Pagan gods and goddesses are Demons?

[Vymir]

I worship Norse and Kemetic gods and recently some people have accused me of worshiping demons and evil spirits. How should I respond to this accusation?

[Marilyn/Absentminded]

I worship Norse and Kemetic gods and recently some people have accused me of worshiping demons and evil spirits. How should I respond to this accusation?

Laugh.

Absent

[Wickerman]

Laugh.

Absent

100% agreement. Religious bigotry is alive and well.

[Valentine]

I worship Norse and Kemetic gods and recently some people have accused me of worshiping demons and evil spirits. How should I respond to this accusation?

Look, if someone thinks the beings you're interacting with are demons, there's no real way to prove them wrong. People will believe what they believe. (It's not so different from the secular variation, "I think you're delusional.") My primary response is this:
I point out that, whatever the nature of my Gods, what They direct me to do is be more kind, more giving, more brave, and more loving. That when I cleave to my faith I'm a stronger, happier, healthier, more hopeful person who does good service to other people. And I don't think that's what an evil spirit would be pushing me toward. The day my Gods direct me to harm a person or a community, to lie, to think ill of the people around me, to be cruel or dishonest, I'll ask more questions, but that day hasn't come. Likewise, if I'm just crazy and hearing voices, well, they're voices that make me a better person, and direct me to do good in the world, so what's the problem?

Sometimes, if really pushed, I bring up the Gospel passage where Jesus is accused of doing the work of evil spirits. And he says, "Can evil cast out evil? A house divided against itself cannot stand." That is: would an evil influence really direct me to stand against evil in the world? Why?

I suppose these arguments only work if people know you're a person of good character. I suppose, then, the best response is to be a really, really good person. It's hard to argue with that. If you do good works and keep your promises and act as a person of integrity and decency, it is pretty hard to argue credibly that you're serving or being shaped by evil forces.

[Etheric1]

I worship Norse and Kemetic gods and recently some people have accused me of worshiping demons and evil spirits. How should I respond to this accusation?

Laugh at them, or pity them, or you can mock their zombie-god that wants you to eat him.

[Celtag]

I worship Norse and Kemetic gods and recently some people have accused me of worshiping demons and evil spirits. How should I respond to this accusation?

People tell me that all the time. I just look at them and laugh and say maybe you should read a book before you open your mouth, because you have no idea what your talking about. Being a Pagan, your going to have to get used to people telling you this, but you know the truth, so just carry on and keep your head above the idiots.

[Wickerman]

I worship Norse and Kemetic gods and recently some people have accused me of worshiping demons and evil spirits. How should I respond to this accusation?

Seriously though, you sound pretty young. I know that it can be hard to ignore, or laugh at stuff like that. I am 45 years old, and have reached the age where I just could not care less what people think of me. But even at my age, only my close friends know that I'm pagan. If I were baptist, I would feel the same way. I just don't share every detail of myself with the world. You know that there are old legends that say that if you know somethings true name, then you have power over it. Today our names are no secret, but I firmly believe that who we really are should be. When a malicious person knows the real you, they can hurt you in ways you never thought possible. It is best, in my opinion, to only share the real you with very close friends, that you truly trust, and even then you are taking a chance, people are fickle.

[Jabberwocky]

People tell me that all the time. I just look at them and laugh and say maybe you should read a book before you open your mouth, because you have no idea what your talking about.

While that will often work, it's a bit of a risky tack to take. It isn't necessarily the case that anyone who claims this is a moron or even ignorant of Paganism.

Basically, most people who claim this are likely to be of the view that any gods other than the Christian one are demons in disguise and any spiritual powers outside of the Christian context are coming from Satan. If that is someone's starting position, by that definition pretty much every pagan and occultist is working with demons in some way or another. (In fact, most of the people that would push this argument are also likely to believe that agnostics/atheists have been deceived by Satan). While it's mellowed a bit in the last century, that's still within the orthodoxy of mainstream Christian theology. And it's a faith position, so it's near impossible to persuade someone otherwise.

The best you can hope for in that situation is that a) the person accepts that you don't believe you're worshipping demons even if they think you are and b) that they don't believe you should be actively persecuted for it.

That's worth pushing for if you think it's worthwhile. Apart from that, I'd suggest just accepting you exist in an entirely incompatible paradigm with theirs and moving on.

[Juniperberry]

I worship Norse and Kemetic gods and recently some people have accused me of worshiping demons and evil spirits. How should I respond to this accusation?

"If demons are masquerading as gods, then maybe that's the case with yours? I mean, hate gay people, hate sinners, hate multiculturalism, hate science: hate hate hate. Sounds like a good candidate. I'd look into it."

[Wickerman]

"If demons are masquerading as gods, then maybe that's the case with yours? I mean, hate gay people, hate sinners, hate multiculturalism, hate science: hate hate hate. Sounds like a good candidate. I'd look into it."

Died, rose from the grave in three days, wants you to drink his blood? Sounds like a vampire to me.