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question Are you in the closet? If so, why? If not, how has this treated you?

I consider myself to have my foot sticking out of the closet, as it were. I have only told a few of my close friends, my sisters and my dad, while the rest of society believes me to be Christian. I first told one of my sisters and two of my close friends because, during a conversation we were having regarding religion, I was saying things like 'monotheistic and polytheistic religions,' 'transcendent' and 'Abrahamaic' (sorry, I can never spell that word) They asked me what religion I followed, and because they seemed very open about all religions, I told them that I was eclectic pagan. It was great, because they were very accepting and positive about it-at first they had no idea what I meant, but when I explained it a little, they thought my beliefs were really interesting! I have since told a few more of my close friends (one of whom was positively estactic at the thought of knowing a real life 'witch.' smile Let's not go there... sweatdrop )

I haven't told any more of my friends (not because I don't trust them, it's just I haven't seen them in months!) and worst of all, I haven't told my mum. It's because she is scared of anything non-Abrahamaic. Because I'm living in her house, I have to obey her rules, so if she knew I was pagan, she would try and stop me from learning and following my beliefs. The rest of the people I know (workmates, classmates) still think I'm Christian. Even my friend who's Wiccan doesn't know I'm pagan!

It would be nice if everyone knew I was pagan and didn't care...but until then, I'm perfectly happy being partially out of the closet.

question The author of the article suggets some very positive effects of coming out of the closet... namely promoting tolerance and understanding of Pagan paths in others. What do you think about this? Is this a good reason to be openly Pagan?

I'm all for promoting tolerance and understanding of pagan beliefs and paths, but I fear that the determination to become accepted by mainstream society could turn us into proselytizing religions ourselves. I am not open about my beliefs, not because I'm ashamed of what I am, but because paganism is not strongly accepted where I live (Chrisitanity is the main religion-I live on a small island, and there are about 7-8 churches all within a 20km radius) and I do not want to be abused and insulted everywhere I go just because my beliefs differ from others. Like the author said: there are quite a few positive aspects to 'coming out' but it is wise to weigh up the negatives before making a decision.

question Should we as Pagans feel an obligation to educate the community about our beliefs? Is it better instead to adopt to only educate those who ask as this author suggets?

Like I said before, I wish that people understand paganism better, but I would like to avoid the 'evangelist' label as much as possible. If people ask, I will answer their questions, but I see no possible way to inform people of what paganism is if they are so set in their ways that they will not listen. (Kind of a crazy idea but,) maybe if it could be done, holding small pagan festivals/information days could help society learn that paganism is not the Satan-worshipping-evil cult they perceive it to be.

However, it would have to be done carefully. I remember a year or two ago, there was a pagan celebration held near the city, where people of all religions and beliefs could go to learn and participate (I wish I could remember what the celebration was for, it was a while ago) but unfortunately, possibly every single Christian fundie this side of the city stood on the perimeter of the festival with signs declaring the 'evil' festival, and people protesting against the legalised 'Devil worship' in public. Needless to say, the festival has not been held since... crying (I really wanted to go one year...)

You could try skimming. That is to read all of the first paragraph and then only read the first sentence of all the other paragraphs until you hit the last one and then you read the last paragraph. It would give you the main idea without actually reading anything.

Are you in the closet? If so, why? If not, how has this treated you?

I'd say, like Rioto_Kish, tha tI have a foot sticking out ofthe closet. My closest friends know but my family would flip. All my family is head on Catholics and it's hard for me to speak up since I'm only a minor. I plan on telling them when I'm 18, or when I have my own place.

The author of the article suggets some very positive effects of coming out of the closet... namely promoting tolerance and understanding of Pagan paths in others. What do you think about this? Is this a good reason to be openly Pagan?

Yeah, I think it's a darn good reason to be open about it. Being secretive leads people to jump to conclusions, and most of the time, those conclusions are rather unaccurate and questionable.

Should we as Pagans feel an obligation to educate the community about our beleifs? Is it better instead to adopt to only educate those who ask as this author suggets?

I think it's better to just answer questions to those who wish to learn about it. Think about it, the more you push, the harder people pull away. Let people come to us at their own accord. Don't get me wrong, I have no objection to open education about paganism. It does have it's pros and cons.

I'm not sure we should neccesarily go out of our way, but when the circumstances are appropriate, maybe we should aim to set a good example and answer the questions we're given to the best of our ability?

I am not in the closet at all everyone knows I am a witch and mock me for it .....dang fundamentalists.... even my brother is a fundamentalists their is one kid who whenever I talk to him he says Shun Shun Shun and I think you can only educate those with an open mind because they certainly won't listen

I think people have to weigh in their situation I would love to go to the... lets just say first church of witchcraft but I can't put that on any resume that i am a witch.

I think if they feel comfortable they should educate and reach out their is more out their then you think

I'm not in OR Out of the broom closet. Most of my family knows about me being a paan (Except my great Aunt, who i haven't told simply because she's REEEAAALLLY Religious, and also REALLLLLY Nice, and i don't want to put her through the grief of believing that i am going to hell), but i don't flaunt it around. I wear a Mjolnir, not a pentacle, and Thor's hammer isn't as easily recognizable to the mundane masses. Most just think it's a cool pendant, nothing more. My Facebook has me listed as a pagan, but i don't think anyone pays attention. I talk about it if someone asks, but i don't think it is my place to tell everyone my beliefs, unless the context calls for it.