Panera Bread Hates Pagans I Guess... 

Form letter for those interested: Courtesy of Aliakai and Celeri's Garden _For anyone looking to use this letter: make sure you actually modify the parentheticals to personalize your correspondence. Companies respond better to letter campaigns with a personal touch. It was written so that folks who are pagans or allies of pagans can use it. Make sure you include a personal story of some kind to help drive the point home, no more than a paragraph or so._ To Whom it May Concern, This letter is in regard to the recent allegations involving a Pittsburgh Panera Bread franchise location under your corporate care. Although I understand that these allegations are still pending judicial review and regard an active lawsuit, as a pagan *_(pagan ally)_* I have every reason to believe that at least some of what was said was true. If even half of what is alleged turns out to be true, it’s an egregious violation of rights. It’s said that people vote with their dollars, and in good conscience I can’t continue my support of any business under management by those who would trivialize my rights *_(the rights of my friends. )_* Flynn Restaurant Group’s own corporate policies seem to run counter to these allegations. Something clearly has gone very wrong at the regional level, and it’s the duty of those who would run a franchise to ensure the safety and comfort of their employees and customers. *_(Add a personal anecdote of some kind here to personalize the letter)_* At the minimum, a full investigation needs to be done into the allegations and swift action should be taken. The public deserves a statement letting your customers know you don’t condone the alleged actions of those under your employ, and that future employees and customers don’t need to worry about experiencing potential harassment or ostracization for being who they are. I won’t support that. I know others feel the same. Until something is done, I know I, at least, will be finding somewhere to eat outside the management of Flynn Restaurant Group. Sincerely, *_(Signature)_*

I had a different experience with my manager at Subway. She was a self described witch and openly wore a pentagram pendant. Strangely, she would hire people from other faiths. Its almost as if she cared about the quality of work someone put out rather than their religious affiliation.

One time my mother, an agnostic asked me why pagans didn't have churches or do big social events. I said; we do have those things but make them incredibly hard to find except through word of mouth to other pagans so that the Christians dont show up and throw bibles at everyone. She was just like, yeah leave it to them to be the fun police... She gets me.

Years ago, I had a co-worker who found out I wasn't a Christian and started aggressively sending out emails to the entire team, several a day, about how America is a Christian country and if you're not Christian you should get out. I took that shit right to HR and by the end of the week, she was forced to apologize to me. Ha ha. It was golden.

“Stay away from her she will curse you” not to mention my father burning my books like it’s the 1600s. The fear and fragility in peoples faces when they find out I find both hilarious and sad.

I would join in the boycott, but I've never been to Panera bread. So... boycott successful lol.

I worked for Panera years ago when I was living in Florida temporarily. The Panera I worked for was owned by ‘the largest franchise owner of Panera in the southern US’ and the franchise owner would occasionally come in for one reason or another. He was _aggressively_ racist and it was a known fact that if he saw more than one black person working when he came in, what he called ‘the quota,’ he would fire them on the spot. So during these pre-planned visits we would have our schedules completely fucked so that the black employees(and possibly other POC, though it wasn’t explicitly mentioned) wouldn’t be there to face possible termination when he came in. So honestly, Panera being discriminatory is not surprising in the least to me. Besides that the work environment was one of the worst I’ve ever experienced.

As a pagan who has been fired from Walmart for my religious beliefs, I'm glad to see that this company at least is being held accountable for their actions. To what ever degree, but still. Also, as a fat man, who happens to be pagan, I'm glad to see that this company has no foothold in my part of Wisconsin. Blessed be y'all.

Me and my sister converted from Christian, to agnostic/deists, to pagan in a span of about 5 years. Both of us suffered a lot of abuse and trauma at the the hands of the church and our religious parents. I’m a minor and sadly still live with them. While I was staying with my sister for a bit my dad went snooping in my room and found my books on witchcraft. My oh-so-loving-and-accepting parents threatened to kick me out but thankfully my sister was able to smooth things over a bit and my parents haven’t mentioned it to me. When I came home I was putting my things away and when I opened the drawer the books were still there, but my dad had gone and dug through my closet and found the custom Bible he got for and had put it in the drawer as well. I thought it was funny, I can’t wait to see what they do once I come out as a lesbian.

That statement about her "no longer being welcome" and "no one should talk with [her]" sounds like Catholic Excommunication or JW Disfellowshiping to me.

