I finally did it!

[The Valkyrie]

Actually, Lek, what this reads to me is someone who has made a decision not to believe in the religion they were brought up in and the family just won't accept that fact.  It's something we, as atheists encounter quite a lot.

I don't see any hatred or disdain here.  I do see frustration.

From a personal perspective, 20 years after I became an atheist, my mother and her sisters, Catholics, are still pushing their beliefs on me, even when I tell them that's enough.

Yet they have the gall to complain about other relatives, Jehovah's Witnesses, trying to push their brand of cultish Christianity onto the Catholics.  "Can't they accept boundaries??"

I can sympathize with you, but she just announced her decision and hasn't even talked to her dad since.

Well, I haven't spoken to my Dad for three weeks and he's my favourite person in the world.  And an atheist.  And a GP.

[brewer]

Actually, Lek, what this reads to me is someone who has made a decision not to believe in the religion they were brought up in and the family just won't accept that fact.  It's something we, as atheists encounter quite a lot.

I don't see any hatred or disdain here.  I do see frustration.

From a personal perspective, 20 years after I became an atheist, my mother and her sisters, Catholics, are still pushing their beliefs on me, even when I tell them that's enough.

Yet they have the gall to complain about other relatives, Jehovah's Witnesses, trying to push their brand of cultish Christianity onto the Catholics.  "Can't they accept boundaries??"

I can sympathize with you, but she just announced her decision and hasn't even talked to her dad since.

There may be a very good reason for that and it's really nunya bidness.

[godlessheatheness]

I guess I'm waiting for my dad to cam down and talk to me on his own. I know how my dad is and I'm avoiding starting a conversation myself and it's not the first time I've had to do that. I know how my dad is and if he's not saying anything at all? He's pissed. I'd rather not step on his toes when he's angry.

This is a big deal for me because of religious and other situations. Having an opinion that opposes theirs has never been easy. One time I was asked who I was voting for and when I said I'd rather not talk about it, I was attacked with "Well I'm not ashamed to talk about who I'm voting for." So my dad assumed I was voting for Bernie then attacked me because of his beliefs.

My up-bringing has nothing to do with my atheism. I followed the facts.

[brewer]

I think the initial conversation with dad needs to be in a public place.

[godlessheatheness]

I think the initial conversation with dad needs to be in a public place.

Or over the internet. lol avoid face to face contact all together. My dad's not violent, just intimidating. He's always known how to make me feel like garbage.

[brewer]

I think the initial conversation with dad needs to be in a public place.

Or over the internet. lol avoid face to face contact all together. My dad's not violent, just intimidating. He's always known how to make me feel like garbage.

In public you can set the rules, he can't raise his voice or be a threat and if he steps out of line you can publicly embarrass him. 

The bonus move is to stick him with the check. 

But that's just my twisted mind at work.

[Nanny]

Parents view criticism of their religion as a rebuke on their parenting. We're saying 'you know that crap you told us about gods and afterlife and sin and guilt? - it's all crap.' And it's true. We're turning our backs on a fundamental think they taught us. It's a rejection of their parenting, so it gets very personal.

And many parents, I suspect, really know themselves that the core tenets of religion - like the afterlife - are man-made fakes. They can't make rational arguments and so things get personal. Religion is an adult woobie.