New coworker gave me an angel

[Marruk]

We have a new receptionist and she went and brought christmas gifts for everyone. I happened to get an angel. I know she doesn't know that I am an atheist, but it still bothers me that she just assumed that I am a god fearing christian just like her. I know it must be a little confusing that I have a little lighted tree in my cubby, but unlike the rest of the office, my tree has no angel or star on it and is covered in oragami birds. Oh well, I'm sure she didn't mean to make me uncomfortable, she did buy candles for the Jewish woman in the office. Though I feel kind of bad because I didn't even thank her for the gift because I'm affraid that if I thank her she will continue to assume I am a christian.

[Trout]

It doesn't sound like she's pushing anything on you. She is probably just trying to be nice and get to know the office.

You should thank anyone for an unsolicited gift and worry about the Christian deal later if/when it occurs.

If you're really worried about it, get her something in return that might make a subtle statement about your own beliefs.

[PostMortem]

Yeah it doesn't sound like she's pushing anything, thank her for the gift and then let your atheism come out in a casual conversation sometime in the near future.
One of my best friendships at work is with a very committed Christian who assumed I was just like him and then found out I'm an atheist. We have some great conversations about religion now.

[openeyes]

I look at angels as mythical creatures, along the lines of trolls and such.

I have one on the top of my solstice tree, because she's pretty.

[Beany]

There are more (self labelled) xtians than atheists in this country, so it's a relatively natural assumption to make.
Cue the old cliche, "it's the thought that counts".
Be gracious, thank her for the gift, wish her a merry christmas and a peaceful new year, worry about the religion thing later. If you make a big deal out of it now, you'll only appear to be churlish.

[Marruk]

I thanked her for the gift and wished her a happy winter solstice. I don't know if she got the hint, but we had a pleasant conversation about my nephews afterwards (I have pics of them on my monitor). She seems really nice, it was just really odd to recieve a gift from someone working with the company 3 days, and then for it to be an angel.

[Alethias]

If you want to pursue it further, get her a Darwin Fish Emblem or EvolveFish emblem. Here (http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/emblems.html) is a handy dandy link for ordering them onlline. That would go very nicely with a Winter Solstice Greeting Card (http://www.lythastudios.com/misc/cards/solstice.html)!

If she complains, merely explain to her that you are giving her a gift that reflects your belief system, just like she gave you a gift reflecting her belief system.

SoT

[Gawdawful]

Drop kick it over your cubical wall.




Not really.

[NZSkep]

an FSM emblam for her car woul dmaybe be a good present.

How about burning the angel on top of a mini pyre and telling her you think it was a witch

[David B]

You can send her an FSM exmascard here, if you scroll down a bit.

http://www.venganza.org/

Though I tried, and got lots of error messages back. So I grabbed the image and sent as attachments.

David B

[CanoeMan]

Well, angels are kind of pretty and can be considered folklore. If she just meant it as a kind gift, I see no harm done; you don't have to answer with a FSM symbol or another atheist-themed gift, that'll only make her uncomfortable and embarrased. Just make sure she knows that your an atheist later on, bring it up in some conversation or something.

I mean, it's not like she gave you a "Fire And Brimstone Die Heathen Scum!"-kind of pushy gift, right?

[Peter Watts]

I wouldn't assume that someone giving you an angel means they're trying to win you over to any particular kind of faith.
Some people just like angel stuff 'cos it's pretty.

[jackrabbit]

I like the angels from Victoria's Secret. Not likely to get one for a gift, though. :D :D

[The Defenestrator]

Count me among the atheists that like angel imagery. They're all prettyful.

[lynx]

Count me among the atheists that like angel imagery. They're all prettyful.

Me too. They're just like unicorns and dragons and pixies.

[Random Evil Guy]

the correct answer would have been:
'what the hell am i supposed to do with this...?"

[Marruk]

Count me among the atheists that like angel imagery. They're all prettyful.

This one was kind of ugly. Still don't know what to do with it, brought it home and cat thinks it's a toy. I've let him bat it around some. It will probably end up in the trash.

[dancer_rnb]

My mom, who was at worst a deist (ex-catholic) used to like icons.
Some people just like religious art or knick-nacks.


.
.
.
.
(Littlest angel: Santa, what do you want me to do with this tree?)

[jayh]

Angels can be generic cutsey gift fodder, like care bears and whatnot. Do NOT hurt her feelings about this, unless there are more overt attempts to shove religion, it's probably an attempt to be considerate.