I remember when I was talking to my non pagan friend about Ostara and talking about how rabbits are very symbolic on that holiday because of rebirth and fertility because she asked why there were so many rabbits drawn in my grimore in that chapter. Then a few days after, my teacher ended up pulling me aside after class then told me that she respects my beliefs but she needs to "inform my parents when violence against animals gets involved". My parents know I'm pagan and VEGETARIAN so I wasn't worried, just confused so I asked what she meant. She looked at me and said "I understand you're pagan but animal sacrifice is animal cruelty and illegal." So I was bewildered and asked her whoever said I was gonna sacrifice animals and she looked at me all puzzled and said "Well, your friend told me that you were going to buy a box of baby rabbits and sacrifice them for a fertility ritual. Needless to say, I explained to my teacher that no I'm not a evil rabbit blood drinking pagan monster and now that friend and I are not friends anymore :/

What always rubbed me the wrong way as a closeted agnostic growing up is that even a lot of tolerant Christians assume that everyone worships the God of Abraham.

Both of my Grandpas were religious, Christian men who were invited to come here because they were engineers during WWII. They loved it here, especially our freedom. They were asked to stay and they did, bringing my parents, uncles and Grandmas. They would tell me the importance that freedom of religion is also freedom from religion and the ability to choose your way.

"If you call HR about this, you'll be fired on the spot" Numero Uno reason why americans needs to unionize.

Honestly these managers remind me of an ex-coworker I had. Once he found out I was pagan due to a necklace falling out of my shirt while picking something up he would come up to me and follow me around for hours asking leading or insulting questions and if I reacted negatively I would be repremanded verbally for creating a hostile work place as "He was only trying to understand your beliefs". I found new work and left within a few months.

As a Hindu, I can relate to this.

I actually had a time, when i first worked at a new Gamestop location, my manager was very openly christian, but the assistant manager was pagan. I didnt know the asst. was until he saw my necklace fall from my shirt collar when i was pulling product and he just shouted "YES" and saying nothing else until the store was empty. He was a super cool guy, i didnt even have to say anything and when my mgr called the store a few min later all he said to him was "Odins numbers grow" and never told my manager i was pagan lol good memories

This is our local Panera bread...the pagan community here is boycotting it and any restaurants owned by the same people. Thank you for your well thought out and spoken video. It is appreciated. Thanks as well for the links! That is very helpful. :)

A coworker of mine told me one day that he was so happy that the end times are coming because he cannot wait to "watch the followers of the occult burn to death and be tortured in a lake of fire by the wrath of God". He didn't know that I am pagan, I think he thinks that I am Christian because I'm a simple, old fashioned, rather conservative guy. It was surprising to hear him say something like that and I didn't know what to say. I have no ill will toward him, but the psychology of being eager to see others suffer is a bit disturbing. Many really do live in a world where they think that pagans are secret satanist child sacrificer members of the illuminati or some crazy thing.

There is a Panera Bread near me that I was already boycotting due to them suddenly deciding that an LGBT board game group that held their game nights in the basement every other week (with permission) was no longer welcome due to "being disruptive." The players were always respectful and made sure they were also buying food and drinks, so it really felt like just an excuse to have them kicked out. That Panera is not owned by the Flynn restaurant group.

The fun when the "local inquisitor" was the fricken' unit commander for me...

I had another Marine that refused to be on duty with me because he was convinced that I was demon spawn and I would pervert his soul. At the time I had just been finding a general neo-pagan path. Now I'm a follower of the Mórrígan on a Celtic path. Wonder what that guy would think now

In the early 90's I was working on a BS in education. During a student teaching assignment in a K-9 school. It came out I was pagan, a teacher saw my pentacle and asked about it. She was cool and asked me to speak to her 8thgrade social studies class about the Salem Trials the Friday before Halloween. I made the presentation (as invited) and by Monday morning I was banned from the elementary school. It was a small town in the Smoky Mountains, word spreads quickly. Due to the ban, I failed the class, couldn't complete my degree, and ultimately had to drop out. Twenty years later I returned to the college, and am graduating magna cum laude in two weeks as a proud member of the now deeply embedded Pagan Student Association.

It’s ironic that as a Muslim I can relate to this. I faced discrimination in my job from Christian co workers, to the point of inadvertently being accused of being a terrorist. And I’m from PA too 🤔

I cannot tell you how many times I've been told I'm going to Hell by Christians. Over the years anytime I was told this I just shrugged it off and moved on, but this story just enrages me to the boiling point. I proudly wear my Mjollnir at my current work with pride and no one says a damn thing to me which is the way it should be. I've even had others approach me asking about it and when I stand there with no fear and full of confidence announcing to them I'm a Norse Pagan they usually nod and move on with their life. It's 2022, we shouldn't have to hide in the broom closet anymore and I certainly won't be. Now, if anyone tells me I'm going to Hell I always respond. "Yeah, probably and I'll happily be taken into Her warm loving embrace when my path comes to an end."

When it was discovered that I simply was not a Christian, and only that was discovered, I suddenly became a "liberal baby killer" and they would pray for me. This is absolutely believable

My old manager once spent an entire shift pining over "The Passion of the Christ" while whining about not being able to say "happy Easter " to people anymore. She went on to say it to EVERY LAST ONE OF US before we left for the day. I just smiled and said "Oh, thank you! Happy Passover!" I didn't work there very long...

