Facing Religious intolerance the right way

What do you do when you are faced with someone who is intolerant, and even trashes your religeon?

I am having this problem on another message board, where I have had my religeon called "crap" a "fad", was told that I drink blood and am a lesbian(neither of which is true just so you know) and told that I identify as that only to be a cool goth kid.

For those wondering I identify loosely as wiccan.

Edited to add: I am neither a kid, nor a goth

Rainbowzz, I moved back to a southern region in 1999 and was labeled a lesbian because I drive a truck and wear teeshirts and linen pants!!!!!!!!! People don't have the ability to talk about anything of substance anymore and they tend to seize upon something that they can handle. Gossip and slander. My daughter and I thought it was ridiculous and funny, so she wrote her friends postcards saying that Mom was finally "out" because we knew that the postman had started the rumour...and we knew he would spread what was on the cards. Sure enough, a friend overheard him at the general store talking about what she had written on a card.

We were going to an Episcopal church then and because they didn't understand the church, they trashed it. Who cares, really? People should have better things to do with their minds and hands.....

People are often ignorant. They judge people they don't really know. They may be told by those in their own religion or groups that your religion or group is a certain way, and they trust those people, so they don't open their minds to find out.

I also think some of them don't believe what they read. Those who might go to read texts on Wicca, for instance, may go into it with a closed mind, and what they see, they dismiss and think Wiccans are conspiring to make their religion out to be harmless (which it is, but the closed-minded person will refuse to accept that). Furthermore, one person might make up a story (sometimes to "join in") that they saw or heard about a witch sacrificing a baby or doing something horrible, and others believe them, so these kinds of idiot stories get around.

I'm sorry you have people who treat you like this. I have many Wiccan friends.

you can always fall back on my standby, "you may be right" or "why do you ask?"......

Rainbowzz,

If Wicca is the path that feels right for you, be true to your spirit and follow it in earnest. To me, it's a belief system that honors Mother Earth and has much beauty. It's hardly a fad - been around probably since the beginning of time. Many blessings to you, Etheria

I don't see religious intolerance in such situations as much as I see ignorance. I tend to ignore ignorance :-) if it is disrespectful. If someone is interested in me and my beliefs I'm happy to talk about them to the person but I know who I am and what I believe so someone telling me my mother wears combat boots (you drink blood and are goth :-) pretty much doesn't "make sense" to me so I leave it alone.

good post, Perna. It is ignorance indeed...