being a hateful person

[Ziploc Surprise]

Better yet, if you really want to stir the shit have her move in with you. That will quickly bypass all the mucking about and propel you both into full hatred right away...with you at the lead probably. But seriously if she can move out it might be a good idea.

On another note see things from the mother's (fucked up) position. Here are some possibilities:

1)To have a child leave the faith can be seen as a poor reflection on her. She didn't do enough indoctrination. She failed somehow.

2) What is beat into the heads of most Christians is a belief that if everyone in the group isn't following god then the whole group will be punished. A short jaunt through the Old Testament will illustrate this quite nicely. Christians today believe that the horrible things today -aids, drought, hurricanes, crime etc. are just the beginning rumblings of god's impending judgment. They believe that if everyone doesn't repent (obey god and the morals specified by Christian doctrine) we will face judgement soon. Stephen Pinker wrote a book recently explaining that despite the Bible we are becoming better people and the world isn't going to shit after all. This book is not distributed in fundie churches, nor do I think it ever will be. It negates the need for god to save us because we are becoming better people through reason. i digress. Needless to say your girlfriends mom now may have put her in the evil camp. She is part of the "reason" why the world (supposedly) is going to shit.

along with this is a change of hopes and dreams. She can't go as one big happy family to church or churchie things. Can't talk about god and religion. It cuts out a lot of activities.

3) Another belief that is beat in is that atheists are evil and deceptive people. They are bent on destruction of the Christian faith -not quite the Antichrist but close. Your girlfriend is now the evil deceptive betrayer of the faith. Some more wacky churches preach that deceptive spirits/demons etc may be involved (very medieval). If her mom has a brain in her head she will eventually get over this some day. Some don't fully get over this.

This is a problem. Leaving the faith can lead to broken relationships. It really really really really sucks when these are relationships with family and close friends. I have sympathy on her, I'm probably going to break a few relationships myself when they've found out I've left the faith.

Truly deep insight, Ziploc. At legal age, the girlfriend will be able to move out of her own consent. Considering the #2 possibility, If they really are fucked up as you implied, then the girlfriend may be in unnecessary risk. If the girlfriend is not at legal age, I'd strongly advise her to discreetly contract an lawyer for child adoption if possible.

Christian abuse are most common if you are familiar the cases of child abuse by Christian community. The abuse imposed to child such as: Diet control, exorcise, prayer over medication and more to be named. It's disgusting to think fundamentalist Christians condensed the abuse without question.

BTW when I said "beat in" I did not mean this literally. It's repeated and enforced frequently. Some morality is indoctrinated via coporal means but much of it isn't.

Also the majority of fundies aren't as bad as the case of the op. The era of the mega church is here. Churches are too large to have much accountability and control over their members. Furthermore, in order to cast a wider net, pastors preach a watered down, fluffy feel good message. It makes for quite a lot of idiots who don't have a clue about what their religion is about, a few mouthy ones, and a few crazies. They still react badly to atheist, for much of the same reasons as above (watered down a bit) but they don't abuse their kids.