(UTC) 

 It's inaccurate to say that "the academic literature" in this field treats "pagan" as a standard term. The norm has moved significantly in the last decade. The people who posted these comments back in 2005 were referring to academic literature and academic conventions of discourse that are now more than two decades old, and have been superseded by new approaches. There is still some confusion over what terms might replace "paganism" to refer to cults other than Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but "traditional religion" or "traditional worshippers" are probably the most accepted today. "Polytheism" went through a vogue, but presents problems in itself and is now less popular in academic discourse.  01:15, 14 August 2010