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RE: I'm no longer a christian, how do I break this to my parents?
September 10, 2012 at 2:26 am
If your relationship with your parents is one of love, you have no choice but to tell them, they believe honesty to be of extreme importance and you know that. So if you are not honest with them then you disrespect them and your claim of love for them is bogus. To live behind a lie will only make them feel like failures, is that what you want for them, they will believe that nothing they taught you was important to you, and thus they will believe they are not important to you. You know how they feel about moral values, are you going to throw them in the face of your parents, they will find out one day and this will be the result and you know it, so do what you please, but do not act surprised when they tell you what has be written here. I'm a deeply committed christian and I understand what they believe, why, because we worship the same loving God you have rejected.
God loves those who believe and those who do not and the same goes for me, you have no choice in this matter. That puts the matter of total free will to rest.
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RE: I'm no longer a christian, how do I break this to my parents?
September 10, 2012 at 3:12 am
I don't really have any advice for the OP. I agree with the posts before me that if your parents had an intervention just for you being nice towards gay people then I'd hate to think what they'd do if it were you embodying what they disapproved of. I am assuming you're a minor; perhaps you could talk to someone who wouldn't tell your parents like a school counsellor?
(September 10, 2012 at 2:26 am)Godschild Wrote: so do what you please, but do not act surprised when they tell you what has be written here.
It's quite common for parents to guilt trip their children in my experience. Quite sad really. It's the parent's job to raise happy, healthy children, not the children's to hide parts of themselves from their ignorant, manipulative parents. Unfortunately, the latter is sometimes necessary for minors in said parents care if they're the controlling type. It must be nice for everything to be black and white.
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RE: I'm no longer a christian, how do I break this to my parents?
September 10, 2012 at 5:38 am
(September 10, 2012 at 2:26 am)Godschild Wrote: because we worship the same loving God you have rejected.
Actually I think it's the claim that's been rejected not the thing itself. We don't believe there is a god remember?
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - Carl Sagan
Mankind's intelligence walks hand in hand with it's stupidity.
Being an atheist says nothing about your overall intelligence, it just means you don't believe in god. Atheists can be as bright as any scientist and as stupid as any creationist.
You never really know just how stupid someone is, until you've argued with them.
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RE: I'm no longer a christian, how do I break this to my parents?
September 10, 2012 at 5:58 am
How old are you op? If you're younger than 18, don't tell them, if you're older, tell them.
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RE: I'm no longer a christian, how do I break this to my parents?
September 10, 2012 at 6:13 am
Like ALL "beliefs or NON-beliefs" keep it to yourself. Your family will know soon enough. They may not like it but they will know.
"The Universe is run by the complex interweaving of three elements: energy, matter, and enlightened self-interest." G'Kar-B5
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RE: I'm no longer a christian, how do I break this to my parents?
September 10, 2012 at 6:25 am
(September 10, 2012 at 2:26 am)Godschild Wrote: If your relationship with your parents is one of love
Sure, but unfortunately not all parents' love is unconditional. They might love him/her as long as he/she believes in their god of choice, but can you guarantee that they won't go apeshit once they find out that their beloved son/daughter is an atheist? People can be really touchy when it comes to their deities..
Quote:you have no choice but to tell them, they believe honesty to be of extreme importance and you know that
Actually, yes, he/she has a choice. It's no more dishonest to keep this from his/her parents than to tell them and potentially make the whole family suffer.
When I was young, there was a god with infinite power protecting me. Is there anyone else who felt that way? And was sure about it? but the first time I fell in love, I was thrown down - or maybe I broke free - and I bade farewell to God and became human. Now I don't have God's protection, and I walk on the ground without wings, but I don't regret this hardship. I want to live as a person. -Arina Tanemura
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RE: I'm no longer a christian, how do I break this to my parents?
