Coming Out(?)

[Clueless Morgan]

There's the story of someone coming out to their parents saying "I don't believe in God" and the reply is "Well at least you're not an Atheist". Rather than say Atheist you could say that you're not a believer or something along those lines, but are open to believing if the evidence presents itself?

I think this is reasonable advice; if you decide to go for it but are still unsure about how they will react to the A word, you could leave the A word out for the moment, say you're a non-believer and woe betide them if they don't realize what that means. If they're not that up on the lingo, you could also just tell them you're an agnostic; it's not technically a lie (I presume) and it allows you to gauge their reaction without committing to full on atheism. If saying you're agnostic goes well you could progress to atheism in... a few months? Or whenever the subject broaches itself again, which it seems happens very infrequently in your family so you might have to manufacture a situation in which the topic comes up again.

For example: does your dad watch Fox News? If he does, the next time you see David Silverman on you could passingly comment "Oh, I like him!" and if you dad goes ape shit you then know his reaction toward sympathizing with an atheistic viewpoint and can pass off your liking of David Silverman as "Relax, I just think he's funny" or something.

I'd also say if you were to come out, doing it simultaneously with your brother would make things much easier.

It would certainly make it easier on you, perhaps not on your parents. If things go badly then you and your brother could commiserate with each other, if things go well then... everyone knows.

It could make it harder on your parents though, learning that not only do they have one child who is an atheist, they have two; two thirds of their progeny are non-believers, oh no!! It all depends on how they take it.