takes seriously so I don't need to be politically correct around them. I would like to believe this is ignorance on the professor's part. It calls the question in me, why insult any religious tradition? I mean even if there were no one on earth who believed in the Roman deities, it doesn't mean that we should go and be dismissive of the Roman Religion.

Sorry that's a tad long and basically restating what we have both said sweatdrop
What really gets to me is that I presented an opportunity to avoid this conflict, the God as a title and gods as a type of being. that would allow avoidance the conflict and (from what I saw) they were dismissive of that option. Alas as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink.  

[Bloody Rosen Knight]

oceantail

Bloody Rosen Knight

I can understand your point, 'cause I have found a strange interest(this phrase is used cuz I feel close to them) in the Greek gods and goddesses Aphrodite, Asklepios, Nyx, and Gaia (If i named any of these in the wrong religion, please tell me; I dun wanna offend anyone) and saying something like "We won't offend any Zeus worshipers" is like saying "Those people are dead and gone, or otherwise unimportant, or don't take those things seriously" to me. In my opinion, that's just showing ignorance of other religions. Does this correlate to your view any?

First off, all those deities are from the Hellenic or Greek tradition, Aesculapius and other deities can have a variety of spellings. Your really close to my point of my professor makes sweeping statements assuming a fact that in fact is false (that the Greek Religion is dead, having no adherents) I can see someone making the case for a it is a broken lineage, the Greeks then aren't the Neopagans of today because of a gap in religious adherents from time x to time y. But that is dodging the matter and is something that would probably be best asked to a reconstructionalist. For my purposes they assume an otherness to the ancient Greek religion that they posses on the part of the students. Basically I don't think the Greek gods are a thing anyone takes seriously so I don't need to be politically correct around them. I would like to believe this is ignorance on the professor's part. It calls the question in me, why insult any religious tradition? I mean even if there were no one on earth who believed in the Roman deities, it doesn't mean that we should go and be dismissive of the Roman Religion.

Sorry that's a tad long and basically restating what we have both said sweatdrop
What really gets to me is that I presented an opportunity to avoid this conflict, the God as a title and gods as a type of being. that would allow avoidance the conflict and (from what I saw) they were dismissive of that option. Alas as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink.

That's most of people today sadly. They rather insult than take a more peaceful and more polite way, you know? Personally I believe all religions are right in a way. ^^ I believe a bit of everything