Fortuna was good to me in regards to my in-laws. For the most part, my husband's family has been very gracious in welcoming me into their homes and treating me like family. The fact that most of them are very devout in their various Christian beliefs (some are Catholic, some are Baptist) made this rather surprising at first. I have never made any attempt to hide my beliefs or shy away from talking about them with the same casualness they speak of their Christianity, but in doing so, I was bracing myself for at least some fallout. Aside from a few odd looks and head shakings, there was no real fallout to speak of. Recently, I have been in contact with The Hubby's aunt through Facebook. I think she was rather surprised to discover that, despite her being Baptist and me being Pagan, our values are very similar. We both place great value on hospitality and giving of ourselves to help others, we are both pro-life (a discovery that I think shocked her, since most of the Christian pro-life literature likes to refer to abortion as a consequence of our "godless pagan culture." LOL is about all I can say to that), and we both love to discuss our faiths and the causes we are passionate about. There have been times in the past where I never would have believed such a good rapport with someone who holds such vastly different religious views was possible. I have encountered a lot of patronizing, a lot of subtle and overt exclusion, and even some open hostility, and for a while, it coloured my view of all Christians. This is an occasion where I am very happy to be proven wrong.
When I have more time, I would like to elaborate a bit on my views of other religions and interfaith relations, but some housework and other everyday drudgery awaits!
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