Coming Out of the Broom Closet

Urizen

Filling out the census the other day (or rather, proofing the census as it was filled out for me), I noticed that my mother had put me down as a Roman Catholic. It occurred to me that, while I've never exactly been subtle about my faith (obviously they never read my notes on Facebook), I'd never actually out and out told my family I was a Pagan

So I did. And was rewarded with 'Hellenic NeoPagan?' being repeated sarcastically at me and dirty looks. Um... Yay.

It got me thinking though, about when other people did tell their family and friends about their beliefs, if they ever did. And whether or not they got the same snarky reaction I did. I asked a gay Wiccan friend of mine, who told me that it was actually more difficult for her family to accept than her sexuality.

Anyone have any experiences on the topic they wish to share?

hogflem

once I was able to convince my mother that most pagans don't believe in the devil,and therefore wouldn't be interested in him,she was ok with it,in fact she thought the Idea of nature worship was, "quite nice".

Ouchette

Heh, discussed it with my mother about 10 years ago or more and she seems to assume I've grown out of being pagan now. No issues with the census because I moved out ages ago, but I wouldn't have hesitated to correct them if they'd tried putting me down as anything else. My bet is they wouldn't have had a clue what to put so they would have asked me. I think that makes me pretty lucky.

The daft thing is my mum's own beliefs are 100% pagan too, but she considers herself Christian despite not actually believing any of it and having been to church precisely once in my entire life (not counting weddings etc.) She's English and nominally CofE, so it's not only in Ireland you get that attitude! Dad couldn't care less as long as whatever I believe doesn't involve telling relatives that I'm not the devout Methodist he's meant to have raised me as or removing alcohol from the house :pac: So no big family rows about it here.

allyJay

ha! that happened me a few years ago, my father put me down as catholic too, I was very annoyed. It's not an issue, he knew full well, just simply wasn't thinking and hated filling it out.
Filled it in myself this year as Pagan.
I never hid what I was or was not, so there was no such thing as 'coming out' for me.

joseph dawton

I've been a pagan in secret for 20 years, only other pagans were aware of my beliefs until recently. It's great for it to be legally acknowledged as a genuine faith which has given me the confidence to be more open about my beliefs. There is still a lot of prejudice but that will diminish as more people are honest about their spirituality instead of hiding it or avoiding the issue.

hogflem

The so called moral high ground held by catholics in this country has been eroded away with all the acts of unspeakable depravity committed by priests and nuns,It's them that are doing all the hiding and avoiding these day's,I'm pleased for you and any other pagan that gains a sense of pride and confidence from they're spiritual beliefs:)

Ruadan

I think my family's old irish attitude of discussing nothing more controvercial than the weather may be contributing to the fact i haven't hadto have that conversation yet,
Like many things i'm sure they know/ suspect something and just find it easier to say nothing, the fact that i'm not at home anymore may be helping as well.