OK...here's the thing on "respecting" religious and other supernatural beliefs....

[TM99]

48. Why didn't you express

your 'scientific explanations' the first time she spoke about her 'woo'?

Why did you wait?

So you passively listened. But then later, corrected her foolishness. Of course she had a problem. You were not honest. You were not being yourself from the get go. She was honest with you about herself. You were not.

Now you claim to be a victim of her prejudice. Yet you obviously sat there for how long harboring your own prejudice against her, her beliefs, and consider them 'woo'. Do you believe that others do not pick up on such incongruities even unconsciously?

I have been an atheist (though I truly don't like the word as it doesn't encompass what I truly think, know, and believe) my entire life. I learned finally during my youth that challenging others beliefs was not about them it was about me. Then I stopped. I don't care if the client in front of me believes that spirits aid her during her worst depressive times. I could care less if a co-worker is a born-again Christian. I state my beliefs up front the moment the need arises within the organic context of developing any type of relationship from the most superficial regular nurse who checks me in at my Endo's office to the new sister-in-law. If I am truly uncomfortable with their communication, I state and follow a boundary that I set from the moment it occurs.

Be honest next time. Speak up the first time someone triggers your prejudices or beliefs or makes you uncomfortable. The other person will not have a reason to be suspicious as to why you didn't communicate truthfully from the beginning. You might just find that even though you share seemingly opposing beliefs about things that the relationship itself, no matter how superficial, is more real.