My boyfriend and I have been together for a little over three years. He was raised without religion in his home, and has a deep resentment of it that borders on it's own form of ignorance. For the first year of our relationship, I considered myself atheist as well and we had a great deal in common regarding our beliefs as a result. But when a friend introduced me to the idea of being Pagan, I immediately jumped into Wicca. I feel that it's always been right for me, and I just didn't know it until I stumbled upon it. I asked him, at first, if it was okay with him, and he said that it was, but definitely seemed a little standoffish about it.
After a while of me considering myself Wiccan, and really getting into learning about it, he decided to give it a try as well, but I could tell his heart wasn't in it. I was going through a lot of stuff at the time, and wasn't very present in my day-to-day life, so I never really got around to explaining to him that it's okay if he doesn't believe the same thing as I do. Over time, he has sort of gradually stopped identifying himself as Wiccan again, which I am more than okay with. We each sort of do our own thing, and he knows what I believe and how I feel, and I know how he feels.
But, there is still this unspoken wall between us about our beliefs. We never talk about religion, at least as it relates to us personally (he loves to debate religious topics), and I feel that I am leaving him out of a huge part of my life by not feeling like I'm able to talk to him about my constantly changing and growing spirituality. He is very accepting of what I believe, I think, and he has told me before that it doesn't bother him because I don't try to force how I feel about my spirituality on anyone else. But, I still feel that he's a little uncomfortable with the difference in our belief systems, and I would like to begin to bring down that wall and open up that avenue of communication. How would you all go about this?
After a while of me considering myself Wiccan, and really getting into learning about it, he decided to give it a try as well, but I could tell his heart wasn't in it. I was going through a lot of stuff at the time, and wasn't very present in my day-to-day life, so I never really got around to explaining to him that it's okay if he doesn't believe the same thing as I do. Over time, he has sort of gradually stopped identifying himself as Wiccan again, which I am more than okay with. We each sort of do our own thing, and he knows what I believe and how I feel, and I know how he feels.
But, there is still this unspoken wall between us about our beliefs. We never talk about religion, at least as it relates to us personally (he loves to debate religious topics), and I feel that I am leaving him out of a huge part of my life by not feeling like I'm able to talk to him about my constantly changing and growing spirituality. He is very accepting of what I believe, I think, and he has told me before that it doesn't bother him because I don't try to force how I feel about my spirituality on anyone else. But, I still feel that he's a little uncomfortable with the difference in our belief systems, and I would like to begin to bring down that wall and open up that avenue of communication. How would you all go about this?
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