Pagan Journeys
Pagan Journeys => Pagan Chat => Topic started by: rainshadow on May 30, 2012, 09:42:53 AM
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I was at work tonight talking to some of my coworkers and we were talking about some of the things I saw as a police officer. One of the nurses pipes up and goes, "I had a friend whose sister was a cop... she said the craziest call they ever went on was this naked lady running out in her yard covered in blood... turns out it was some sort of Wiccan ritual and they were killing a baby inside the house"
:wtf: I instantly found myself getting defensive and had to calmly explain to her that that's not what Wiccans practice (she had no idea I'm Wiccan)... another one of my nurse friends, who is a Buddhist, happened to hear it and his jaw dropped. To give the girl some credit, she had no idea what Wicca was or knew the difference between it and Satanism (she is pretty sheltered by her own terms), so I think it was good to explain to someone who had the wrong impression of Wicca what it really is (not killing babies and all that crap).
We live in a fairly large pagan community here... half of the city are Christians, and the other half are pagans... so I guess it just shocked me that the stereotypes are still heavy here in certain areas. Especially in the area she was talking about the incident happening... it's a very small town about ten minutes from here and almost everyone is pagan... there's tons of pagan stores than line the streets... it just surprised me a little.
So what are your typical responses to the whole "we kill babies and eat their souls for breakfast and dance naked around the bonfire having orgies flying on broomsticks" attitude that some people have? How do you deal with the stereotypes?
Most of the time, I think just by explaining things, people get a better idea of what it is... but there are other people who absolutely refuse the explanation and will think what they want no matter what.
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And to add to this... I have friends that are Satanists who get pissed when they are compared with Wiccans or other pagan religions. So I guess it's all in how you look at it.
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I don't get questions, because I don't advertise.
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If I read right, she wasn't advertising, either - the other person didn't/doesn't know she's pagan. For me, I have to debate whether it's an argument worth getting into - usually it isn't, because the person doesn't WANT to know the truth, and they wouldn't believe me even if I did try to straighten them out. If it's infringing on my or others' rights, then it's something I'll go to bat for, but in general I just say something to the effect of "That's not what they believe or practice" and leave it at that. If they ask for more info I'll give it, but for the most part they'll look at me in confusion and change the subject. I don't need to defend my beliefs to anyone, and I don't need anyone else's approval or permission to follow my Gods. :)
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If I read right, she wasn't advertising, either - the other person didn't/doesn't know she's pagan. For me, I have to debate whether it's an argument worth getting into - usually it isn't, because the person doesn't WANT to know the truth, and they wouldn't believe me even if I did try to straighten them out. If it's infringing on my or others' rights, then it's something I'll go to bat for, but in general I just say something to the effect of "That's not what they believe or practice" and leave it at that. If they ask for more info I'll give it, but for the most part they'll look at me in confusion and change the subject. I don't need to defend my beliefs to anyone, and I don't need anyone else's approval or permission to follow my Gods. :)
:yeahthat:
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There seem to be quite a few pagans in this neck of the woods though I can't say I've encountered many stereotypes but that could be because I'm not really open about discussing my own spirituality so it just doesn't seem to come up in conversation. I did have someone comment about Wiccans being wackos who thought they were demons... but this was based on that person's experience with some self-professed Wiccans, so I can't really fault them, as they did realize that's probably not how all Wiccans are. I generally just keep my mouth shut and try to ignore the ignoramuses because arguing rarely pays off. But, yeah, it can be irritating dealing with the misconceptions.
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Wow, it is hard to believe people are still so small minded, but thank you very much, by explaining to her you gave all of us a voice. I have encountered so many with the idea that I worship the devil and most are stunned when I explain to them that in my belief system the devil doesn't exist, unless of course you are speaking of my ex mother in law. I have had Christians come to me with spell requests, turning them to another way to solve their issues I get spoken of very harshly. This does not bother me at all. I tell ya you could hold a class on paganism and some still won't understand, maybe because they don't want to or maybe they can't I don't know. I do believe and hope that paganism becomes more respected within other belief systems after all it does predate many religions most find mainstream. So with that being said, just tell them that only Christians and sinners go to hell and that you are neither. :yeah: :groovin: