What to say when someone asks you what religion you belong to?

Great thing about living in Sweden is that ppl dont tend to ask what you believe in unless ofc you start to talk about religion but then its usually to get a feeling for your frame of beliefs and arguments in the matter.
If anyone ask i usually say i have my own religion that is fairly eclectic since i have had influence by many paths and that ot also evolves.
But as EA said in a video If im not misstaken be smart and tell them what they wanna hear.

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There’s an easy way to account for randomness, Chaos, and spirituality in any religious perspective- you’re an ‘Anything-Goes-ist’! That way, when asked, you can fit the response to the situation but also throw in any peculiarities and weirdness you want. :slight_smile:

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Don’t discuss it. Next time just say that you believe that there is more to this life than meets the eye and that scientific inquiry is the best path to discover this. Although it is just an aspect of existence and its typical fundamental assumptions can be inaccurate, science/logic/analysis are excellent tools to deal with this. You can always say that you will change your mind when relevant and adequate evidence presents itself: that usually ends the discussion.

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The LHP and magick doesn;t mneed martyrs or fanatics (unless you truly want to go that route, some do) - just do what gets you a good life and keep your pwoer as your own business.

“I believe in a higher power, I think it’s a personal matter and all faith is a journey anyway, isn’t it?” is a decent enough answer to most religious people, they have crises of faith like anyone else and most are conflating everything they think is good and important with their faith, which… is kinda what a lot of US do if we’re honest, just differently.

JMO, we’re doing magick for power and material results as much as anything else, and we undercut that if we decide to make a big song and dance about it when that could cost us dearly.

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This is exactly what I say!!

People love it because it makes you sound so smart and they still get an answer they’re satisfied with.

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Say a supreme being. Then before they say anything, interrupt them widening your eyes saying “You dare to question GODDD?!?!”

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sometimes you have to play along what other people think of you, i for example had a teacher who was a fervent catholic and when she asked what´s your religion i knew if i had said that i was an atheist she could easily play dirt on me (some people, specially if they´re very fervent take very personal if you don´t believe in god), so i played along saying i was a christian

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I already said 3 times in separated groups, that i am Satanist…(what i am not!lol)
They all laughed so hard…i also said i worship demons ( what is not the case)
they laughed a lot, while this is not completely false…
Till now they still think it was a joke, haha!

Anyway, it was a funny experience!^^

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I always just say that I’m not religious. It’s not true, but actually explaining anything, even if it were their business, would be a pain.

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Yeah I kinda regret being so open about it now and I’ve mentioned before in my country that it can be dangerous.

I generally think that saying you’re a Pagan is also a smart response and makes for good conversation but yeah definitely don’t go blasting it around. It seems like it’s becoming more s
Risky to be open.

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One of two replies,

The cult of diabolism

BALG

:sunglasses:

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Sounds like you did the right thing - come under: “don’t put your pearls before swine lest the swine trample the peals and then come after you” or something like that.

I suggest asking yourself why you care what others think or being “open about your beliefs” at all, and working on that. Or move to a place where you can be open safely. Why as a black mage are you not more independent?

I will add, never underestimate your enemies - the power of christian prayer is not to be dismissed as weak RHP crap, almost every human on this planet is a god who’s forgotten they are a god, which means those prayers, done right, to a nameless “God”, are picked up by their higher selves, celestials, saints, not to mention their own will, and have just as much effect as a LHP practitioner doing a ritual. Worse, RHP people have a lot of support and attend enormous covens called “Churches” where none of the members question or doubt their ability to work magik, they just don’t call it that. Depends what culture you’ve got going on near you, but don’t risk that kind of a witch war for no reason, [edit to add: in America,] you’ll always be outnumbered.

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Catholics are christians. They were the first christians. After that it is Protestant, Baptist, Lutheran, Jehovahs Witness, etc.

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I say to people that I am a Christian, why do not people bother me and do not question me hahaha … If I say that I am atheist or something like that people discriminate me, where I live is like this … being atheist is more difficult than having a religion … concluding, I was raised in a Christian home, I have no religion, but I believe in the supernatural…

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Catholics share first place with the Orthodox Church as well. The first break away was not the Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century, but the Schism of the Oriental Orthodox in the 6th Century.

Then the Anglicans/Episcopalians broke off before the Lutheran Protestants, because King Henry VIII wanted an annulment and the Pope said no.

And Lutherans and Baptists are both Protestant Sects.

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I just say “I like to keep an open mind” if people ask. For myself though I call myself a “Universal Spiritualist”.

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Well, is not really that I actually care about what they think but I do like to talk about religion and everything related to that, mostly because I enjoy talking about any type of subject and I have a specific soft spot for topics regarding spiritual conversations. I guess that it just bothers me that I don’t have the freedom to talk about my beliefs and many other people do have it without being judged. As to why am I not more independent, the answer may be that I am currently living in a part of my country that is not that open-minded, I recently moved out to a smaller state close to where I’m starting my business so the folks around here are more of the type to get very invasive about things like that. That and my own family who happen to be Christians and real atheists so it gets kinda difficult to be that open about what I believe in.

And yes, I am respectful of the Christian folks as well, I know the power of the prayer, I’ve seen it work in favor of my loved ones so I am always respectful.

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Yes, that is actually something that I could say without feeling like I’m lying or hiding something. You see, I hate the feeling of shame that overwhelms me when I try to be lowkey about it as if I was getting into a belief closet. But I guess thats just part of the journey.

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For me its easy i live in the south- they assume that your Christian. Done. Everything is run by the churches. Everything. So no one asks. You could write PAGAN on your face. And… like… nothing. Lol its… the south… :joy::joy::joy:

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