Are buddhists necessarily ascetic? I’m not super familiar with buddhism, but I have read stuff written by buddhists and I’m pretty sure I remember one specifically speaking against the idea of asceticism, framing it as something of a needlessly “extreme” approach.
I mean, some of the prime commandments of Christianity are “don’t kill anyone”, “don’t steal” and “love your neighbour as you would yourself”.
It sure hasn’t stopped them.
Yeah like 99.9% of American"pagans" are just acting out an offensively cobbled together frankenstein of long dead European folk religions, with no actual belief system attached or connection to the tradition.