Pagan in a Catholic Hospital...

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So I am a bit nervous. I was just offered a job that sounds very exciting in a place that is on my bucket list. My only real concern is that it is the ONLY place there to work, and it's a Catholic hospital. I grew up Catholic. They don't generally bother me. I am pagan however. I feel no need to flaunt it or push it. That is not who I am. I am just hoping that if someone asks and I am honest or if someone in the community finds out that I am pagan, it doesn't cause a problem. Has anyone ever encountered this sort of thing?

I think we need to stop this as all we are going to do is go round and round in circles. You keep giving me philosophy or religious answers when what I have asked for is science.

Feel free to continue this but if it is the same old tired answers then I will ignore it.

This post is supposed to be about a Pagan nurse working in a catholic hospital.

Stay well.

Thank you for this line. I feel bad for OP having to endure this apologetic preaching. So much for respect that Christians demand from people who don't worship their god.

Are pagan nurses in your area able to live their belief in a Christian environment?

Have you ever encountered situations where a pagan nurse has to put up with people like mtmkjr or Daisy4RN?

I have seen pagans and been able to recognize them because of how they dress. Other than that, they never talk about their belief unless I ask them. I don't know how they express their spiritual outlook in nursing environment.

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Specializes in Hospice.

So ... how, exactly, do pagans dress?

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So ... how, exactly, do pagans dress?

This is just a stereotype from my interaction with them. I'm not sure how to describe this. The fabric pagans wear is quite distinct. I guess it has something to do with their Earth-based/Gaia spirituality. I notice a 3 or 4 leaf clover on their jewelry. Their hairstyle is also unique. When I tutored a student whose parents were from Scotland, he told me that pagans in Scotland were more expressive about the way they dressed than America.

I was not surprised. Based on the sugar-coating aggression from Christians in this country, I understand why pagans tend to lay low. This forum proves that.

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Specializes in Emergency Department.
This is just a stereotype from my interaction with them. I'm not sure how to describe this. The fabric pagans wear is quite distinct. I guess it has something to do with their Earth-based/Gaia spirituality. I notice a 3 or 4 leaf clover on their jewelry. Their hairstyle is also unique. When I tutored a student whose parents were from Scotland, he told me that pagans in Scotland were more expressive about the way they dressed than America.

I was not surprised. Based on the sugar-coating aggression from Christians in this country, I understand why pagans tend to lay low. This forum proves that.

I'm from Scotland, I had to look up Pagan symbols to see what you meant. I would not know if anyone was a Pagan by the way they dress. these symbols get everywhere - mostly as tattoo's on people who just like them. Clover, 3 or 4 leafed tends to be Irish but 4 leaf clovers are supposed to be lucky.

As far as dress is concerned, anyone can dress the way they want and no-one thinks anything of it.

While working one of the questions asked is always patients religion. Have seen Protestant. Catholic, Jewish, Islamic, Baha'i, None, but never seen Pagan.

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My daughter in law is pagan. No particular dress code in the decade I've known her.

On son is follows Norse practices.

They all come for Christmas. Nobody tris to convert anyone.

They play nice

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My daughter in law is pagan. No particular dress code in the decade I've known her.

On son is follows Norse practices.

They all come for Christmas. Nobody tris to convert anyone.

They play nice

That is wonderful. Is your daughter the only pagan in the family?

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Yup.

Presbyterians and Lutherans are the norm in this clan. The Norse thing came as a bit of a surprise.

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So I am a bit nervous. I was just offered a job that sounds very exciting in a place that is on my bucket list. My only real concern is that it is the ONLY place there to work, and it's a Catholic hospital. I grew up Catholic. They don't generally bother me. I am pagan however. I feel no need to flaunt it or push it. That is not who I am. I am just hoping that if someone asks and I am honest or if someone in the community finds out that I am pagan, it doesn't cause a problem. Has anyone ever encountered this sort of thing?
If you really think a Catholic hospital is going to push any kind of Catholicism on you, be assured, they will not. You don't have to engage in any kind of religious talk with anyone at work, nor will they attempt to go there or push it on you. This has been my personal experience.

