Jerry_B said:
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Anyone who claims legitimacy from an invented past that's been formed to suit their own agendas is on dodgy ground IMHO.
But, then, that includes almost
every religion. So, why is a pagan's belief in the historical (or, prehistorical) belief in the validity of their roots, any more dodgy than those of any other religion with a longer, but no less dubious pedigree. Just because St Paul might have made stuff up 2000 years ago, it doesn't make it any truer today.
And, frankly, you can't actually disprove their beliefs in the pagan sanctity of Glastonbury, its just your opinion and the opinion of archaeologists and historians, based upon scant evidence, in any direction.
The pre-Christian, pre-Roman inhabitants didn't write stuff down. They did leave customs and reputations. But, we do know that the local monks at Glastonbury Abbey did write stuff down. They even appear to have been dab hands at faking the past to justify their existence and drum up a healthy tourist trade, in the form of pilgrimages to visit Holy Wells, St Joseph of Arimathea's Thorn tree and most flagrantly, the site where the remains of King Arthur were found.
Now, they may also have been capable of destroying evidence of a Pre-Christian significance for Glastonbury. The Tor might have been a site of great significance, after all. Like other sacred islands (even if the Tor was only a temporary island in a marshy flood plain), we do not know for sure.
You're the one being absolutely categorical about the
non-existence of any pagan significance for Glastonbury. Whereas you really have very little proof. Whereas, the pagans who worship there, can claim spiritual insight, at the very least. They have as much right to that as believers from any other belief system.
Personally, I find the crossover between beliefs in a warrior king who died to return again and a demi-god, like Jesus, who died to rise again, quite interesting. It hardly matters when the fusion happened in history. The significant thing is that it has made Glastonbury one of England's most important spiritual centers, for both Christians and Pagans alike.
Or, are you telling me that the Christian myths of Glastonbury are more real, or true, because they're older and the Monks wrote things down?