I'm not sure what you mean.
Pre-civilized religious beliefs and practices that emerged in the context of tribal hunter-gatherers. Specifically, worshiping and communing with nature.Anyway, what exactly does pagan religion refer to?
I never suggested they were not political. I simply rejected the idea that pagan religions were some kind of political contrivance or subterfuge.Why would anyone suggest pagan religions were not political?
Well, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that those people probably aren't that concerned with your judgement of their religious beliefs and practices.Are we reducing pagan religion to goofy new Age cults and weirdos dressing like what they think Druids might have looked like? Or maybe ugly, depressed lesbians pretending they have supernatural powers? I'm dismissive of this sort of thing because it's faddish and embarrassing to watch. Trying to reconstruct a long dead religion is just kind of silly to be frank.
As to your question, the answer is no. I am not reducing pagan religions to new-age Druidism or Wicca. Naturally, they are both included under the broad rubric of paganism, but they do not define paganism as a whole.
Perhaps. I'm not sure what you mean by that, so I can't say for sure.What I think you might mean is something more along the lines of a pagan philosophy of the sacred. There are what are called philosophical pagans. Several of my favorite writers fall into that category. IMO, it's far more respectable.