ETA: I guess I can't say it would never happen, but I'd be quite surprised if it did. Catholic hospitals have to cater to a mostly secular world. I'm not Catholic myself. I'm Orthodox Christian. The only issue I've had at work is attempting to use some of my vacation time for religious reasons and having it rejected by my manager, who is not Christian, as if it wasn't a big deal. I definitely had to have a meeting with her to discuss that I don't mind working my share of holidays (that's part of the job), but that I had to draw the line at working on Pascha (which is the biggest of the biggest deals to me)- and hardly ever lines up with when Easter is celebrated in Catholicism and in Protestantism/Evangelicalism anyway. I'm also weird about praying with others and letting them put hands on me and did not engage in such a prayer/blessing by the chaplains at the nurses' station once. Nobody said diddly squat to me about not participating. I had no idea if the chaplains were Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish (a possibility where I work), and I didn't care either. I have a lot of non-religious co-workers (likely more than are religious actually), one is pagan, a few are practicing Christians. Nobody pesters anyone.

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Specializes in Travel, Home Health, Med-Surg.
Thank you for this line. I feel bad for OP having to endure this apologetic preaching. So much for respect that Christians demand from people who don't worship their god.

Are pagan nurses in your area able to live their belief in a Christian environment?

Have you ever encountered situations where a pagan nurse has to put up with people like mtmkjr or Daisy4RN?

I have seen pagans and been able to recognize them because of how they dress. Other than that, they never talk about their belief unless I ask them. I don't know how they express their spiritual outlook in nursing environment.

I believe my post to the OP was on target and respectful. I know many people who are Christian and people who are of different religions than myself. I do not judge others based on religion and I do not appreciate others judging me for my religious beliefs. This is a free country so anyone can practice whatever religion, or not, they choose. I am not sure why having a conversation offends you so much but it seems that you are the one doing the preaching against Christians, not the other way around. And now that I think about it, people in general feel very free to bash Christians like they would probably not be so comfortable doing with other religions, just sayin...

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I believe my post to the OP was on target and respectful. I know many people who are Christian and people who are of different religions than myself. I do not judge others based on religion and I do not appreciate others judging me for my religious beliefs. This is a free country so anyone can practice whatever religion, or not, they choose. I am not sure why having a conversation offends you so much but it seems that you are the one doing the preaching against Christians, not the other way around. And now that I think about it, people in general feel very free to bash Christians like they would probably not be so comfortable doing with other religions, just sayin...

I don't remember engaging in a conversation with you. I wanted to look pass what you wrote. Since you remind me, I will address it. I mentioned your name because you teamed up with mtmkjr to bring apologetic in a pagan topic. Even GrumpyRN, an atheist, retreated when he realized that he made an argument about "something from nothing", which had nothing to do with the question OP asked.

I bash every religious person if they act like they own every platform they step into. I don't care if they are Christians, Muslims, pagans, or even Buddhists. It's very simple: I don't invade your personal space, and religion is just that. Then don't do that to me. If you do, I will push back twice as hard. Being a religious majority in this country does not give you a pass.

Agree, but would add, not only can something not come from nothing but (especially) something living cannot come from nothing.

How is this relevant to what OP asked?

I will sometimes offer if I feel it might be appropriate but never try to push off anything on patients who say no

Why do I have to be in a position to say "no" to your "good news"? What is considered appropriate here?

Should I wear a yellow outfit and shave my head so that you know what I am and stop assuming that you have something to offer me?

I take my moral conviction seriously even though I am not a Christian. I am really annoyed when Christians feel like they need to save me when they cannot offer me the solid proof for their god outside their book and their faith.

You wasted your breath lecturing me about freedom to practice religion in the US. I took the citizenship exam 10 years ago. I knew the bill of rights. Thank you very much. What I said is about ethical conduct in a pagan forum, not legality.

Even though I dislike Christians for obvious reasons, I want them to be able to have prayer in school and to see 10 commandments in public offices. I also want non Christians to be able to have prayer in school and to be able to swear on Bhagavat Gita, Dhammapada, Koran in court. I believe that the only way to reduce Christians' political power to oppress non Christian groups is for every religious group to practice whatever ritual they see fit publicly or privately.

Having a conversation about religion is good. This is not the place. It lessens OP's legitimate feelings when she is a religious minority in this country. I find Christians extremely insidious when they always try to stretch people's boundary.

