Why There Are No Christian Wiccans
I've often thought about this subject, as it comes up again and again. I've been told that not agreeing with those who believe that Christians can combine Christ with Wicca, and call it Christian Wicca, is intolerant. Not surprisingly, I don't see it as intolerance. I see it as proper use of language and terminology.
The concept of a "Christ," in and of itself, is problematic. The idea that a man, born of a woman, can be the only conduit to a nice afterlife, is just something that doesn't map to a religion that feels that each has a not only a personal connection, but also is a part of Deity itself. The overlying concept surrounding Christ is that he died for our "sins" and is therefore the sole way, the sole light, and no one gets "through" except by believing in him. Wiccans do not accept a "gatekeeper" type paradigm. Wiccans do not accept that all humans are born "sinful" and are in need of something to save them. Without even surveying where Christian doctrine would exclude Wicca, we can see issues arising with calling belief in a Christ contrary to Wiccan belief.
This Christ's teachings have also been interpreted to exclude women as much as possible, thus negating the Wiccan cornerstone of duality in Deity. While some might argue that Jesus encompassed both the masculine and feminine, the biblical accounts just don't bear that out. So again, a major tenet of Wiccan faith is not possible to reconcile with Christianity.
There is obviously a lot more, but the point is not that there are differences in doctrine that are seemingly impossible to reconcile. Nor is the point my opinion that any attempts to combine the two are being disingenuous to both religions. To me, the point is that picking and choosing combinations of doctrine that you wish to follow must be based on an intimate knowledge of those doctrine. It must be done from a highly informed position, with clear reasons for each choice. And once that is closely examined, and completed, THEN one chooses a label that FITS to describe what they have chosen.
If it's not about duality of Deity, and it's about salvation through a Christ, it's NOT Wicca. Calling it such, to me, is ignorance of both paths, and a credit to neither.