Nursery World - Blameless religion

I very much enjoyed the article 'In good faith' (19/26 December). As a practising member of a pagan religion I find it necessary to hide my faith from my friends, family and work colleagues, because who would want their children to be cared for by a witch? I am deeply saddened by this. My religion is a very gentle one, where the earth and nature is respected and each individual is encouraged to take responsibility for their actions - no blaming things on a 'devil', as we do not believe one exists. At the same time we believe that each individual has the right to choose his or her own religious path, which is neither better nor worse than any other, and would never try to convert another.

I am deeply saddened by this. My religion is a very gentle one, where the earth and nature is respected and each individual is encouraged to take responsibility for their actions - no blaming things on a 'devil', as we do not believe one exists. At the same time we believe that each individual has the right to choose his or her own religious path, which is neither better nor worse than any other, and would never try to convert another.

Pagans have been on the receiving end of a lot of propaganda by the early Christian church, and people still believe it. It is considered acceptable to say that our practices are evil or to describe someone as 'a witch' if they behave badly. Imagine the outcry if I behaved that way towards Jews, based on propaganda spread by Adolf Hitler.

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