I am, at this stage of my life, extremely conscious of the Germanic and Scandinavian pagan side of my upbringing – possibly because of the influence of my paternal grandfather and his father’s educations. Possibly because I lived in a very germanic town as a child. Possibly because of the remnants of prewar education. Possibly because that category of knowledge has been actively (((suppressed))) by the left in the postwar period.
I have more in common with, and experience with, Shakespeare’s work as a ‘bible’ than the semitic one. And far more exposure to folklore than Biblical stories.
This is despite the fact that my mother is a die hard french catholic in the ancient tradition – and I completed the catholic teachings, schooling, and sacrements.
My own reading formed more of my ‘religion’ than did all the teachings.
I am fairly sure that when I was in church, I ignored the speeches of the priests and that my concept of god, the saints and the heroes is a pagan one.
Not by choice but by circumstance.
This is one of the reasons I understand that if we all went to church and heard it in latin, without understanding a word that was spoken, we would get the benefits of religion simply by the ritual and the sacredness of the circumstance.
If we instead of listening to latin we did not understand (which I recall, since I am old enough to remember the latin mass) heard the pagan stories and lessons of history, and gave the oath of allegiance (lord’s prayer) to one another, the same result would manifest in the population.
All the good of religion comes from mindfulness, and mindfulness from training the mind and emotions to intuit (habituate) using beneficial norms rather than animal impulses, and to feel good about it.