The Evil Family

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So we were not welcome in the Church. This confused my parents a lot. Of course, they looked at me for an explanation. I looked down at the ground and told them everything that had happened. I told them that Ethan found out that we are Satanists. He promised that he would tell no one. It seemed as if he accepted our religion. It also seemed as if he could not keep the secret. Now everyone in the town knew what we were.

Dad hugged me and said that it was not my fault. He hoped that things would be fine when the dust settled. I could see that my mom tried to smile. I knew that she was worried. This happened everywhere else we have lived. People found out we were Satanists and thought we were the most evil people on the planet. We always had to move because the hatred and fear become so much. I knew that Mom was afraid that we would have to move again.

When I went back to school, there was a very bad atmosphere. Everyone avoided me and kept their distance from me. No one would speak with me. When they did look at me, they would have a disgusted expression on their face. Some looked very afraid as if I would harm them or something like that. Even Ethan avoided me. He did not even sit next to me in class. It was a funny feeling. One day people liked me and the next day, they avoided me and no longer wanted anything to do with me.

When I got home, I ran to my bed and cried on my bed. Once again I was an outcast at school and everyone hated me. I did not know what was worse... being hated or being feared. I did not understand any of it. We were not Catholics. We did not worship God or even like him. We chose to believe in something else. This did not mean that we were bad or evil. Why could people like me one day and when they found out I was a Satanist, suddenly think that I was a different person? How could people be so judgemental and show such hatred? As Christians, do they not teach love and not judge others? They thought they were the only true religion and maybe they thought it was justified to treat others with different beliefs as enemies.

Mom called me down to the sitting room. She and Dad just had a talk and wanted to talk to me about the whole situation. I was half expecting her to say that we would be moving someplace else. All I could think about is that I would not unpack at the next place. My mom could see that I was crying. I told her what it was like at school and people were now avoiding me. I started crying as I told them that I was afraid that things would get worse. Being ignored was bad enough, but what would happen if they started to verbally abuse me or even get physical? I was afraid that I would end up in the hospital.

"It will not happen," Mom said, "They avoid you because they are afraid of you. People think that Satanists are evil and have horns. They are most likely afraid that you will do something bad to them. They do understand who we are. They just know what they are told by the media."

"It's just hard being an outcast" I sniffed as I replied.

Dad then told me the news. "This is not the first time that we have experienced this. Everywhere we go, people have found out our beliefs. We have been hated and persecuted. This meant that we fled and moved hoping to find a place where we could be happy. It is time that we stopped running. We are not bad people. The people that only show judgement, hatred and are willing to hurt and persecute us are the bad ones. We will no longer flee. We will hold our heads high and show people that we are just normal people that are not Christian."

"This will be hard for us," Mom warned, "We can only hope that people will in time accept us and even become friends. You are lucky that Ethan promised to stay your friend. This means you need to be proud of who you are. You need to be brave. You need to keep smiling and having hope."

I did not know how to respond. I did trust my parents and believed that they knew what was best. They were right. It never helped to flee and hide in a new place. People always found the truth. This made me think that it was wise to stay in this village. Ethan said that we were still friends. He did not speak to me since he found out that we had a different religion than him. Mom told me to keep hope and this meant that I had to believe that our friendship was strong enough to endure anything.