This attitude is prevalent in military life as well. My roommate, a Christian, started bullying me when I told him I was atheist when we were training on our jobs for our future units. He even tried to choke me once for defending myself. Later on when we were in the functional military, he kept throwing death threats my way.

I’m a little surprised that he didn’t point out, regardless of the already big HR issues of discrimination, threatening to fire someone in retaliation for reporting them is also a massive labor violation that has been in place even longer. The US Government doesn’t like the idea that a company and managers could be shielded from being massively fined because their employees are afraid of whistle blowing and being fired or reprimanded as a result so it is law that retaliatory attacks such as “if you complain to HR you are fired” would probably fall under those laws.

Only in the last few years have I been open about my practice. I recently had a potential tenant come view a room we had available (I'm a property manager), I was wearing jeans and a black tank top, with my pentagram, nothing crazy. Gave the guy the tour, explained all the fun stuff they needed to know, and when it came to the end of the tour, I asked him if he had any questions. He nodded and pointed at my necklace, asking "What's that?" I lifted the pendant and confirmed that's what he was pointing at, he nodded again, I said "My pentagram? I mean, it's no different than your cross, just a pretty piece of metal. Why?" "You're satanic?" he asks, getting closer to the door. "Nope. The star would have to be inverted, as it is, this is for pagans. You could say I'm spiritual, my church is the woods. You go sit in a building to talk to your god, I go for a walk in the woods. Is that a problem?" I swear it was like a scene from a cartoon or sitcom, the dude just shook his head and left. No words after that, he just hoofed it out. Probably the best experience of the trash taking itself out for me :)

Taco Bell, Wendy's, Arby's, Applebees, Pizza Hut, and Panera Bread. To save you time and to not sully your Google search history.

When I was in middle school and first getting into paganism, I wore my pentagram to school. It was small and unassuming, I wore it every day. Most people never commented on it. Except this day I went to the nurse's office because I felt sick- and the nurse pointed at it and asked what it was. I could tell by the note of alarm in her voice that she knew full well what it was. I answered that I was pagan and it was a symbol of protection for me (a child's understanding but it was a simple and effective way to explain). She started to ask what my parent's religion was. I told her that I was also Jewish and my parents were Jewish, but that I identified as a witch/pagan as well in tandem with Judaism. Then she asked if my parents knew. I said "of course they know! My mom is a witch too." Which was true. She looked so horrified and she just said "...you know that's really dangerous stuff, you could get really hurt. There are cults and sacrifices and terrible things. Just be careful. Talk to your parents about it." Obviously she thought I was lying about my mother being a witch too. I waited til she left the room and I started laughing. In hindsight, it was a really messed up thing to say to a 12yo and I'm angry that she would feel bold enough to invalidate my religion in that way. But her understanding was so juvenile, I couldn't help but find it funny at the time.

Similar experience happened to me working at petsmart when the manager found out I was Pagan. I always tell my jobs that I will work every Christian holiday so Christians can worship in place that I can be off on mine since they don't really overlap (at least ones my family really takes part in). I was mocked both to face and behind back with other coworkers and refused off for sabbats and eventually quit. I was a teenager so I didn't realize that what they did was a sueable offense.

I actually had to stop working retail because the religious and sexual abuse (from customers) got to be too much for me. But one of my saddest memories was selling this woman a tiny goddess figure. She worked as a real estate agent and said she kept losing them, when I suggested she could put it on a necklace, she said she was too worried about clients seeing it and deciding to go with another agent. It made me so sad that she had to choose between wearing a symbol of her faith and her livelihood. I know it's a little thing, but I don't think most Christians really understand the absolute privilege they have.

I’m agnostic personally. I find all religions, mythology’s, and all other forms spiritual worship incredibly interesting. I love learning about them. One of my favorites is Norse pagan. What happened with the employee is not right, she should be respected.

I've dealt with mostly in my family. When my grandmother found out I was pagan she informed me that me being pagan is what causes my mental illness.

I wanted Panera Mac and cheese so bad. The other day... I’m so glad I made a pound of white cheddar from scratch and not giving my money to these terrible companies

I will say that I grew up with a pagan mother. We celebrated the solstices and such and middle school and highschool were just the worst for me. Whenever ANYONE found out I was Pegan I was met with people in the hallways telling me, a 13/14 year old at the time, about all the ways I was going to burn in hell. I had my head slammed into lockers, I was pushed down stairs and even had people purposefully tripping me up in hallways or shoulder checking me into walls on the way to classes. I've since become Agnostic, most of my friends are atheists but I find it kind of telling that the people who caused me the most harm because of my religion? They identified themselves as Christians. Not Muslim or Atheiest or even other pegans who often would give pause to help me pick up my books or whatever or would walk with me to the nurses office after such incidents, but Christians.

