I think my mother may be becoming an atheist, advice?

[IanHulett]

Okay, I feel like my mom is starting to emerge to the atheist side. One time she said "I'm starting to sound like an Atheist, but I'm not an atheist. I'm a christian." This raised some questions from me. Because I noticed she's showing signs that she's coming to the atheist side. When she said this, it seemed to confirm what I've been thinking. I'm a little bit nervous though, because she claims the belief in god helped her avoid suicide. I suppose it's possible that ditching the belief in God would help her even more because knowing that SHE is the one who saved herself from suicide may be empowering to her, but then again, when I realized God doesn't exist, it devastated me... and I haven't gone through anything near as bad as she went through.

I stopped discussing religion with her, because I'm not always nice about it... but if I'm right and she is becoming an atheist, I dunno what to do. I suck at being there for people. I feel that if she does end up becoming an atheist (or maybe she is already and she's in the closet perhaps to herself) she may need someone to be there for her... i.e another atheist.

Sorry for rambling... do you have any advice on what I'd do to be there for her should she come out as an atheist? Thanks a bunch.

[robvalue]

I'd say to reassure her that absolutely nothing real has changed, only her understanding of the world. There is no need for her to let go of the idea of God, and what it represents to her. Maybe realising that this God is really her own inner strength will help her realize she should credit herself more.

She is still the same person, as are you, and you can be there for her. She can keep in her mind all the good things about the image of God/Jesus, without having to hold onto all the contradictory nonsense and trying to justify all the evil in the world and in the bible. Maybe over time she won't need them anymore, and will realize it was just her all along.

I'd say not to try and rush her, but to be there for her as she makes the journey in her own time.

[Aoi Magi]

If she truly becomes an atheist, she won't need a support anymore because by that point she'd have realized, she has supported herself her whole life, and that invisible crutch she relied on had only held her back.

[Minimalist]

Tell her to sign up here.  There's a shitload of people who have thrown off the yoke of ignorance.

[Alex K]

Tell her to sign up here.  There's a shitload of people who have thrown off the yoke of ignorance.

That's actually not such a bad idea! If she gets psychological problems again, she'll have support from some nonbelievers.

[Napoléon]

Get her a cake.

[Pyrrho]

Tell her to sign up here.  There's a shitload of people who have thrown off the yoke of ignorance.

That's actually not such a bad idea! If she gets psychological problems again, she'll have support from some nonbelievers.

You state that as if you thought Minimalist usually had bad ideas.

For the OP, if she is becoming an atheist, great.  There is no need to press the issue, and she should take her time to make up her mind.  I took my time in deciding (what is the rush?), and now I am toward the more extreme end of the spectrum regarding atheism.  I am a strong atheist, so taking one's time about such matters does not indicate how far one will go.  It is best to think carefully and not rush to a decision, and if that is what your mother is doing, great, that is what she should be doing.

[MTL]

Personally, I would ask her if she's familiar with the concept of Deism.

If not, explain I would it to her.

That might be for her, if she's still conflicted about Atheism.

It doesn't apply 100% of the time,
but I find that many Theists who consider leaving the church,
but are still on the fence about their actual faith,

just need to be asked if it's really the idea of God  that they want to leave behind,

...or just the idea of RELIGION.

Many Theists don't even realize that it is possible for the concept of God
to exist independently of the idea of Religion.

She may eventually become an Atheist,
....but it might be too daunting of a big jump, all at once.

So why not run the Deism concept past her, and let her muse on that for awhile?

Because it sounds to me like she is searching.

PS:  Are you American? As an intriguing point of trivia to pique her interest, you can let her know some of the American founding fathers were not, in fact, Christians....but themselves, leaned toward Deism, too.  Including George Washington.

[Longhorn]

Get a Thai takeaway and watch the Hobbit trilogy.

That's what I would do ^_^

[KevinM1]

The big thing is to not push the subject, IMO. Given she's had problems with suicide/depression, the last thing you should do is push her in any direction during this vulnerable time. Mention resources (like this forum) in a helpful way, sure, but use a gentle touch. Let her come to her own conclusions naturally.