pagan in a christian family - chat together

[centreoftheuniverse]

hey :)
so for the past two/three years i've been calling myself a pagan/witch. only my family is christian, and i attend a catholic secondary school. so until i finish school (three more years) i can't openly come out of the broom closet.

just wondering if anyone else is in a siuation like this? and not just christianity, but maybe islam, buddhism, etc.?

[Sailor Mars]

Im Roman pagan here, my dad and stepmom tho are huge atheists and not the chill kind, the kind that call religious people “fucking idiots”

So I can kinda relate Lol

[EvaNL]

hey :)
so for the past two/three years i've been calling myself a pagan/witch. only my family is christian, and i attend a catholic secondary school. so until i finish school (three more years) i can't openly come out of the broom closet.

Why not?
You should be able to express your beliefs, even if others don't agree to those beliefs. And others should respect you for your beliefs.
Do you think others will disrespect or judge you for them? Sure, you will get questions, but if you can explain why you belief what you do in a decent way, it should be no problem.

I'm an agnostic atheist myself, and think people who believe in any deity are wrong, but I still respect them for their beliefs. The absolute worst people are religious people who think someone is a lesser person for not believing what they believe and judge you for that reason. And people who try to convert me into their belief. Can not stand them. Ugh.
Live and let live. A belief is not the ultimate truth; it's not called "a belief" for nothing.

I hope you can find people to talk to about this, because a good discussion about beliefs and religion can be very helpful.

[centreoftheuniverse]

Why not?
You should be able to express your beliefs, even if others don't agree to those beliefs. And others should respect you for your beliefs.
Do you think others will disrespect or judge you for them? Sure, you will get questions, but if you can explain why you belief what you do in a decent way, it should be no problem.

I'm an agnostic atheist myself, and think people who believe in any deity are wrong, but I still respect them for their beliefs. The absolute worst people are religious people who think someone is a lesser person for not believing what they believe and judge you for that reason. And people who try to convert me into their belief. Can not stand them. Ugh.
Live and let live. A belief is not the ultimate truth; it's not called "a belief" for nothing.

I hope you can find people to talk to about this, because a good discussion about beliefs and religion can be very helpful.

i guess i am a little worried what others will think - i live in a small village in the middle of the countryside where most inhabitants are traditional farmers. and also i'm worried people will view me as being childish (i.e. like believing in fairies or whatever).

and then there's my parents - my dad is pretty old-fashioned and he'd probably think i was making up things and being silly. my mum isn't particularly accepting as such, but in fairness to her she does take a little interest when i tell her about how certain pagan traditions are linked with modern days.

my biggest concern is school, though. i do't think they have the grounds to kick me out, but they're pretty religious and there are a few rumors about teachers being racist about other religions.

i've even asked my mother before to excuse me from religion lessons, and she's refused. so overall, i'm just feeling a bit caged in :headache:

[EvaNL]

i guess i am a little worried what others will think - i live in a small village in the middle of the countryside where most inhabitants are traditional farmers. and also i'm worried people will view me as being childish (i.e. like believing in fairies or whatever).

and then there's my parents - my dad is pretty old-fashioned and he'd probably think i was making up things and being silly. my mum isn't particularly accepting as such, but in fairness to her she does take a little interest when i tell her about how certain pagan traditions are linked with modern days.

my biggest concern is school, though. i do't think they have the grounds to kick me out, but they're pretty religious and there are a few rumors about teachers being racist about other religions.

i've even asked my mother before to excuse me from religion lessons, and she's refused. so overall, i'm just feeling a bit caged in :headache:
That's more or less what I thought.

You could also not tell anyone, or tell just the people you trust not to judge you.
And you could also ease people into it. Like what you're doing with your mom: tell about how pagan traditions link with modern christian ones.
I know the Catholic church tried to ease heathens into catholicism by simply taking their traditions and putting a catholic meaning to them. Ironic, when you look at it :D

Anyway, you don't have to tell everyone. Believing something is personal and whatever you believe is perfectly fine (of course, believing that others should have their freedom revoked in any way and then acting upon that is totally unacceptable, but that's another issue).

As for religion lessons: you can attend them and see them as general information. You don't have to believe what they tell you. It's good to learn more about other religions, even if it is just for you knowing better that that religion is not for you. Knowledge is power ;)