Akward religious moments

[Bokusenou]

Sometimes relatives will come up to me and say something like "Little Jimmy's in the hospital. Please pray for him!". Now, there's the honest reply to that: "That's awful! I don't pray, as that's more of a Christian custom (among other religions), but I will hope that he gets better."
But that response is way too honest to say without hurting someone who is distraught, so I usually just end up nodding my head silently.
The thing is, I sort of feel guilty, like I'm not telling the truth.

Has anyone ever had an akward experiance where someone assumed you were of another religion?  

[Renkon Root]

Actually yes.

A bunch of my friends and I were driving to... oh, I forget where. Anyway, one of my friends gets a call that her grandmother has just had a nasty fall and they think she might have broken her hip. Because we're all in the car with her and heard her reaction to what was obviously bad news, she tells us what happened.

One of my other friends in the car exclaims, "Oh, that's awful! Is anyone praying for her!? May I pray for her? What's her name?"

I was not directly involved in the exchange, but I was in the car and I found it VERY awkward.

 

[Sanguina Cruenta]

I have had situations where someone says "pray for me" and I'm not really sure how to respond. Sometimes I say "Do you mind if I pray to one of my own gods? Is that all right?" and to be honest most of the time people are fine with that. Which is nice.  

[zatarrah]

Yeah, that sort of thing happens to me a lot. Depending on the person, I'll either agree and pray to my own gods, or if I know they wouldn't like that I'll redirect it by simply saying that I hope it turns out ok and maybe offer to be there for them if they need to talk or anything. Most people aren't really looking for a direct answer that you will definitely pray for them, they just want some kind of support, to know people are around who care about them and what they're going through.  

[Bokusenou]

Yay, I'm not the only one! ^-^ Also when someone says "Bless You!" (after a sneeze) its always been kind of awkward for me... sweatdrop And that they expect me to say thank you...  

[Bitter Chocolate Death]

(Late reply is late, and I don't venture into this guild often... at all. But I saw this and had to reply. Haha.)

I had a woman come up to me one Sunday after my family had finished with church, picked me up and gone to lunch. I had held open a door for an elderly lady and then offered the chair I'd been sitting in to her, because... well she kinda looked like she would break in half if she stood too long. gonk This other woman, approached me, grabbed my hands, got all up in my personal space and said "You are such a beautiful Servant of Christ for your kind actions."

I didn't really know what to tell her after that. I was so shocked, I ended up nodding and grinning until she walked off. sweatdrop  

[The New Wineskin]

When I was a Christian, other Christians who were protesting an abortion center threw Bibles at me because I was walking my girlfriend home; they thought we were going in. razz  

[GeekWhistle]

There was this one incident when I was still very firmly "in the broom closet." I hadn't even come out as a pagan to my best friend just because being surrounded by some hardcore christian people, I didn't know how they'd react. Well I was in a spanish class - the last class before halloween - and the teacher was all like "So what are ya'll doing for holloween this year?" Some people respond and then out of nowhere the teacher goes "How about you Nani - what are you doing for holloween?"

It was kind of awkward because I was surrounded by a mix of christian/catholics and a jewish kid. And I hate being called on in class anyways... I'm much shyer in person than in type. And I have this whole thing about answering questions as honestly as I can. So after stammering for half a minute I managed to explain that I wasn't doing anything for holloween exactly but that I'm pagan and a friend and I were getting together to celebrate Samhain. And then my teacher had me explain Samhain to the class, and I have like twenty other people staring at me like the idea of a pagan being in thier classroom was scary.

It was soo awkward. But nobody harassed me or told me I was going to hell so....guess that one turned out fine. It was just really awkward in class for the next week or so. But on the bright side after that I was alot more comfortable with telling other people that I'm not Christian like the rest of family.  

[Renkon Root]

The New Wineskin

When I was a Christian, other Christians who were protesting an abortion center threw Bibles at me because I was walking my girlfriend home; they thought we were going in. razz

That's assault (or at the very least, battery). Did you report them to the police?

 

[The New Wineskin]

Renkon Root

The New Wineskin

When I was a Christian, other Christians who were protesting an abortion center threw Bibles at me because I was walking my girlfriend home; they thought we were going in. razz

That's assault (or at the very least, battery). Did you report them to the police?

Nope. Didn't see much of a reason to.  

[Esiris]

The New Wineskin

Renkon Root

The New Wineskin

When I was a Christian, other Christians who were protesting an abortion center threw Bibles at me because I was walking my girlfriend home; they thought we were going in. razz

That's assault (or at the very least, battery). Did you report them to the police?

Nope. Didn't see much of a reason to.

I think the best reason to do that is to make sure they don't assault someone else!  

[Invalid Paradox]

Recently, I had an experience when I had to lead the class for prayer (because I study in a Catholic university) and I had to politely albeit awkwardly decline for I was an Agnostic Theist. Fortunately my professor respected my beliefs and called the next guy biggrin