Pressies and different beliefs

[zodiac66]

Who here said religion teaches right from wrong? That's a load of tripe if I ever heard it.

Keldaris did in an ealier post.

So, just tell her to lay off..in a nice way .

This woman has tried to rule our lives for far too long. I just sent her a nice email stating that this outfit Tinkerbellwould be a nice gift.

[Anakha1]

Fairies are teh Devil!

[zodiac66]

Fairies are teh Devil!

OK mister..Fairy dust on you :P.

[Daethwalker]

I guess it depends mainly on what grandma is really doing.

I have relatives that only pass out bibles or other religious stuff as presents. A cousin who gifts everyone with family portraits and an aunt who seems to have a fetish for underwear and socks. :lol:

If a bible is the type of gift grandma passes out to everyone, then basically take it and ignore it. Maybe she gets a discount on the case?

On the other hand, if she's truely trying to covert your child, then it's time to have a talk with her.

[ScanMan]

Anyway, what I am asking is how can you delicately tell others your beliefs without seeming odd?

How can you tell people " I live in the 21st century, and I'm a witch" and not seem odd?

Hell, you got me.

[Anakha1]

How can you tell people " I live in the 21st century, and I'm a witch" and not seem odd?

Hell, you got me.

Only if you think of a witch in the way Christianity has presented witches. A witch is essentially a spiritual woman in the pagan religion. It's about as odd as telling people "I live in the 21st century and I still go to a church or temple and perform rituals that I think makes a spiritual being look on me in favour". It's one religion over another and you're being biased. If you think that being a witch is odd than you have to think that all religious followers are odd.

[zodiac66]

I do think there is a misconception on witches. We do not kill people, animals or anything else. Infact, we try to help other humans and love nature. I have been a bell ringer for the Salvation Army, I donate so much stuff it isn't funny, I do what I can for my fellow brother/sister.

You all can go around and condemn what I belive, but when was the last time you heard of a Wiccan molesting children, a true Wiccan and not some moron using the name? Wow, I don't have to donate a percentage of my income to be accepted.

I am tolerant of your views..maybe you should do the same.

[Dondrei]

I have been a bell ringer for the Salvation Army

Ah, the Salvos. And people think witchcraft is scary.

when was the last time you heard of a Wiccan molesting children, a true Wiccan and not some moron using the name?

Um, although I mostly agree with what you're saying I'd advise you to be careful there. Whenever fundamentalist Christians or Muslims or one of those nasty little cults or something gets caught doing something wrong they come out with "oh, but he wasn't a true Fundamentalist Christian/Fundamentalist Muslim/Scientologist/Promise Keeper/Opus Dei etc. Because a true FC/FM/S/PK/OD/so on would never do that..."

The sad fact is that all religions (whether they're liberal, moderate, fundamentalist or just sick twisted cults) have members who turn out to be creeps or sickos. Sometimes the religion encourages their behaviour (eg certain Jihad-happy Muslim extremist groups) but more often not. But you can't just disown people so easily. Because the real sickos do that too.

[DurfBarian]

Durf..we have had the Narnia series for quite sometime. Liam got them for a birthday pressie.

Excellent. They're great books.

It horrorfies me to think that her Grandma is so upset that we do not belong to a church of her persuasion. She is an absolute control freak and I cannot budge from my stance.

From this statement, it sounds like your only option at this point is to cut Grandma off completely. No contact, no presents. No phone calls or letters. Nothing. If you're both immovable rocks and irresistable forces, the only safe thing to do is to keep yourselves far apart.

Hopefully when your girl is old enough to listen to those other ideas without being bowled over by Christian brainwashing Grandma will still be around and willing to be a part of the family thing.

[Yaboosh]

Hopefully when your girl is old enough to listen to those other ideas without being bowled over by Christian brainwashing Grandma will still be around and willing to be a part of the family thing.

PLEASE tell me you are kidding. Christian brainwashing? If you have any faith in the ability of your children to think for themselves, then I don't see the problem with them being exposed to mass by their Grandmother. If you trust her to properly look after your children anywhere else but church, what exactly do you think is going to go on at the mass?

I respect your right to say no to your in law taking your daughter to church, but it will hardly force her into any sort of religious affiliation. I was raised Methodist and I fell away from it in my teens, like many do. There were some things that just didn't sit right with me, though in retrospect, much of it was probably silly teenage rebellion.

You say you take your kids to church for their Christmas days where they learn about Jesus and such. Well, that is what mass is. You learn about the bible.

You mention if you were Muslim there would be no argument if you didn't allow your daughter to go to a Christian service. But that is completely different. If you were Muslim, that would probably make your daughter Muslim. You claim that you want your daughter to choose for herself, but how can she do this if the only fair representation of a religion she will be exposed to is yours? Who knows, maybe your daughter will like Mass for purely aesthetic reasons at this young age, and then, when she gets older and perhaps still goes on occasion, she can decide fully whether she likes Mass and the christian religion, or your Wiccan religion. In fact, it is a good idea to take her to religious events of all kinds if you truly want her to be capable of choosing for herself.

What I get out of what you are writing is that you are afraid that she will choose christianity, or that she will somehow be brainwashed into thinking Christianity is right. Both are silly.