Religious Titles -- How You Define Your Practice

[originalpuck]

Set-up: Okay, so my wife was mentioning me in an LJ post last night. To make sure she got my faith correct, she asked me how I would define myself. I ended up sitting there blankly for awhile, since nothing seemed quite right. I think I finally decided on eclectic witch, with the option to elaborate if someone asked for more information.

Question

Comments

[slythwolf]

Well, I call myself an atheist. But not usually in company, because I live in a very rural area.

[originalpuck]

But not usually in company, because I live in a very rural area.

Does that mean people haven't asked, or ... ? *Is a city gal herself*

[slythwolf]

Well, it does generally mean that people assume I'm whatever flavor of Christian they happen to be. And it also means that I don't go around broadcasting it, because in the grand tradition of Eddie Izzard, I don't want them to kill me with sticks.

[sinandmisery]

i'm an atheist, but depending on the company, i may say agnostic. i don't think it hurts how i relate to others, but it does hurt how they relate to me - they get all "OMG DEMON CHILD STAY AWAY" which is lame. it's not like i'm a satanist.

[originalpuck]

Lols -- people see satanists in everything, it's crazy. The funniest thing I've ever seen, though, was when an elderly family member was calling everyone a satanist except for the actual satanist in the room. I nearly died. ^^;;

[originalpuck]

Sounds like a really interesting mix you've got there. ^^

[voidmancer]

I always, always deny being Catholic and telling people that I'm Taoist, what I leave out is that I'm both by practice and philosophy.

Around here, people generally nod their head when I say so because it is understood around here that it is that "strange Chinese religion" they also see being practiced a lot but didn't know the proper name for it. O: I also get a lot of "o_O" looks, but it never bothers me since people don't try to convert me.

I remember I had a hard time defining myself once though, I know the feeling. >_>

[dahlea]

I just stick to generic and call myself pagan. No one is ever interested enough to ask further =P Or maybe it freaks them out too much...not sure.
I don't really hang out with anyone except my husband so I can't say it affects my relationships at all.