Most people who declare themselves as members of an 'alternate religion', at least those I have met, are only seeking a way to be original, to make their egos feel better... It's not really religion, it's a lie. I have a friend who's constantly flooding his flat by books on magic, chakrams, hipnosis, and so on. It makes him feel superior to those who don't. He declares himself pagan, but is exactly like people Fable wrote about - it's not really belief, it's a conscious choice of saying so, to be more 'cool, occult and mysterious'. Good grief, just like some dumb teenager.
But perhaps you people see some things differently, because you accept the right of others to be whatever religion they want. In my country, It's a constant 'fight', to try and live according to my beliefs, and I mean beliefs, with such a huge pression from Polish outside. One of fundaments of my whole being is that religion is a private business of people concerned, but my country thinks it otherwise. It's a normal oppinion here that you cannot be Polish if you're not catholic. It's a kind of equation, Pole=catholic, pretty much like dwarf=miner
In such a situation, there's no question of "touching the world". It's more like trying to stop the world from touching you, and it's not by any means escaping from reality. It's more like trying to make some reality that would not escape from you.
