ForumsWEPRhow do u tell your parents you are an atheist

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Lanod
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Lanod
28 posts
Nomad

my family arent very religious but I'm still scared to tell them i dont beleive god

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Squidbears
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Squidbears
627 posts
Nomad

the moment you tell your religious parents that you are one, their opinion of you drastically changes from respectable youth to problem child. they will then stop at nothing to bring you back into their fold. this will go on until they see just how steadfast the child is. it's not that they didn't try hard enough, it's that there's nothing that can be done once this view has blossomed

It's not quite fair to generalize all religious parents like that. My parents just kind of figured out I was an atheist and never confronted me about it. They accepted it even though they did not approve. There's certainly individuals who would behave in the fashion that you outlined, but not all religious parents would.
xgeogander
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xgeogander
193 posts
Nomad

just tell them. I always tell my parents that there's no God in this world.
my mom and dad are both religious.

thebluerabbit
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thebluerabbit
5,346 posts
Farmer

It's not quite fair to generalize all religious parents like that.


exactly. not all parents are like that and not all religions follow the "your either with us or against us" path.
Kasic
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Kasic
5,557 posts
Jester

[quote]It's not quite fair to generalize all religious parents like that.


exactly. not all parents are like that and not all religions follow the "your either with us or against us" path.[/quote]

Far more than enough do for it to be one of the first questions one should ask when thinking about telling your religious family you're an atheist. It's sort of like checking if the gun is unloaded before taking any further measures.
Vendablebow
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Vendablebow
30 posts
Nomad

How about just don't tell them at all. Why let them know your going to burn in hell if you don't believe in GOD lol

Sorry but I had to do it.. man really? What is logical behind not believing in GOD? Even the smartest man of our time, Einstein said there had to be a god. He was as into logic and science as anyone on this board.

Kasic
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Kasic
5,557 posts
Jester

How about just don't tell them at all.


Except that's very troublesome. When your entire family goes to church for example and wants you to come with them, it's much easier if they were to understand that you don't believe and they accept that. Then they don't bother to invite you. That's one example of many. Another is being asked to pray for the family at meal times.

What is logical behind not believing in GOD?


Everything? We have absolutely no evidence for the existence of a god. The one similarity to every question we have ever been able to answer in how or why something happened is that the answer was never, "God did it."

Not lightning
Not disease
Not conception
Not thought
Not disasters
Not planetary formation
Not how the sun creates heat
Not how anything works.

"Not God" is correct to every question you can pose to how things work or were formed.

Even the smartest man of our time, Einstein said there had to be a god.


No, he didn't. Einstein said he considered God to be a concept of how things worked. Pull up specific quotes and you'll see that.
HahiHa
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HahiHa
8,250 posts
Regent

Sorry but I had to do it.. man really? What is logical behind not believing in GOD? Even the smartest man of our time, Einstein said there had to be a god. He was as into logic and science as anyone on this board.

Not believing in anything is the msot logical thing, as there's no evidence that htere has to be someting like that... and no, Einstein was not a fervent believer.

Back to the topic, whether it is logical or not, why would you show your parents a warped image of yours? Isn't it just more honest to be, ye know, honest about your convictions? I agree that you should wait after a certain age, not before 12 or whatever, to make sure you're certain of your convictions. But once you are, stop that theatre, while keeping respect of your parent's beliefs of course.
MageGrayWolf
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MageGrayWolf
9,470 posts
Farmer

What is logical behind not believing in GOD?


What's the logic in not believing in magic butt fairies? The answer is the same for God.

Even the smartest man of our time, Einstein said there had to be a god.


From my understanding of the way Einstein used the term God he was a pantheist. But overall it really doesn't matter as this would just be argument from authority fallacy.

"The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this." -Albert Einstein
octagonapuss
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octagonapuss
7 posts
Peasant

you dont no one should be an atheist sorry brittan but just dont bileave dont go saying their is no higher power just keep it to your self btw not beliveing is not athiesm

Kasic
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Kasic
5,557 posts
Jester

you dont


Why should it be kept a secret? It's nothing wrong or bad and (hopefully) your family stops pestering about going to church if they're religious.

no one should be an atheist


Why's that?

sorry brittan but just dont bileave


Brittan? Britain? Who/What are you addressing?

dont go saying their is no higher power just keep it to your self


Sure thing. As long as people stop trying to pass laws based on religion. And stop discriminating because of it. Oh, the people telling us we should believe in x religion would have to stop. Not to mention mutilation and indoctrination of children in the name of religion, that needs to stop too. Religious wars, protests against evolution being taught in school, discrimination against homosexuals, and a lot of other things should be stopped too.

Then we'll stop bugging you about why we don't think your god/s exist.

btw not beliveing is not athiesm


To clarify: Atheism is the lack of a belief in any gods or deities. Other than that, anything goes.
Kasic
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Kasic
5,557 posts
Jester

A little bit of a minor argument came up with my parents yesterday.

Apparently, my dad had forgotten that I told him I didn't believe in God ~7 years ago. Or convinced himself that I really just didn't want to go to church or something. Anyways, when he started talking about how church communities are having hard times from a lack of members because the current generation is largely uninterested in worship, he asked me why I thought people didn't go to church and I said because they probably don't believe in that religion. Then he asked me why, and I said that I don't believe in God so I had no reason to go.

Which is how the whole thing got brought up/started. He immediately threw out the statement, "So you believe we're all here because of an accident?" I had to try not to facepalm.

Long story short I didn't want to get into the fallacious tangle and repeated myself that I only didn't believe in God and had no opinion about where, exactly, everything started. Turns out he accepted that pretty easily.

partydevil
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partydevil
5,133 posts
Jester

he started talking about how church communities are having hard times from a lack of members because the current generation is largely uninterested in worship, he asked me why I thought people didn't go to church


I didn't want to get into the fallacious tangle and repeated myself that I only didn't believe in God and had no opinion about where, exactly, everything started.


i guess he still has the question of why there is less interest/opinion in the newer generation.
rustygooga
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rustygooga
21 posts
Peasant

well i kinda have the same problem except my parents are catholic but i am christian...... there are hardly any differences between them but i am still scared..... can someone help me out too?

infinight888
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infinight888
37 posts
Peasant

well i kinda have the same problem except my parents are catholic but i am christian...... there are hardly any differences between them but i am still scared..... can someone help me out too?


Tell them you were ***** by a priest. They'll understand why you want to leave.


(I'm kidding. Seriously, don't do that.)
partydevil
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partydevil
5,133 posts
Jester

(I'm kidding. Seriously, don't do that.)

except if it's true
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