Spurred by an event that affected the boyfriend of one of our listeners, we are doing an entire episode on visiting Christian Friends. Sometimes Pagans forget the Christian world view on certain items and may intentionally or unintentionally offend their Christian friends deeply. Also, we discuss bringing up the topic of Pagan spirituality or Pagan practice to one’s Christian friends. All that and more on this exciting episode of the Pagan Centered Podcast!
Regular Hosts:
Amber, Ashlee, Branden, Dave, Joe
Guest Hosts:
Barrett of Pagan Men Podcast, Lamyka of Lamyka’s Wiccan Podcast, Nick of The Satyr’s Thicket Podcast, Star Foster of Patheos.com
01:17
How to visit Christians? This was spurned by one of our listeners thinking it’s cool to do a tarot card reading in someone’s house that has explicitly asked them not to do tarot readings
02:08
It’s one thing to be oblivious, it’s something else to completely ignore their wishes
03:10
Maybe you should cast circle in someone’s house without asking. We’re sure they’re appreciate it
03:18
Why don’t you just channel in their house. It’ll make life interesting.
03:38
Star think that going into a Christians home and casting circle would feel uncomfortable
04:01
A lot of pagans take Christians not wanting you to do energy work in their house means they’re trying to stop you from expressing your religion
04:14
You doing energy work in their house, may attract things to their house…Christians are aware of this.
04:30
Ashlee talks about Satanic Rules of the Earth
04:40
Would pagans feel comfortable with someone coming in singing gospel songs? No, so don’t show disrespect to their house
04:52
It’s not just with christians, it would be strange to come home to some other pagan coming to your house and randomly doing ritual
05:10
Star talks about Facebook rituals
05:25
Star explains how the Yahoo! Group covens worked
06:19
Respect who’s house you’re going to. Whether it’s a Pagan household or Christian, the important thing is that it’s someone else’s house.
06:27
Amber starts talking about whipping out the tarot cards, and the conversation takes a tangent
06:53
You don’t just walk in a do a tarot reading, just like you don’t walk into their kitchen and make a potion. If you don’t appreciate it being done in your house without your permission…don’t do the same thing
07:22
If you hang out with Christians, ask if they do the saying Grace thing so it’s not awkward
07:52
Scurvy shares his assumtions of Christians that he’s experienced
08:25
Amber talk about how you can’t follow the sterotypes when trying to get along with Christians
08:54
Star explains how dealing with Christians can really depend on the individual
09:05
Dave points out that not all Christians aren’t extremely devout
09:23
Generalizations that you hear, are also generally…inaccurate. Lamyka uses a homosexual example to elaborate
09:51
If you’re going to someone’s home…you should know who’s home you’re going to so you know what’s coming
10:08
If you’re asked to hold hands and pray, they’re not necessarily praying for you, and nor will you catch on fire just from praying
11:20
Lamyka explains how the society that we’re raised in has a large impact on how we view what is right and wrong when visiting someone’s home
12:15
Star brings up that ancient pagans have dictations on how to behave
12:34
Amber’s upset about Pagans who go into someone’s home with the idea that they’re going to convince them to change their negative views on paganism
13:06
Exernal validation…it’s a disease of the mind
13:56
If you go around trying to tell people that “I’m okay”, usually you’re not and it’s not appreciated. There’s something wrong if you have to ask yourself “how should I behave” when you go to a friends house
14:41
Some new pagans have a hard time believing that other faiths can believe just as strongly in their paths
14:50
New Relationship Energy…the feeling that you want to share your new shiney thing
15:15
Warrior Princess Danu brings up that it’s similar to the sitautions when women pick crap men because they have the idea that they’re going to change them
15:47
We’re talking about respect and relationships, Ashlee is addicting to Electric Six videos
15:51
If you have someone that’s very uncomfortable with your faith path. And sometimes, there comes a time where you have to make a decision that visiting them has to come to an end for the benefit of both parties
16:44
This can also be the case with family members, as sad as the situation can be. There comes a time where you need to let go
17:42
Star gives the example that even though you may love a friend or family member, it sometimes doesn’t matter how polite you are as a guest. The differences are unreconcilable and you need to stop subjecting yourself to it
18:40
Deciding not to visit someone ever again shouldn’t be a quick decision. It takes a while because of how much it impacts. But just because it’s a big decision, that can be painful, it can end up working for the best
18:40
Deciding not to visit someone ever again shouldn’t be a quick decision. It takes a while because of how much it impacts. But just because it’s a big decision, that can be painful, it can end up working for the best
19:37
Sometimes seperation between people can actually be beneficial. Amber shares how tension with her mother was eased over time.
20:25
Just hiding your religion is not the answer. If they turn out to be the kind of person you can’t be honest with…than oh well…
20:49
If they’re just an acquantiance, usually there’s no reason to bring up what your religion is just for the fact of telling people that you’re pagan
21:24
Amber talks about when you’re in a situation where you’re in a group, and you get a calling to “do something”
22:43
Scurvy wants to see a drunk Amber do tarot readings, Dave, on the other hand, does not
23:22
Scurvy wants a tarot reading…right now!
