IC, I live in this world.
My whole family are staunchly religious, my mother is getting more and more right-wingy conspiracy theorist as she gets older. Occasionally I get into conversations with my mother or sister (my father and brother are much more tolerant and understanding) and I just destroy them with logic until they give up. I also live in Middle Tennessee, where the Bible is strong. So what do I do?
I use the right language, I stick to my guns with my family. Fortunately, I was never a theist, and my choice in friends from a young age reflects that. To deal with the emotional side, I try a little empathy. My family believes strange and stupid things about what happens when you die. They want to me to be with them, so it hurts when I so glibly dismiss their beliefs. Also, I get involved in the atheist community. No matter where you are, they are there. They might not be vocal, but they are there. Try meetup.com. There is an atheist community where I live, and I'm sure there is one where you live. I don't know how old you are, but if you haven't gone to college, make that decision with this in mind.
Have a conversation with your parents that doesn't involve what you don't believe, but how you feel. Seriously. How it makes you feel when they completely dismiss you (not your lack of belief), and how you need their support. I love my family with everything I have, and what they believe about God doesn't change that. It shouldn't change things for them, either, and if it does, they need to take a real close look at that Holly Babble of theirs.
My whole family are staunchly religious, my mother is getting more and more right-wingy conspiracy theorist as she gets older. Occasionally I get into conversations with my mother or sister (my father and brother are much more tolerant and understanding) and I just destroy them with logic until they give up. I also live in Middle Tennessee, where the Bible is strong. So what do I do?
I use the right language, I stick to my guns with my family. Fortunately, I was never a theist, and my choice in friends from a young age reflects that. To deal with the emotional side, I try a little empathy. My family believes strange and stupid things about what happens when you die. They want to me to be with them, so it hurts when I so glibly dismiss their beliefs. Also, I get involved in the atheist community. No matter where you are, they are there. They might not be vocal, but they are there. Try meetup.com. There is an atheist community where I live, and I'm sure there is one where you live. I don't know how old you are, but if you haven't gone to college, make that decision with this in mind.
Have a conversation with your parents that doesn't involve what you don't believe, but how you feel. Seriously. How it makes you feel when they completely dismiss you (not your lack of belief), and how you need their support. I love my family with everything I have, and what they believe about God doesn't change that. It shouldn't change things for them, either, and if it does, they need to take a real close look at that Holly Babble of theirs.
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
PM me your email address to join the Slack chat! I'll give you a taco(or five) if you join! --->There's an app and everything!<---
PM me your email address to join the Slack chat! I'll give you a taco(or five) if you join! --->There's an app and everything!<---
