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[personal profile] brightlotusmoon
http://ginmar.livejournal.com/902424.html
Yeah, I think some have forgotten. It doesn't matter what the actual organized religion is, be it Christianity, Islam, Wicca, etc... I really wonder if people know what they do when they condemn another person for being different or who doesn't believe in their particular faith. Nobody is perfect. Yes, I am angry at organized religion for becoming something that has sold out and where hardly anyone practices what they preach anymore. But I still believe in the basics. No, I don't believe in God. I believe in something else. I wish people would accept that and leave me alone. Like the other day, which I did not talk about: An old woman in Starbucks interrupted me reading my book, drinking my coffee; to ask me if I had been saved. When I said no, we started talking. I told her honestly that I was pagan, I told her what I believed in. She said to my face, "You are a sinner and a blasphemer. You are a devil worshipper. You will go to hell if you do not accept Jesus." When I explained myself further, saying that yes, I was a witch, but no I did not believe in Satan, she flinched and her eyes widened and I thought for a second that she might hit me. I said, "Didn't Jesus teach you Christians to love your fellow people, not condemn them?" She said, "I am trying to save you, you ungrateful witch!" I asked her if she really cared about what a stranger believed, since it didn't affect her. She said she was meant to spread the word of God and try to save others. Keep in mind that this was in a corner of the store, and we were speaking in low voices. She wasn't causing a scene. And I realized, suddenly, that she was just doing what she believed. She was doing what her faith asked her to do. I could not snap at her. I could not talk back or get angry, because what would that prove? She truly believes this. Who am I to be angry for that? If she had tried to hurt me in anyway, push me, hinder me, then I would have called the store manager to get her away from me. But I only gently stepped aside, bid her good day, and left. I was not about to start an argument with a Christian who was doing what Christians in her particular secr believe they are supposed to do. That's the point of having varying belief systems. She wanted to antagonize me; I didn't feel like giving her what she wanted, not in a public place. She could yell and rant at me all she wanted. It wasn't going to make me convert. And I think that's what people need to realize. I think I've gotten better. All I want is for the hatred and prejudice to stop -- on all sides. Pagans are just as guilty, just in different ways.

Anyway.

I spent some time with an Amish community during a high school trip. They really are extraordinary people.

Date: 2006-10-07 10:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com
I've heard about other pagans having it worse than that. This one woman was actually cornered by three Christian teenage boys who shoved her, taunted her, and tried to push a cross into her cheek to see if it burned her. They called her Satan's Whore and things like that. I was stunned.

Date: 2006-10-07 10:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] todabrilla.livejournal.com
That's horrible! Good job of following "the king of peace", people. Sigh. Some days it's hard to have much faith in humanity.

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