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RE: Atheists dealing with their religious families
November 21, 2013 at 6:36 pm
Most of my extended family is Catholic, as far as I know. If any of them are secret atheists I would never know, especially since I rarely see those outside my immediate family.
Both of my parents are creationists, but I they don't discuss religion very often, so it is hard to tell how they would react if I came out (though I have good reason to believe they will not listen to reasoned arguments against god).
Relatively recently (but before my return), I came out privately to my brother (because he seemed most likely to react rationally). It turns out that he is also an agnostic atheist (though he was unsure of the definitions of both of those words, so it isn't like he'll be debating theists anytime soon).
I wonder if/when I should come out, and if I should make a separate thread for that question.
John Adams Wrote:The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.
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RE: Atheists dealing with their religious families
November 21, 2013 at 6:56 pm
My brother and I are atheists. We have been best friends since we were in diapers. We told each other about being atheists about three years ago, I suppose. Maybe?
My parents are theists. They were pastors/missionaries for the most part of their lives, and though they still call themselves Christians, nope. They're simply theists now. Theists leaning towards agnosticism.
My sister is a pastor's wife.
I am very outspoken about my anti-religion views. I bring it up as much as I can. I don't respect religion. We respect each other, though. I keep all of this away from the kids. Her nieces do not need to hear about how stupid their parents' ideas are as much as my boys do not need to hear about the stupid ideas of my sister and brother in law.
I respectfully asked her why the fuck she allowed her 8 year old daughter to start a FB account and respectfully asked her to fucking make her delete me from it (because I accepted her request out of shock and not being prepared for such... stupidity, again). I respectfully reminded her that my FB account contains atheist content which would respectfully grow in large increments if she did not hurry to delete me. Her daughter deleted me in minutes. Respectfully.
Other than that, my sister and I mostly talk about comedians, being parents, and cooking.  She's older than me by 3.5 years, but I feel a duty to protect her. Hopefully one day I'll protect her from religious oppression. Respectfully.
Pointing around: "Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, you're cool, fuck you, I'm out!"
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"Let the atheists come to me, and stop keeping them away, because the kingdom of heathens belongs to people like these." -Saint Bacon
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RE: Atheists dealing with their religious families
November 21, 2013 at 7:20 pm
(November 21, 2013 at 5:31 pm)Clueless Morgan Wrote: I've marked up some of the sicker passages in the bible I have just for easy reference but I don't particularly find it necessary that I need to memorize the names of the books in order. To each their own in that regard - maybe you could look up a mneumoic to help you remember? There has got to be one out there somewhere... Lol...I'm not doing it intentionally! It's just happening. There's not a table of contents in mine (or any that I know of) so after flipping around aimlessly, they're just starting to stick!
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RE: Atheists dealing with their religious families
November 24, 2013 at 5:34 pm
(November 21, 2013 at 6:56 pm)Ivy Wrote: My brother and I are atheists. We have been best friends since we were in diapers. We told each other about being atheists about three years ago, I suppose. Maybe?
My sister told me - well, mentioned to me - years ago that she's an atheist after I told her I was, but that's as far as it's ever gotten in terms of discussion. She's a make-no-waves, I-don't-care-what-other-people-believe type atheist, I think. She works as a nanny and had ended up working for some pretty religious families (a couple very Jewish families and one pretty Christian one) that I would have a hard time with - not only not correcting the kids when they spout religious crap, but also following things like kosher rules and stuff like that that I think are bogus.
I overheard her telling my mom once that she took the Christian family's kids to a science museum and one of the kids asked some questions akin to "how did the universe get made?" and my sister turned the question back on her: "how do you think it was made?" and the girl said "god did it." And my sister didn't correct her, and, even more infuriating, my mom's response was "well, there's nothing wrong with that!" PUKE PUKE PUKE!! YES THERE IS!!!
I could never do what my sister does. And if I ended up in that situation with a kid I was looking after I could never keep my mouth shut like my sister did.