"Do you believe in god?" "YOU ARE GOING TO HELL!!!" Friendly atheists can relate

"We Home-Church" is my go-to answer when asked about religion in public. That generally ends the conversation, because they don't know what that means, but it sounds Super Weirdo Churchy, and they don't wanna have that conversation. (I'm down in the Bible Belt. Wise to keep it on the DL)

I am a pagan and I am also a bisexual trans man. I worked at a Meijer for 7 years and while I did not mention me being a pagan often, a coworker in my department was a Jehovah Witness. My family has a very bad history with that religion, while me and my parents were not involved, other family was and we saw its dark side very quickly. I think she saw my "Witches datebook" planner that I used to keep track of my work schedule as well as moon phases, and etc. She hated me. She avoided speaking with me, she talked behind my back about me being gay and I over heard her calling trans people 'perverts' (She didn't know I was trans). It was horrible.

I was at thunder over Louisville with my wife a few years ago and we were passing a group of noisy missionaries as we looked for something to drink. One of these guys saw my pentacle around my neck and decided to come over and lecture me on how God hates me and I'll burn in hell if I don't repent and my amulet (he said necklace) was an evil symbol and I've never wanted to fight somebody so bad in my life. The sheer ignorance of what he was looking at and desire to condemn someone he didn't know still infuriates me.

Worked for Walmart in Utah, playing with my Tarot cards minding my business. I've had an older lady come up and sat with me asking what I was doing. I was honest, I was off the clock and thought it was a harmless subject. I then got revelations read to me, told me I was going to hell unless I repented. I took this straight to my manager because she worked in a separate part of the store. Apparently I wasn't the only one she was doing it to as well, there were a few Muslim girls too.

I've already found a Goddess. She doesn't like you very much. (I used to be so deep in the broom closet that my familiar was a dust bunny.)

Didn’t happen to me directly, but I used to work with a man who was *very* Christian. Like, read the Bible on his lunch and mentioned God as often as possible kind of Christian. And it was always creepy because he was the nicest, most friendly man there was, and I genuinely believe he meant no malice in any of his words. But one day I overheard him chatting with a new girl in the break room and when the subject of his his book (the Bible of course) came up, she casually mentioned she was Buddhist, and he responded with a smile and this utterly matter-of-fact “Oh! Well, you’re going to hell, you know.” Poor girl had no idea how to even respond to that.

I was got the “you’re going to hell” from a nurse when I was inpatient on a psychiatric unit as a teen. That was over have my lifetime ago and it still boils my blood thinking about it. My spirituality was why I had asked for help instead of acting on my impulses. I’m 32 next month and can’t wrap my head around how any adult can think saying something like that is appropriate, let alone a mentally ill teenager receiving medical care from you.

A very good friend of mine was harassed at work for not being christian. Every day at work his supervisor was saying "god bless you" and she was literally trying to "lay hands on him" to save him. Then came allergy season and him and his sassy self started saying "possess you" to her every time she sneezed. She lost her fricking mind and went to HR but we took videos of her trying to touch him while praying and she got fired hahahaha

I was at a diversity and inclusion workshop, of all things, and I mentioned my faith as a Pagan and Witch and my co-worker sitting across from me was horrified and basically put me in the position to have to explain that I don't believe in the Devil, I don't work evil. That my faith was one about nature, reverence for life, and Pre-Christian beliefs.

I've just discovered your channel and for that, I'm thankful. I grew up Roman Catholic, but the extents of which neo-Christians will go to to make someone's life miserable is absolutely horrific. Thank you for showing me the discrimination that Pagans face so I can be a better ally to my Wiccan friends.

I grew up going to Catholic School, so when Christian people ask what my religion is I always say “I was raised Christian” that way I’m not telling them my current religious beliefs but I’m also not lying to them either...

I had a similar experience thankfully since I have a super aggressive union that my stores management is afraid of. I've always worn my mjolnir and arm ring under my clothes so I could keep to myself but after I saw many Christians wearing extravagant crosses so I said "if they can openly wear their religious symbol why can't I? " . Not even a week later My Manger came to me and said that I wasn't allowed to wear either. I asked why . To which he responded "you can't wear symbols of those FALSE gods here we are Christians here." I then said "that may be your opinion but to me and many many others there's nothing 'false' about them. I know that it's illegal to discriminate based on religion when it comes to employment so unless you are going to tell Christians they can't wear their crosses then I'm gonna keep wearing the symbols of my religion. " At this point he was getting a bit frustrated and said "that is completely different our God is ACTUALLY real , take it off or go home and don't come back unless their off!" Then I said "I wonder what the union would have to say about this, I have the union reps phone number why don't we give him a quick call? " then he just yelled "fine forget I even said anything! " and walked away and hasn't said anything since.

