meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Skeptoid

Skeptoid #23: Paganism: A Naked Rebellion

Skeptoid

Brian Dunning

Skeptic, Social Sciences, Skepticism, Paranormal, Conspiracy Theories, Urban Legends, Science, History

4.63K Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2007

⏱️ 10 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A look at paganism, its affinity for nudity, and how it differs from mainstream religions.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Paganism isn't something you'd say that's exactly flourishing, but it's always been out there as a fringe religion.

0:10.0

In fact, some would describe it more as an alternative to religion, a way to be spiritual without conforming to some established church.

0:19.0

In this episode, we're going to see how paganism manifests today and what beliefs it truly possesses or whether it even needs any.

0:29.0

That's up next, unskeptoid.

0:37.0

Hey everyone, Brian here.

0:39.0

A quick favor. We're conducting an audience survey.

0:43.0

We'd be really grateful if you could take just a few minutes and answer our survey.

0:47.0

This is the kind of thing that's sort of an engineering and marketing necessity to make the whole free podcast ecosystem flourish.

0:54.0

So please check it out. Also, surveys are fun. You get to talk about yourself.

0:58.0

Please visit survey.prx.org-skeptoid to take the survey today. That's survey.prx.org-skeptoid.

1:13.0

Thanks.

1:19.0

You're listening to Skeptoid. I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com.

1:24.0

paganism. A naked rebellion.

1:28.0

Today we shed our arbitrary layers of corporate fabric and dance galley through the forest-glade wearing the suits we were born in. For the theme of the day is paganism.

1:39.0

Paganism is not well-defined. The definition can be quite broad or progressively narrow.

1:45.0

The broadest definition of paganism includes all religions but the big three, Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

1:53.0

To a member of the big three, a pagan can be anyone who is not a member of their particular church.

1:59.0

As you tighten the definition, you first eliminate the Darmic religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.

2:07.0

Whittled down to just those who call themselves pagans, you have the Wiccans, Celtic Druids, witches, goddess worshipers, and recreations of other ancient polytheistic religions like those from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and the Vikings.

2:22.0

For this reason, the term neo-paganism is really more accurate to describe modern pagans.

2:29.0

Neopaganism typically does not include any Satan worshipers, which is a bit of a popular misconception.

2:36.0

In this podcast, I'm going to use the term neo-paganism as if it's a religion by itself, which isn't really correct, but should generally encompass the beliefs of most of those who consider their religion to be pagan.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Brian Dunning, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Brian Dunning and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.