Pagan Conversion to Catholic

Conversion of a Pagan
by Steven M. Ragan

I was born to a Catholic mother and christened in the Church as an infant. . . However, as things turned out I was never confirmed and wasn't raised up a Catholic. . . Eventually I became a practicing "Neo-Pagan" of a sort, and as strange as it may sound, that path has now led me back to the Holy Roman Catholic Church.

[Note: Those who may take this statement of paganism leading to Catholicism as one supportive of certain anti-Catholic arguments should read the remainder of this account before making that judgment;
as such an assumption would be incorrect.]

How this came about is based on a simple principle, as written in the Catechism, "truth can never contradict truth." Religion is, and has been many things. . . However, at its heart this is a thing which comes from the instinctive drive in humanity to seek understanding of those aspects of reality which we cannot directly perceive with our immediate five senses.

This search for understanding of, and thereby communion with reality, is the search for "God". . . and if there is an answer to this quest it is the answer which all paths of diligently seeking Truth will eventually come to. What is that old saying? "All roads lead to Rome.". . . Perhaps so.

The point here is that there are certain absolutes to the nature of existence. Space -time is structured how it is, and two plus two equals four. If we study math or physics we will find these things to be true. This is how it worked for me. . . the path of "Neo-Paganism" I followed for many years is one that teaches us to seek understanding of truth through logic and objective observation of reality. This begins with what we can directly perceive of reality, that being the world that surrounds us and ourselves . . . in a word, Nature. Through observation and study of this I found a fundamental truth of reality summed up in the phrase, "Nature abhors a stasis." That is true. Everything that exists in our universe changes. (For those who will point out that the Church defines God as unchangeable, I respond that the Creator of the Universe has by definition an existence outside of the universe. "God" is the Creator of our reality of space-time, not a product of it or subject to its laws) Some things may take thousands of years to change; other things change every fraction of a second that passes. . . But all things do change. Nothing remains in a state of stasis indefinitely.

The second step to understanding this is to then define what "change" really is. Much can be written on this topic. . . The bottom line however is that through observation we find all change can be defined in one basic principle . . . , deterioration or growth. As human beings and conscious creatures, we occupy an (as far as we know at this time) unique position in Creation in that we can consciously choose which aspect of change we will contribute to. Yes, this is an extensive topic which covers a lot of ground; including the seeming paradox of the circle of existence wherein deterioration is necessary for growth . . . that however is an essay subject in and of itself. The point here is that as conscious creatures we have the ability to knowingly choose which aspects of change we will contribute to: Deterioration or Growth? Chaos or Order? Destruction or Creation? Life or Death? We can choose for our actions to intentionally contribute to one of these dichotomus aspects of existence. In fact, we all do contribute to both over the course of our lives, whether we do so intentionally to that purpose or not. When I understood this, I realized that in order to realize our potential as human beings we must knowingly choose how we will change and what aspect of change we will support.

The ability to do this is a result of our cognitive abilities and defines humanities rightful place in the order of existence. Consider that all creatures in an eco-system have a "place" or a function therein which contributes to the being of the whole. In microcosm and macrocosm we find this arrangement reflected in all facets of existence. . . Our intellect and cognitive attributes, as well as the resultant consciousness, in the greater "eco-system" of reality itself. After coming to this understanding the next step was to decide which change I would be a part of. I chose Life.

Paganism does not support life. Nor does it promote death. It is a neutrals proponent of continuous balance between the two, without judging or preferring either. It's kind of like the Switzerland of Philosophical prerogatives and resultant moral imperatives. I however no longer wish to be a neutral observer of existence and have come to believe that to be so is contrary to the purpose of humanity. Neutral observation and active support of balance is ultimately promotive of stasis in greater reality as a whole, which is an unnatural state and therefore contradictory to the support of nature and its natural order that is the perceived core principle of pagan ideology. Yet, as previously noted, truth cannot contradict truth. This means that there is a fundamental flaw in an ideology which promotes what is natural by following a path that leads to an unnatural state.

This is all an accounting of how and why I came to believe that conscious support of life is the correct path for me as a human being to follow, my natural place in the universe. Having come to this conclusion I did not set out to find a pre-existent organized ideology in concurrence to subscribe to. In fact, I didn't think that there was any, so only sought to continue seeking Truth with this purpose in mind. In the process of doing so I have found cause to study varied subject matter, including world history. Christianity and the Catholic Church have had a major influence on the history of the world, as have other belief systems . . . I believe that to understand the inter-dynamics of our history I must understand these belief systems which have had such great effect thereupon, so have studied these things.

When these studies brought me to the Roman Catholic Church what I discovered there was amazing. For one thing, I'd found and was shocked to learn that this is the most misperceived and incorrectly understood religion known to humanity. The surprising part about that is that I don't think I have ever met anyone who wasn't aware of the Catholic Church in some way. I myself have always known that my mother was Catholic and that I was Christened in the Church as an infant. I've always been aware to the existence of the Catholic Church, the, priests and nuns and bishops, the Pope, mother Theresa. . . All these things are ingrained in my awareness of the world I live in. Yet until I actually studied it, I knew nothing of the true doctrine and ideology of the Roman Catholic faith. What I thought I knew was wrong. These things I share with many people, even some I found who consider themselves Catholic, or once did.

The second amazing thing about the Church I found is that the Roman Catholic doctrine is unequivocally one in support of life, and all the truths I had discovered through objective observation of nature. This led me to understand that the Church, Her doctrine and teaching, and history, are the means God has employed to directly reveal himself to humanity and to teach us the correct path to conscious support of life. Central to the lesson of Christ is that he as a son of man overcame in absolute terms, death. And that we can realize that for ourselves and all reality, or creation. And through the Holy Mother Church we can learn how.

There can be and probably have been, entire tomes written about many of the topics I have just touched upon in this account. This is just my story. I realize that it raises more questions and opens more debate than it provides answers. . . What I hope and pray is that, if you who are now reading this have understood or felt the pull of any of these questions, you will seek answers. If you do, I ask that you begin by reading a book entitled "Catechism of the Catholic Church" while keeping in mind that truth can never contradict truth and two plus two will always equal four.

Peace be with you.

Steven M. Ragan