My patron god is Loki. I have a pendant used to wear that was a representation of him. Key phrase there. "Used to wear". I had a supervisor tell me it was inappropriate to "promote the worship of an evil being". Loki isn't evil. He's chaotic and possibly a hearth god who watches over children. But because of Christian twists on his stories he's seen as Literal Satan

My supervisor is catholic and he asked about my beliefs and he was super interested and was surprised about how in depth it was and how it has enriched my life personally and how it holds a place in my heart. Not all Christians are toxic. Some of my best friends are Christians

Man why can’t I be called into a jury duty for such an interesting case as this!

The very fact he brought up the point of the cross necklace vs the pentacle necklace was exactly my story I was going to tell. I got tired of always having to 'prove my faith' to ppl who first badgered me until I told them and then berated me for it when they learned that I decided one day 'if Christians can wear a small cross to work and not be discriminated against, then I should be allowed to do the same with a small pentacle.' I have not been discriminated against by coworkers yet (thankfully) but I have been laughed at, shouted at, threatened and berated by customers who come through my register on the daily, who feel so entitled in their faith that I, the sinful pagan, deserve to be abused publically as a means to try and convince me to turn to Jeezus. I deal on the daily with obnoxious customers who use their religion as an excuse not to wear a mask, to which I promptly tell them to go to another register as I will not put my life in danger because they wanna use Jeezus to explain why they don't care about anyone around them by not wearing a mask. It usually ends in 'your stupid', 'your paranoid', and 'fucking pagans...'

When my parents found out I was pagan it was interesting. My dad told me about some great aunts from Germany that were witches and my mom told me she and a girlfriend practiced magic a bit when they were young. But my evangelical sister was a thorn in my side for years until I finally had enough and quit speaking to her. As long as my parents were cool I was good. Its hard to believe my sister was a product of the same parents I had.

Ironically as a buddhist I get asked if I need religious holidays off. I've told my boss 50 times now Buddhists dont really celebrate holidays. Yet she still asks 50 more times.

I'm already going to hell for being gay, what is paganism on top of that? I'll be going down the LIl Nas X way.

In my freshman year of university, I was sitting in the student union, talking with some friends while eating lunch, while talking I had said something, "by Odins beard, or Thors Hammer" something unimportant like that which led to me bringing up my Heathenism to these friends, now I know what you are thinking but these friends were genuinely interested and accepting about it. But at the table next to us. Someone was I guess listening in and they came over and confronted me, how I needed to "find god" or "I would burn in hell for worshiping those demons" the whole spiel every Heathen has heard at least once, apon them saying "your soul will burn in hell for eternity if you dont find god" I responded "if your Heaven is filled with people like you I dont want to go there" and I just left, I didnt want to deal with it, the broom closet is so comfy sometimes

Well I'll never eat there again. As for asking for holidays off....I don't ask...I tell. Strangely I've had Xtians ask me "Hay if I work Yule for you will you work X-mas eve for me?" Which is awesome. Xtians and pagans working together in co existence. lol

I am thankful to work for a business, and for people, that had no qualms about me asking off for the Summer Solstice. I set aside vacation time for the High Holy Days, as I continue to mature my (Proto-Taoist) practices. Hearing about this lawsuit is disappointing; living in the Midwest of the U.S, so have become somewhat desensitized to religious scrutiny. I am thankful to now have nothing but gratitude for the challenges placed in front of me that have helped me evolve.

I'm a UK Pagan. I used to work in a care home it was a Christian care home. In my eyes care is care. When a conversation came up and I was asked if I had a religion I said yes Pagan. Which point they said they would pray for me to find the light in Christ because it's the only way to save my eternal soul. I told them don't want to go to a Christian heaven and walked off.

Ocean, Something similar to this happened to Telltale’s daughter in her school. A public sex Ed teacher instead of doing her job tried to convert the entire class to her brand of fundamentalist Christianity. After she was exposed, instead of being immediately fired as the teacher should have been a Facebook group was set up, and the two of them received violent threats.

I am a Pagan priestess coven leader and my boss was a strong Christian. I worked at a cafe on the coast of California. I was on my break with a coworker and I gave them a tarot reading. I was giving just myself one for a daily draw and my coworker seemed excited, so I was happy too. My boss walked in--and even though we were on break, my boss said we shouldn't do that here. So I put them away and just felt uncomfortable. It wasn't the first time I was microaggressed about my practice anyway. A few days later, I was off the clock hanging out on our patio with a different coworker. He wanted a quick simple reading as well and was totally comfortable and happy about my tarot cards. Mid-reading just like last time, my boss came outside and told me I was not allowed to do tarot on the premise because it was "bad voodoo" (which if you are a Pagan theologian at all--that sentences ignorance would make you gag--as it does for me). At the time I was 16--now I am 23. If I had the willpower I had now, I would not have submitted to that type of ignorance. I would have asked them why they said that, quit, or sue. Divination is part of my daily practice and when im off the clock or on break, I can pull a card--just like she can pull out a rosary... So upsetting -- it's especially messed up with how they described my practice so negatively, while referencing to another spiritual practice that I do not identity with, shaming that one too--ultimately shaming Pagans and Voodoo in one go... Thanks for letting me share!

