Jack, I was in this very same position as a teenager. Unfortunately, only you can judge and try to predict how your parents would react to "coming out" as an atheist. You gotta weigh the pros and cons here. Do you think they'd pull you out of school and put you in some sort of spiritual counseling? Or do you just think they'd make you go to church more? Whatever you think would be their likely response, you need to weigh that against the feeling of not being yourself or lying to your parents. Prudence is the key, here. I never believed in any god, and yet I waited until I was in college and financially independent before I came out, just so there was nothing that my parents could try to use as leverage.
As far as debating your parents, knowledge is key. Take an online logic course. Do the research on subjects like the founding fathers and evolution so that you're armed with that knowledge and can talk to your parents with confidence rather than with emotion. Get information from reputable, peer-reviewed sources. You can introduce ideas and information without worrying about changing their minds, but just bringing new stuff into their world and hope that they'll do the legwork.
As far as debating your parents, knowledge is key. Take an online logic course. Do the research on subjects like the founding fathers and evolution so that you're armed with that knowledge and can talk to your parents with confidence rather than with emotion. Get information from reputable, peer-reviewed sources. You can introduce ideas and information without worrying about changing their minds, but just bringing new stuff into their world and hope that they'll do the legwork.
"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!<---
