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Coming out of the broom closet (idea)
See all of Coming out of the broom closet
, there is 1 more in this node.
(
idea
)
by
Wuukiee
Mon Jan 08 2001 at 6:10:49
A phrase, somewhat
tongue in cheek
, used in the
pagan
community. "coming out of the
broom
closet" means revealing to
family
,
friends
,
co-workers
, or whomever else that one is *openly*
pagan
/
Wicca
n/
asatru
/insert "nontraditional" religion here.
This
activity
in some, if not many, ways can have nearly as many
repercussions
as the
action
from which it took its name--*many*
companies
don't like having "
witches
" working for them, and sometimes even if the company doesn't care, the
co-workers
do. either simple
ignorance
or intentional
refusal to understand or accept
can lead to very
awkward
workplace relations. For a mild, mild case of this
phenomenon
reread the
userfriendly
strips from around
Samhain
(Halloween). but people *have* been fired (
usually
under 'veiled' reasons but not always, just for being pagan.
"Coming out of the broom closet" to
friends
is usually somewhat less difficult. Many will be
curious
, not understanding what you
believe
, and may ask questions. Some may not want to accept this. (very Christian friends sometimes
panic
because they don't want you to "burn in hell" for being a "witch".)
Explaining to families is frequently the *most* difficult, especially for
people
under 25 or 30. (some never tell parents because it is too uncomfortable. I personally have yet to tell mine, although someday probably will.) Especially in the case of
religious
parents, they tend to wonder "what went wrong" and "what mistake they made" that their child is doing *this*! (many people from older generations also have a much fainter
understanding
of paganism than gen-X and later people do.) For
high schoolers
and
college
students particularly, a common parental response is "it’s just a phase", or fear that their child is in a "
cult
" or participating in "
devil worship
". Children get sent to talk to
shrinks
, or
pastors
because "something must be wrong with them".
it should be mandatory to raise your children atheist
. nontraditional religions are so often misunderstood.
Although we played on the
name
and laugh a bit at ourselves that way (as
pagans
tend to do. even at ritual we're never stonily serious), it *is* a real issue.
Society
doesn't burn us at the
stake
anymore for being "
witches
" but we still receive
religious discrimination
far more than is
acceptable
. One needs to give some serious thought, before being
public
about being
pagan
. It's a bigger deal than it seems.
This node ended up much longer than I intended. it was meant as like a three-liner, the first bit above the first line. then I got
involved
and realized how important these thoughts were to me. At this point, I decided to move some information I intended to put here, to its own node in
suggestions for coming out of the broom closet
, because that actually *is* a somewhat separate topic.
Principles of Wiccan Belief
Instant Witch Syndrome
Ásatrú
Do the world a favor, raise your kids atheist
Every Day's a Holiday When You're Pagan: January
Silver RavenWolf
If you want to die clean, eat your own pie
Al dente syndrome
The Craft
Wicca
But I'm a Cheerleader
Space Quest : The Sarien Encounter
Nazgûl
Should high school be mandatory?
tongue-in-cheek
August 23, 2020
October 30, 2013
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Boris Becker
Being asked to sponsor
The Green Book - Part 3
Coming out of the closet