Posts tagged ‘Ross Clifford’

June 1st, 2011

Why Wicca?

by Rodney Olsen

It’s said to be one of the fastest growing forms of spirituality in the western world. So what’s Wicca all about? What’s the attraction?

Wicca is particularly attracting many young female followers. What is it about Wicca that attracts those who are not interested in what might be understood as more traditional faith expressions?

With a strong emphasis on connection to the earth, is Wicca drawing strength from the growing concern about the health of our planet?

Wicca is a specific Neopagan religion. Its adherents are referred to as Wiccans, though the terms Witches or Crafters are also used. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the “witch cult” and “witchcraft,” and its adherents “the Wica.” From the 1960s onward, the name of the religion was normalised to “Wicca.”

Wicca is typically a duotheistic religion, worshipping a goddess and a god, who are traditionally viewed as the Triple Goddess and Horned God. These two deities are often viewed as being facets of a greater pantheistic godhead, and as manifesting themselves as various polytheistic deities. – Wiki

My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98.5 Sonshine FM is Rev Dr Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.

Today we looked at Wicca and asked why it continues to grow in popularity. Are there elements of Wiccan spirituality with which we can identify? Are there dangers of which we need to be aware? Could Wicca actually be pointing towards a higher truth?

You can hear our discussion by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

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February 18th, 2009

Faith of a child

by Rodney Olsen

children.jpgIs our belief in God begin at birth or is it something that we pick up from those around us as we grow older?

Are we born without a concept of God? Do we begin our lives as atheists who then need to be convinced that there’s something bigger than us in the cosmos?

Oxford University psychologist, Dr. Olivera Petrovich, a lecturer in psychology of religion, has been studying the development of spirituality in children. She recently conducted cross-cultural studies involving British and Japanese children to see if children from different cultures have a similar understanding on matters of spirituality.

She was surprised to find that results were very similar in Britain and Japan. In general she found that most children have an understanding that there is a creator God at work in our universe. Very interesting results indeed considering that as a culture, Japan discourages speculation into the metaphysical, so most children are not brought up hearing about God or spirituality.

You can read an interview with Olivera Petrovich about her research here.

My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98.5 Sonshine FM is Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales and current President of the Baptist Union of Australia. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.

Today we discussed the research and looked at what impact such research should have on us.

You can hear our discussion by clicking play on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.