I know I'm years too late to this 🥳 party....but just stopping to say how refreshing it is to have a pagan/heathen/animist voice on these issues that is well informed, well researched, checked for bias, and so thoughtfully presented. It does well for our overlapping communities' political interests and the health of our info-entertainment "sector". Thanks for the great work.

I've posted this story before, but after I started wearing my Mjolnir pendant on the outside of my shirt at work, I was stopped by a co worker for a come to Jesus moment, saying I wouldn't find salvation through Thor or Odin but only through Jesus and Him. I quickly dismissed his attempts to convert me by politely saying I don't believe in the Christian salvation narrative and left it at that. After this he kept trying to have conversations with me, such as asking me about fishing...weird stuff to be going on in a work environment. Thankfully he was in no leadership position.

Let’s be honest if this was Christianity Panera would be BLASTED. But seeing as it’s everyone else it’s ‘a ok’

My freshman year of college, I was hanging in the hallway with some friends and one girl, an evangelical Christian (who I would later learn is extremely homophobic, racist, ect.) asked me about my religion. I told her I was pagan, and she dropped it (or so i thought). She spent the rest of that semester saying awful things about my religion, clothing, sexuality, ect. when I wasn't around. When my friends stopped hanging out with her, she went to our building manager and accused me of stealing, in an attempt to cost me my job (I had recently been hired as an ra for the next year.) I was never mean to her. I never did anything to her to make her hate me, other than exist.

I grew up Catholic and currently am a practicing witch exploring Norse paganism. My husband knows but we haven't told other family. Probably a good thing since my mother-in-law told her father I was Catholic and he started preaching at me saying "You know there's only one way to be saved." They are Lutheran.

I'm an atheist but I stand with polytheistic and pagan people. I hope Panera faces consequences for this

Not as a pagan, but as an atheist, I try to avoid conversation of religion due to the hostility, whether it be passive or not. I've only recently started telling family members that I'm atheist, or atheist but leaning pagan. My christian family always tries to make me go back to Christianity and so I just continue to try to avoid the conversation.

I was wearing a pentacle necklace at taco bell, when I was working there. A manager told me to hide it; when I pointed out that another one wore a cross, she replied with "she can wear it because it's a cross"

I not only posted a response on their website, I shared your video on my FB and challenged all Christians who claim they are against bigotry to put their money where their mouth is.

I haven’t had this at work luckily, but baby witch me in high school got scolded by a lunch lady similarly. I used to wear my pentagram necklace every day and never had an issue, until this cranky old lady who was always rude to everyone, but gave me my food and then sneered “they allow you to wear that?” And I just responded “yeah, it’s my religion” and I walked away. I also used to work at panera tho, ironically in high school, and wow I’m grateful I didn’t have to deal with this

As an atheist i'm here to tell you I got you and fight on and we're stronger together

Fifteen years ago, I naively answered honestly when my boss asked me about my religion. While was not fired, the next day, my desktop was plastered with post-it notes from Revelations and all the "repent now" verses. Btw, Jesus and I are on great terms, I have a problem with his toxic fanbase. Blessed Be )O(

I’ve been lucky to not have grown up around many zealous religious people. But I remember one instance where I felt uncomfortable announcing myself as pagan. My uni had a pagan society, which I joined in my first year and I still participate in two years after graduating. But in my final year I was one of three who manned our stall at the annual multifaith festival. It was just a room with different faith societies gathering, to get to know eachother, learn more about eachother, eat pizza, create candle holders and have a quiz. One pagan wasn’t going to be joining us for a while so it was just the president and I. The president had to leave for a while because he had a delivery earlier than expected. That’s when this guy, sharply dressed, came over from the Pentecostal society. He shook my hand and did everything a gentleman would do. I was initially at ease. Then he asked what paganism was about. It’s such a broad term, and I explained as such, then went on about Wicca, which I was a part of at the time. I explained how wiccans believe do what you want as long as it doesn’t hurt someone. Then this guy went on about what if society deemed self harm was okay, and he started being really vicious in his words despite his gentleman persona. I was in shock, and didn’t know how to respond because I’m not confrontational. He specifically waited until I was alone, and when he realised he couldn’t get much out of me, he moved to pick on the catholic’s (who were looking at me with such pity, they were actually very nice). Then staff told him to cut the shit otherwise he would have to leave, which thankfully he did. But I felt so sick after such a confrontation with me, and then the conflict with a different denomination of the same religion. And that’s just one experience in the U.K. where you don’t hear about these kind of attacks as much as you do in America. I truly feel sorry for pagans in America, especially the ones living in the Bible Belt. I can’t imagine what you go through, or the fear is so great you can’t bear to talk aboht your spirituality out loud in fear of very real retaliation