23:54
Nick asks Amber about her tarot decks
25:11
Star asks what if you DO get the calling to say or do something?
25:26
Lamyka offers that you could happen to make a point to reach for something and let your symbol or pendant slips out to make itself obvious
26:52
Nick says that if there’s a real calling to do something, it will always find a way to bring itself up in conversation
27:12
Amber tries to bring controversial topic up by metaphorical stories to see how they react well, see if someone wants to take the conversation and run, or to let anyone interested know that they can come and talk to her later
28:26
What? More random people listen to us?
28:47
Star has two ways to handle a “calling” situation.
29:15
Star will also mention that she had a conversation with her priest or priestess, and she finds that usually a good ice breaker
29:50
Amber elaborates on how she brought tarot readings into a memorial day party with people she didn’t know
30:12
Lamyka asks what do you do if you inadvertandly walk into a hostile situation?
31:06
Learn not to argue and how to walk away from an escalating situation
31:10
Ashlee wants you to do martial arts
31:13
Lamyka explains that it’s on ething to refrence us, we could beat someone’s ass. But what about people who don’t know anything
31:26
Scurvy explains how to watch how your emotions run and how to stay calm, and why to do this
32:30
Star says you need to get acquainted with a community that will support you, so you have someone else that can be there for you if the situation arises that you need a sofa to crash on
33:46
Warrior Princess Danu: It’s always good to let someone know where you’re going and how long you plan to be out
34:02
Nick says you want to bring a friend with you, just in case, so you have another person there to help you get help if you need it
34:20
Star talks about a personal experience when she was outed as pagan by another, so it’s not always a case of careful planning that leads you into potentially dangerous situations
35:04
Ashlee says again that she wants everyone to take martial arts
35:17
Not everyone is capable of affording of martial arts or physically capable or martial arts training
35:26
Star shares her concerns about martial arts training, and how just because you’ve taken training in a controlled enviroment, it’s very different from being in a hostile situation
36:08
Lamyka suggests to go look and see if there’s some woman’s self-defense classes
36:29
Scurvy explains how a lot of fighting is about learning how to take a hit
37:19
Wait…all my martial arts training isn’t going to help me in a gun fight??? Ashlee says Yes, if you can get to the person fast enough
38:03
Scurvy gives some practicals. Know where the exit is
38:06
Make sure there’s nothing between you and the exit
38:08
Maybe leave the door to your car unlocked and keys in the ignition
38:18
Star is amused that our episode started with what to do when a Christian invites you over for coffee cake…to what if all the Christians are out to get you
38:55
Scurvy brings up that it’s good to understand if the law enforcement is willing to help you or not
39:59
Sometimes, you have really good law enforcement out there. So someimes they’re one of the first people you want to run to
40:26
Amber brings up that you want to get to know your community. If something goes wrong, it makes a difference if they know you rather than just being some random person.
41:17
Star suggests that filling a police report is important in harassment cases…even if it’s just to show a pattern of behavior
42:02
Amber reminds you not to always whine that you’re attacked because you’re pagan. Just deliver the facts and don’t be a drama queen
42:29
Ashlee suggests that there’s a way to turn the situation around, but it’s more important to respond to the cops in a respectful manner rather than be seen antagonizing and causing more drama
43:16
Lamyka reminds us that cell phones can be a type of weapon because they can record and may be your only evidence
43:54
Amber has a friend that asked what you’re best tips for staying calm
44:00
Dave find that it’s easy to stay calm when he realizes by maintining a level head, it pisses them off
44:21
Scurvy says he pretends to watch himself, and if you look like an ass to yourself, calm down
44:35
Peter Dybing likes to use rum
44:40
Barrett says when he understands that everyone is a moron is some way or another, even himself, he was able to let it go
44:55
Star uses a typical southern sweetness, and then finds a trusted friend that was safe to vent to so the frustration is let go of
45:36
Amber says that if she’s becoming offended, she takes a mental note and diffuses it in her head. But if it’s a hostile situation, she tends to get hyperfocused and tries to vocally diffuse it or find escape routes
46:28
Scurvy says the way most people learn, is a mass amount of regrets…better known as experience
46:43
Star reminds us that if you’re being provoked…it’s okay to feel frustrated and angry. You just need to be careful how you handle those situations
47:16
A lot of people seem to forget that the emotion of anger is healthy
48:28
Dave’s 5 in 5: Pagan Flavored Popsicle
Credits
Post-produced by: Amber
List of resources used or mentioned:
PCP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 US License.
Season 19 Credits:
[DH] Lethal Destiny
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/354802
_-={Everlasting Times}=-_
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/170554
_-={Forces United!}=-_
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/290238
Originally Published: Sunday, February 20, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Pagan Centered Podcast
Licensed with CC BY-SA 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/