September 10, 2012 at 6:35 am
(September 10, 2012 at 2:26 am)Godschild Wrote: If your relationship with your parents is one of love, you have no choice but to tell them, they believe honesty to be of extreme importance and you know that. So if you are not honest with them then you disrespect them and your claim of love for them is bogus. To live behind a lie will only make them feel like failures, is that what you want for them, they will believe that nothing they taught you was important to you, and thus they will believe they are not important to you. You know how they feel about moral values, are you going to throw them in the face of your parents, they will find out one day and this will be the result and you know it, so do what you please, but do not act surprised when they tell you what has be written here. I'm a deeply committed christian and I understand what they believe, why, because we worship the same loving God you have rejected.
Really? A Loving God? If this kid's parents were half as spiteful as Yahweh, he'd be lucky to be alive. But that's a different discussion.
@OP:
I agree with everyone who has told you to keep your mouth firmly shut on this matter, at least until you don't depend on them. It's not worth the hassle, especially if they're the fundie homophobe type.
If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. - J.R.R Tolkien
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RE: I'm no longer a christian, how do I break this to my parents?
September 10, 2012 at 6:38 am
G-C has gone off the rails Tobie don't stress. 
"The Universe is run by the complex interweaving of three elements: energy, matter, and enlightened self-interest." G'Kar-B5
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RE: I'm no longer a christian, how do I break this to my parents?
September 10, 2012 at 10:45 am
(September 10, 2012 at 2:26 am)Godschild Wrote: If your relationship with your parents is one of love, you have no choice but to tell them, they believe honesty to be of extreme importance and you know that. So if you are not honest with them then you disrespect them and your claim of love for them is bogus. To live behind a lie will only make them feel like failures, is that what you want for them, they will believe that nothing they taught you was important to you, and thus they will believe they are not important to you. You know how they feel about moral values, are you going to throw them in the face of your parents, they will find out one day and this will be the result and you know it, so do what you please, but do not act surprised when they tell you what has be written here. I'm a deeply committed christian and I understand what they believe, why, because we worship the same loving God you have rejected.
Nonsense. Clearly, they believe in honesty only as far as it matches up to their version of the truth. In fact, it is only as long as he is staying behind in a lie that they won't feel like failures.
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RE: I'm no longer a christian, how do I break this to my parents?
September 10, 2012 at 11:09 am
(September 9, 2012 at 1:39 am)AspiringAtheist Wrote: I've finally gotten the opportunity to study evolution. While it was only once course, I found it had a lot more truth to it than the many theological classes I was forced to take, so I am proud to say I'm an atheist as of last year. However, my parents are both strong Christians, as well as my sister. I love them so much, but their ignorance is just painful to hear. My mom's always signing me up for Bible studies, church events, and youth group. I'm just sick and tired of attending all these Christian events whenever I have free time, since I don't even believe in God anymore. However, I have a very positive relationship with my parents, and I don't want to lose that. If I told them my beliefs, I'm afraid that I will. I mean seriously, they had an intervention when they found out I was nice to gay people. -_- Any suggestions?
My opinion, and it is just my opinion, you should always keep your relationship with your parents honest. As such, if it were me, be up front with them and tell them how you feel. Will it cause problems? Maybe. If so be prepared for it. But if your parents have any respect for your feelings and wishes they will learn to accept who you are. If not, no amount of arguing with them about it will change their minds on the matter. And in that case, you will all just have to learn to live with it. But it is my opinion that you should never keep it from them or lie to them. That only makes matter much worse. Good luck.
'The difference between a Miracle and a Fact is exactly the difference between a mermaid and seal. It could not be expressed better.'
-- Samuel "Mark Twain" Clemens
"I think that in the discussion of natural problems we ought to begin not with the scriptures, but with experiments, demonstrations, and observations".
- Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
"In short, Meyer has shown that his first disastrous book was not a fluke: he is capable of going into any field in which he has no training or research experience and botching it just as badly as he did molecular biology. As I've written before, if you are a complete amateur and don't understand a subject, don't demonstrate the Dunning-Kruger effect by writing a book about it and proving your ignorance to everyone else! "
- Dr. Donald Prothero
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