For obvious reasons, I'm not linking any of the parties who inspired this entry.

At one of the review sites I saw a review for a journal in which the writer expressed her belief that wiccans worship satan. Ridiculous, I know. She's obviously woefully uninformed but not the kind of person I would consider trying to educate because she's one of those hardcore christian types who doesn't want to hear anything that she feels is opposite of what she's learned.

Unfortunately, some other wiccans felt it was worth the effort and left several messages in this girl's guestbook, trying to let her know that we aren't evil and don't worship satan. She responded to this with an angry message in her guestbook and in her journal. In no way was her mind changed. Not only was she not educated, she wasn't even willing to listen. I've seen a lot of this and it's not at all surprising.

When I was a new witch I was probably overly enthusiastic about things, devouring every bit of text I could get my hands on and talking about wicca to anyone who would listen (except most of my family, who would definitely not be able to put aside their preconcieved notions and learn). I learned as I went along that it's this that sets the new witches apart from the more seasoned witches, that compulsion to educate the world and try to get people to accept us. As we grow more experienced it dawns on us, sometimes slowly, sometimes all at once, that most people will not be willing to listen, relate or learn. To try and take the message to others is a waste of our energies and time.

The fact is, they're not going to accept us or our religion.

They don't have to, any more than we embrace theirs.

And what difference does it make?

Our faith isn't validated by how many people we can get to learn about it, it's validated by what we feel and our relationships with Goddess and God. Let them believe what they want. It means next to nothing in the long run because it won't change anything about us, and our right to practice wicca (or any other religion we want), is protected.

Trying to talk to people who close themselves off from us accomplishes nothing but to make us frustrated and upset. It's like repeatedly ramming your head into a brick wall.

I'd rather spend my time helping someone who wants to learn than waste it on someone who won't.