Any advice?

[Roxy904]

Oh, and I'm totally willing to nerd out on Orwell or any of his contemporaries whenever. I'm reading "Homage to Catalonia" right now, which is Orwell's first hand account of the time he spent during the Spanish civil war. It's very informative, but also a total breeze to read. Worth checking out if you haven't already.

Oh, thanks; I'll check it out. I actually just started reading Animal Farm.*high five for reading*

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I admire anyone who can figure this stuff out as young as you did. Not because it's rare, but because it took me considerably longer to see what was staring me in the face for so many years.

I could see that she was hurt by this, and she genuinely is a very good mother.

That is one of the ways that religion harms people. It is driving a wedge between you and your mother because her belief system is inflexible, as religious beliefs can often be. In lieu of showing you why her beliefs are true and convincing you that she is right, she must use emotion and indignation to try to guilt you into toeing the line.

You are in a tough spot because of your age, but I think that since the cat is out of the bag you should continue to try to discuss the issue and how you feel. Avoid arguments at any cost, as they are a sure way of letting anger get the best of you and can lead to saying or doing things that you will regret. But be up front with her and give her a chance to explain to you exactly why she believes what she does. Let her expose the weakness of her position and the flimsy foundation for her beliefs.

Trying to fake your way through it seems like a bad idea, since she already knows how you feel and since you probably have four or five years of going through the motions, and that can cause considerably more stress and anxiety than just dealing with it honestly yet cautiously.

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I'm new here too, so I'm still figuring that out. From what I can gather, you can give kudos to posts or people (by going to their profile). Kudos given to a person's profile show up beside their name every time they post. Someone can probably clear that up for you better than I can, though.

You can add a kudos to a post by clicking the little thumbs-up symbol at the bottom of the post in question. That is only for the specific post. You can add to a person's reputation by clicking the "Rate" button at the bottom of the post. That rep is the green number at the upper right, under the person's join date, and applies to the person and not just a specific post.

Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate everyone who contributed. Sometimes, it can feel a little isolated, and it's hard to express my ideas in the 'real world.' So, thanks for helping affirm that I'm not 100% insane.
Thanks again.

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"Love the dress, sweetie - but your purse is on fire!"

Brings a whole new meaning to 'flaming', eh?

Thank you for your kind, well-thought-out answer; I really do love how most people here are so supportive.
You people made my evening, with your jokes, advice, etc.
My thanks to you all.