Quote:I respectfully asked her why the fuck she allowed her 8 year old daughter to start a FB account and respectfully asked her to fucking make her delete me from it.
A fb account for an 8 year old, really?
(November 21, 2013 at 7:20 pm)The Reality Salesman Wrote: (November 21, 2013 at 5:31 pm)Clueless Morgan Wrote: I've marked up some of the sicker passages in the bible I have just for easy reference but I don't particularly find it necessary that I need to memorize the names of the books in order. To each their own in that regard - maybe you could look up a mneumoic to help you remember? There has got to be one out there somewhere... Lol...I'm not doing it intentionally! It's just happening. There's not a table of contents in mine (or any that I know of) so after flipping around aimlessly, they're just starting to stick!
Well, if you want to do it intentionally, I'm sure there is a mnemonic out there.
You know what? Scratch that idea: I just looked some up and they all suck. More irritating still are the songs I just looked up. Make up your own. :p (You know, that could be really fun: An atheist teaches you the books of the bible! HA!!)
Where are the Animaniacs when you need them?? Oh, they're making up songs that are actually worth learning...
I've had most of these memorized since I was a kid. They make up my Party Trick Arsenal.
Teenaged X-Files obsession + Bermuda Triangle episode + Self-led school research project = Atheist.
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RE: Atheists dealing with their religious families
November 24, 2013 at 5:44 pm
I'm lucky. My grandmother and I still have a good relationship after I left the faith. she was the one who brought me in, and she does worry about my soul, but we get along fine. Better than me and my dad, and our relationship doesn't have to do with religion. There are a number of religious people in my family, but it's mostly moderates.
I hear stories about families breaking up over this. One recent story would be a thirteen year old kicked out of the house because she came out as an atheist to her evangelical mother.
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RE: Atheists dealing with their religious families
November 24, 2013 at 8:05 pm
Yes, Morgan. A FB for an 8 year old.
I am very anti-religious and this is why I bring up my thoughts as much as I can when the god is mentioned. So far the girls have not said anything that pushed me to make a decision between breaking the boundaries or being polite.
Pointing around: "Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, you're cool, fuck you, I'm out!"
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"Let the atheists come to me, and stop keeping them away, because the kingdom of heathens belongs to people like these." -Saint Bacon
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RE: Atheists dealing with their religious families
November 25, 2013 at 12:00 pm
(November 24, 2013 at 8:05 pm)Ivy Wrote: Yes, Morgan. A FB for an 8 year old.
That's like... just... no. An 8 year old has no business with a fb account. Get that kid outside on a playground stubbing her toes and eating dirt.
Quote:I am very anti-religious and this is why I bring up my thoughts as much as I can when the god is mentioned. So far the girls have not said anything that pushed me to make a decision between breaking the boundaries or being polite.
That's why I say I could never do what my sister does: nanny for a religious family. It would likely end up costing me my livelihood to speak up and correct the kids. I'd have to spend some serious time plotting how to correct them without explicitly bringing up the issue of god so the kid doesn't go running to the parents and say something like "Well, she said God couldn't have made the universe, that nobody knows how the universe was made!" Then I'd be out on the streets.
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RE: Atheists dealing with their religious families
November 25, 2013 at 12:10 pm
Awesome. Those are great memorization techniques. I use something like that with my students. There are several different types of missile launchers that are exclusive to specific missiles. The proper nomenclature for both the missiles and their respective launchers are just acronyms that don't help the laymen in remembering how they are paired.
LAU-115 Carries the AIM-7 Sparrow missile
LAU-117 Carries the AGM-65 Maverick missile
LAU-118 Carries the AGM-88 HARM missile
...to name a few.
The way I first remembered these went like this:
When I was 15 I shot 7 Sparrows
When I was 17, I drove a 65 Maverick
When I was 18, I drank 88 beers that did me HARM
There are quite a few others, but you get the idea 
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