I'm skeptic but this outrages me i have many pagan friends just as i have many christian, Jewish, atheist, etc friends. I am so glad that in my small rural southern town people feel safe enough to tell me. I've seen so many shitty things happen to pagans it pisses me off so much.

In high school, I had a teacher attempt to proselytize to me when I was a senior year. I was seventeen and I just said okay. If I had the nerves then that I do now, I would've raised a stink. Not because she made school hard for me, but because it was a public school and she shouldn't be acting that way. She was just a substitute, but she could go to any school and behave that way.

your level of chill needs to be achieved by many more humans. it is a blessing.

While working at a gas station i complimented a mjolnir tattoo on it's detail. The customer thanked me and said it was for religious reasons and the woman working next to me [my manager at the time] gagged and left to the bathroom. I was worried and later she told me she was sick and went home early. The next day another manager told me to not talk about satan while on the floor as the other manager is a medium and is sensitive to people mentioning demon names. I still don't understand fully what happened as I was a dollar short the next week and was fired. So i guess that counts.

Walmart had me remove my tyr necklace cause a customer complained "it was satanic". I walked out but years later I was told it could of been a lawsuit

I remember getting crosses banned from Gym because I didn't want to remove my pentacle back in high school since crosses and the Star of David were exempt.

6th grade field trip to a local theme park, my best friend's parents are chaperoning, we're in the same group, there's a waterslide, it's amazing. Until Monday, when I get to class and she won't look at or talk to me, and the other kids at our table refuse to let me sit down, won't tell me why. I try to tell the teacher they're being awful shits for no apparent reason, and he shrugs and tells me to sit at the (empty) table at the back of class until he redoes the seating chart. I spend the entirely of class sobbing, alone, until the bell rings and one of the girls I thought I was friends with says that my "bff" has decreed me banished because her parents saw my pentacle and said she can't be friends with a devil worshiper. Cue two decades of social anxiety, depression, and a crippling inability to fully trust "friends". Thanks Kelsey's mom and dad. :)

Wow it's crazy this video came out today. I myself peeked out of the broom closet yesterday . At work over the intercom system they was asking Easter trivia questions. You answer the question you received candy. At first the questions was light and cute, with simple answers like Peter cotton tail it the color pink. Then my department received our trivia . there is only my assistant myself. Question was what does the egg represent during Easter. I was in the area so I popped my head in and said. The answer you want is the resurrection of Christ, the shell is the tomb and Christians died the eggs red represent the blood if Christ. U received a smile and candy. I turned to walk away but stopped. Turned back and said, but the correct answer is that the egg representing rebirth long before for christianity in the pagan religion. I received a look of total shock. From that moment every question was heavily based in the judaic religion of Easter. Even to the point that scripture was booming over the load system. I'm old. My tolerance levels are nearly depleted. My pocket of fucks is running low and I'm saving them for grandkids.

SASS witch here. One of the customers at my work is an office that manages a few local Panera locations, and I went on their website trying to find contact info. No luck with that but I did find a page that was essentially the owner's statement of faith and it was just so cringe and culty. Already decided never to eat there again before finding out about this lawsuit but now I'm gonna share with other pagan-friendly folks in my life. Thanks for the video Ocean, and for encouraging action on our part. Hoping for social change so one day I'll feel comfortable wearing my pentagram at work😈

I have been, sadly, on the opposite end of this kind of thing. Concerned for their well-being, and putting it bluntly, I felt it was my moral obligation to inform every atheist i encountered that they'd be going to hell, but I knew how they could get out. As i've said many times before, I am so thankful that atheists always argued with me.

When I first started to wear my pentacle jewelry, I was working at an art gallery as a greeter. One patron stopped by the desk, folded her arms and said, "I have every right to tell you that your faith is wrong and that you are going to hell." I wasn't prepared for these encounters and had no idea what to say. So I remained sitting there, uncomfortably, while she went on for a few more minutes before leaving to check out the artwork. Forward a few years and I took on a part-time gig at a state park and wore my pentacles all the time. Only heard compliments. Not sure if some were secret code for, "Hey, I support your beliefs" or "I'm pagan as well" or if they simply like star shapes. Absolutely no negative experience at that job. ^_^

I work in the army. More than a few times after "voluntary" prayer moments I was approached by my more religious coworkers asking why I didn't participate. I replied that it's not my faith and it would be disrespectful to theirs if I was there. "So what's your faith then?" I'm a pagan. "That's ridiculous!"

