much of what's been said here is true of anyone who lives any part of their lives outside of what is the norm for their society.

my approach to religion is to allow veryone to assume that I'm an ordinary non-practising Church of England protestant who doesn't really think about religion at all. That way nobody bothers to ask me my beliefs because they assume they know them already, when I'm not so sure even I know what they are yet! Of course if I get someone on te doorstep trying to sell me a religion they may get a completely different set of beliefs thrown their way, depending how mean i'm feeling at the time!

but it's similar with other things too... I've lived with a great deal of intense curiosity about my lifestyle in the last decade or so. To me it's all perfectly normal so my response is more likely to be offhand to discourage a deep discussion. It depends on the audience I guess. Some people want to learn how other people live to broaden their minds, some don't.

There again if your beliefs or way of life are under attack and you are known to subscribe to those beliefs generally it's likely to be much harder to avoid people trying to start a discussion with you. Your response should probably depend on whether you give a toss about the person you're talking to or think they're just a busybody! I know Lynn's tried a few times to try and in down some of her beliefs, but the thing about beliefs is that they can't always be neatly packaged for public consumption. Shaun's observations are a perfect example of how different groups are curious about each other. Some want to learn and others just want to gossip.

Kerri.