Not satisfied with my answer? Look at this reply to one of your post that bolster your faith as if people like me (who is already a spiritual person) are inferior without your religious values

You keep losing people because you keep pushing religion into the conversation. You don't seem to respect other people may not be Christians and Christianity isn't the only religion that has morals and values. You can be an atheist and still have morals and values. Also, many religious figures have in the very recent past, and currently, lack morals and values they claim to be so full of and shame others for allegedly not having.

If you want to discuss problems and solutions, have at it. But if you're going to keep regurgitating Christian values and morals every other sentence people will keep tossing out what you're saying because it doesn't seem genuine.

You can't seem to grasp there is a separation of church and state, there are more religions than Christianity practiced in this country, this country was founded on terrorism by alleged Christians, and it has been Christians, no other religion, but Christians whom have been committing mass murder these past few years in America.

Or you're going to keep skimming past those to pretend to want to come to an amicable solution while simultaneously peddling Christianity? I'm not even religious, nor am I against it, but I respect people's beliefs, or atheism, and can hold a civilized discussion without forcing it into the conversation. Many of us have shunned it yet you keep moving right along as though we've said nothing. It's disrespectful and it shuts down any form of productive communication.

Having said that, I'm going to exit this conversation because I despise people who feel the need to instill religion into every discussion, especially after it's been respectfully deterred. It reeks of condescension and it undermines the other party. I'm done.

Of course, how can I, a naturalized citizen, fight a losing batter with you, a "true" Christian? I am just a sinner who is need of a savior from the middle east, aren't I?

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Specializes in CVICU, MICU, Burn ICU.

Yes, we are having an exchange of ideas that relate absolutely nothing to the potential consequence that OP may have to face because of her belief. It is a mess because you redirect OP's concern back at her with a silly scenario that may happen in a communist country. It's not fair to her when her belief is the subject of ridicule by Christians for a long time.

I'm half tempted to start another thread about anything "Christian or Jesus oriented" to see you show up with the Christian bashing business. I'm pretty sure you hung out in these threads under a different user name while back?

I don't care what you believe or don't believe. Time and again you have shown yourself to be rude and condescending to whoever even dares explain him/herself -- if that said explanation deters even a bit off your personal world-view. I will never post anything of spiritual significance in theses threads. This is certainly no "safe place". I feel sorry for people who do.

Even in threads started by Christians.... you are there - "I don't need no Yaweh....Christians rule america, I know Bible can't tell me anything -- I know it all" (my liberties in paraphrasing -- but pretty close, yes?) blah blah blah. Pretty much Christians are delusional [fill in expletive of your choice]. I get it -- maybe we all get it by now, so you don't have to repeat the same mantra in every thread. But maybe it's a need you have. Like I felt the need to post this. But no worries -- it's just this once.

But it's fine. Anyone can post and read and anyone can choose not to. Whatevs.

To the Pagan nurse OP: I wouldn't sweat it. You'll be fine. Just don't get offended if people say something about pagans. There's a lot about you people can't "see" by just looking at you or being around you professionally. They may not be able to determine your political or religious views or even correctly identify you ethnicity. They may not know your sexual preferences. So there's a lot of break-room chit chat and what not that you could find offensive (and no one realized they were being offensive).

Even if you wear your pagan-ness on your sleeve -- someone might forget or they still might feel at liberty to express a view-point about it. Let it roll off your back and keep trucking. I'm not saying you should excuse it if someone becomes discriminatory against you because of it -- but just in casual, personal ways.

I'm sure you already know all that. I've been around awhile. Worked in Catholic and secular organizations. Was told I couldn't write a Bible verse on the nurse's station white board at the Catholic hospital. Was told nicely by my Christian boss to refrain from writing verses on board. I was young and idealistic and thought I was being encouraging. Turns out not everyone felt encouraged. Fair enough. I learned from it.

You're going to be fine. Your employers (most likely) do not want you to feel threatened or uncomfortable regardless of your religion. We live in a global culture. Everyone needs to feel OK when they are at work. Granted I've only worked big city, diverse population hospitals... so if you're in back-woods, USA -- you might (unfortunately) have more issues? I hope not.

Best to you in your new job!

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Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
So ... how, exactly, do pagans dress?

Depends on the weather

:yes:

Skyclad is really impractical unless its above 30 degrees C

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