I'm a theistic Satanist, but I whenever someone asks, I usually just say atheist or spiritual so I don't make it that big of a deal. Well, one day religion came up at work, and all of my managers were there. They're all Christians. One of them is pretty liberal/progressive, and she could see the conversation was making me uncomfortable so she tried to get the other two to stop. One of the other two is fundamentalist, and the other is casually Christian. They asked me my religion, I said atheist. The fundamentalist got up and went to another room. The casual Christian questioned me for about 20 minutes. The fundamentalist came back in. Said she "prayed about it" and that she believes if I repent right now, I will be saved from hell. It would just break her heart to learn I want to be there. Yeah. Every now and then they pester me about it, say I'm welcome to join them at church, etc. I shrug it off and go back to my job. All I can do.

Sorry to necro this, but I’m just sharing a brighter story. Oddly enough Pennsylvania, where this takes place. I’m a police officer is a small department and the 2nd in command of a shift. Shortly after a junior officer was hired onto my crew we organically discovered that we were both heathens following the same patron god. I can’t remember how we discovered each other, but we immediately started bouncing ideas of thoughts off each other during down time. It was in short, delightful. Here I had another pagan to help me grow. To help each other. Obviously, other officers would overhear us. Most just left us be. We’re good with that. After about half a year of this or so, my Sergeant approached me and started asking questions about my faith. This conversation ended up lasting hours (it was a very slow night) and a few days after the conversation my Sergeant asked for some literature and resources to study on his own. We provided what we had and pointed him towards some resources and advised him to stay away from folkish sources of info. Our Sergeant ended up adopting heathenry. And the three of us speak often and help each other grow. The three of us are well respected in the department and we haven’t faced any discrimination. I’ve adopted an “open door” policy about faith. I’ll talk to anyone about it who asks, if they ask. Even if we disagree I find the discussions healthy. True craftsmanship and understanding requires challenging your own position. The times right now are ripe for us to be able to thrive as pagans. I’m not out to convert anyone. It’s the respectful discussion that truly empowers. To just have that open education of other cultures and faiths. At least in my department, we are thriving. That is priceless to me.

Oh yeah, had that "conversation" many times before. Them: "You are gonna go to hell." Me: "Only according to you." :walks away:

I've had a manager tell me my pentacle necklace was "devil worship" when I tried to explain it she responded with "it is because I say it is" 🙄

I am not pagan, but I'm an athiest that lives in Texas. This seems very familiar to me, and I truly wish it didn't! I thank you, Ocean, for all the content that you put out. It gives me a greater understanding of others and the beliefs they hold.

When I was roughly 15 years old I was walking out of my local public library and a women handed me a pamphlet. I took the pamphlet looked at it for a moment, and then went to hand it back to her stating I was happy with my faith. She proceeded to scream at me as I walked away about how the devil had me tricked, and I was going to burn in hell.

I'm young and haven't worked yet, but i've had the "you're going to hell" or "your religion is false/ridiculous" many times. But the one that hurt the most so far was one in which my friend (atheist)told me i was not right in the head for being pagan. It wasnt the worst one, but it hurt. It was a close friend who told me that. So now i dont really tell people unless explicitely asked. And i always get very cautious when they ask

Whenever anyone finds out I'm a Heathen and tells me I'm going to hell I always just say yeah probably, though we call it Helheim.

I lost a job because I’m Pagan. Home care nursing subjects the nurses to a lot of weird stuff. A family saw “Goddess Bless” on my car 2 years before. The family knew me for 5 years. 3 months before they let me go (which caused me to lose a full time job), they locked me in a room. I was there for 2 hours while they actively tried to convert me and pray on me and for. It set off my PTSD. I was told I brought demons into their home. Then they told my employer that they “are no longer progressing with her”. I didn’t have full time, almost lost my home, then COVID hit.

Commenting before watching: Holy sh-t. I worked at Panera and the push for 'better living' was inane! They determined wether or not you could say you were an employee on your social depending on what your socials looked like. They told me I couldn't vape/smoke in my own car and they would prefer I quit in general to help protect the brand. I was berated on appearance more than once (not for being gross but because I had gained weight and my hair was frizzing at the ends). I only stayed because I felt a shared misery with another coworker. Both of us are practicing pagans of different origins but we both felt the abuse. He was a MUCH larger guy and they would ride him all day like *that* was their job. He needed the money (my zip code sucks for wages) so he stayed but I'm so happy we both moved on from that place.

My art teacher when I was about 10 or so, told me I was going for hell for veneration of Anapu. I stopped painting and drawing for the next sixteen years, I've only recently started painting miniatures again.