How to Deal with Christian Conversionists

Witches who decide that they wish to live outside of the proverbial broom closet often have to deal with zealous peoples of other religions. Most often, these are Christians, though some Christian faiths tend to hold a live-and-let-live policy. No matter where we go, we are bombarded by Christian beliefs and told that our country is a "Christian country."

I cannot count the number of times when I have been accosted by zealots because of my religion. It usually begins with making you feel uncomfortable or vulnerable and ends with some sort of insult. They will ask you your religion or if you go to church, for example. Immediately, you feel uncomfortable. What do you say to this? Unfortunately, the safest thing is sometimes to be rude and just leave. Sometimes this is not possible. Many pagans choose to stay and fight.

"What's that on your necklace?"
"A pentagram."
"Do you...worship the Devil?"
"I do not believe in the Devil." Immediately they raise an eyebrow.
"What does it mean, then?"
"It represents the five elements."
"But...there are only four elements."
"There are five."
"Ohhhh...riiight..." (long uncomfortable pause)

"So, do you believe in God?" Ah, the inevitable question. Some choose to use a little humor here.

"Which one?" Of course, this response produces a riot of questions and emotions in their mind. They immediately make it their personal life-long duty to save your soul. Some of them can be quite hurtful and insulting.

"You are going to hell. You had better save your soul. Jesus Christ is our only Lord and Savior. You must accept him into your heart and cast out Satan." Or even worse: "If you do not worship our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, then the Devil has control over you. Don't let him take over. Don't let him tell you what to do!" Suddenly, they become a televised Evangelican Priest complete with salesman-pitch voice and arm gestures!

Some of them seem kinder, but no less insulting:
"Oh, you haven't heard about our Lord Jesus Christ and how he died on the cross for our sins? Here, let me tell you..."

or....

"You don't REALLY believe that do you?"
Unfortunately the reaction I get most often is an angry one. They will raise their voice at me and get defensive as if I had actually run up and threatened their religion. They look at me as though I were the Devil himself.

Sometimes I half expect them to raise their fingers at me in the shape of a cross.
"I talk to God EVERY DAY and he talks back! You should beg for forgiveness. He is the ONLY god. When I was seven, I was in this horrible life threatening accident and god SPOKE TO ME! I felt the light of Jesus come into my HEART. You should pray, just PRAY. Try it just ONCE and I promise it'll be like nothing you've EVER felt! Let Jesus into your heart."

The scariest and most threatening type are those that try to make you feel guilty about your religion:
"I love you. Jesus loves you. We love you no matter what you do. I know this is just a phase you are going through. You will come around to our love. Just remember that we care about you so much and you will always have a place here in our hearts whenever you decide to come around."

Whatever the type, they all seem to rely on insults to convert you. They will play on your feelings, try to make you feel guilty, or even hate you for your religion, offering you love and their friendship if you will just cross over to their religion. Often we come out of the conversation feeling beaten and even a little ashamed. Above all, it makes us angry. Many Pagans develop a great hatred toward Christians.

I cannot count the number of e-mails I have received of hate mail against Christians. Fear breeds hate and hate breeds ignorance. Ignorance feeds the fear and it becomes a never-ending cycle. The letters I receive can be so hostile -
"I hate those ***** Christians! They tried to kill us all off back in the middle ages and they think they can get rid of us now! They burned those witches in Salem and one of them was my great great great grandmother! We need to take back our religion! Spread the word! Take back the night!"
- or -
"This guy in school came up to me. He said my religion was evil. His religion is the one that is wrong! He's so stupid, he thinks there is a God!"
Obviously, there are extremes in even our own religion, but hatred is definitely wrong. You cannot combat ignorance with your own ignorance. You can not combat hatred with hatred.

Most importantly, you should understand that all people are an example of their religion. Just as you might hate Christians just because of one example, just one pagan can make a fool of the rest of us. When someone approaches you and makes a fool of themself you will have to rely on what you know. Knowing more than they do about their own religion can save you on many occasions.

Learn scriptures that can be used against you and those that you can use to defend yourself. One scripture that is often thrown at me is "Suffer not a witch to live." Not only do I find such a threat to my life insulting, but I find myself at the psychic mercy of a person who cannot even tell me who wrote the scripture. I calmly reply with the name of the scripture and its definitive history. The word "witch" is incorrectly interpreted from the Hebrew word "chaspah" meaning "poisoner" or "murderer." Of course, when these texts were re-translated for the Kings in the early part of the 12th century, nothing was feared more than a witch. The improper translation (along with many, many others) found its way into our modern Bible which has been interpreted and misunderstood many times over the past millennia and placed right alongside scriptures that say "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

On the other hand, if you refuse to read their script or simply choose not to fight fire with fire, I have found a foolproof way to evade situations you do not wish to be in. Just keep a cross in your pocket. If they approach you, you can always scream something (anything) in Latin, throw the cross at them and run. At least they will be too stunned for a few seconds to say anything and you can safely make your getaway.