Subj : [1/7] FYI Fwed advice To : All From : Rachel L. Akers Date : Sat Mar 17 2001 11:34 pm FYI Fwed advice: Dealing with a Practicing Christian [1/7] These posts are the initial question & responses to a request for help. These are _NOT_ my comments however I felt it was necessary to post all the responses for a number or reasons. The most obvious one for me is that while I might disagree with a comment, it might be valid in the USA even it may go against the grain as an Aussie. I just hope that the advice will help anyone else in a similar situation. Reiterating these are not my words, ideas or anything else. My preference in such cases involves that marvelous advice in "Letters to Ann Landers". It is a real question, about a real situation where someone's real religion was an issue at work. (Although that wouldn't help me with a missionary aunt, hell bent on returning all her nieces & nephews to the flock. ) Rai -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Dealing with a Practicing Christian Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2001 Newsgroups: alt.religion.wicca.moderated A Christian person in my workplace came to me about a year ago and inquired about my religious beliefs. I believe she has the notion of converting me. While I was raised Christian (and have a great deal of respect for the spiritual essence that I regard as Christ), I have been a practicing Wiccan for some time now. I try to be as open and respectful toward others' beliefs as I can be, and that's how I got into this bit of trouble. I told her I was "outside the mainstream" of the Protestant Christianity with which I had been raised. She has been persistent, constantly asking questions about my jewelry (do I "believe" in Crystals? why do I wear Celtic emblems? are they Christian or pagan?) While I have been straightforward with her, I have tried to steer clear of allowing her inside my personal symbol system. In short, I've shared a kind of superficial pagan knowledge with her, but haven't felt comfortable sharing more. She has now taken to giving me literature (and sending me emails) about the Bible, Christianity, God, etc. She wants to know what I think of them and what my beliefs are. This woman has the following beliefs: Mental illness is caused by God visiting "iniquities" of the forefathers on the generations (Genesis) Homosexuality is a sin (caused by mothers feminizing sons...she doesn't have a theory on lesbianism) Abortion is always evil (even in the case of rape or incest) Christians are the only truly loving people. Non-Christians are going to Hell. Etc. This person is, in other ways, extraordinarily kind and sunny. When I've objected to some of her statements, she is always apologetic. She says that offending or hurting others is the last thing she wants to do. She also says that she's "highly sensitive" to criticism or rejection from others, and she wants me to approve of her. I've been a bit off-balance for the past two or three days (full Storm Moon?) and tried to put a little more distance between myself and this person than usual. Her questions and comments then became more frequent. She'll ask, "Do you believe there are real psychics?" for example. So for the past few days, until I could get some time to recenter and think, I simply tried to avoid her. So she came by my office this morning with a "present." A book on Christian child-raising and personality development. My instincts were to reject it (which she would have regarded as an affront, of course) but instead I took it and put it on my desk. Big mistake. What to do with it next? I might have left it there and given it back to her in a few days, but curiousity got the best of me and I opened it. She had said that certain chapters were particularly interesting. They were filled with homophobic, anti-women, Patriarchal stuff. This is about the sixth or seventh time she's given me this kind of thing. In the past, I told her of my specific objections to the content and since the past offerings were digital, simply deleted them from my email. Since I had told her of my objections in the past, I was hoping, this time, that the book would contain less offensive stuff. Frankly, it is the worst of all her submissions to me, and I get the feeling she's taking advantage of my lack of psychic protection to assault fullscale with her own beliefs. I'm going to immerse myself in centering and protective work this weekend, of course. But has anyone else ever sensed this kind of assault? I really feel she was waiting for me to drop my protection and then stick this book in my world. This book came with a kind of energy attached to it that went beyond the mere words inside of it. It seems to exude hate from every page. By letting it into my office and setting it on my desk, it was as if I allowed the entire area (and my psyche) to be polluted. I'm feeling guilty, as if I asked for trouble. While in the first throes of feeling upset about the book, I emailed her and told her to stop giving me Christian material, that I find it offensive. Now I'm thinking that probably gave her more power and may even validate her worldview. As you can see from this post, this incident has activated my old childhood Christian guilt. How do I get into a better place? ------------------------------------------------------------- --- Msged/2 4.00 * Origin: Elfwhere - The POINTy eared POINT (3:640/531.2379) .