Out of curiosity, how did that even go down? Did you admit to it and then they just said "fine, leave"? I just... I have a really hard time imagining how a parent could do that to their child. They say that it's the most unbreakable love that parents have for their children, so I don't understand how people could choose their religion over their own children.
That's what's kind of twisted about the notion of being tested in this life for the afterlife. People are gunning so hard for a spot in Heaven that they would sacrifice their own child for it. It's so selfish. Don't put a child in this world if you're not prepared to stand by him/her no matter what.
I think it's because the fact that I was coming out of two closets at once.
What happened was my own fault really, but it's her fault too. We were at the family cabin, and my phone couldn't access the internet, so I'd been using my mother's to text a friend. Said friend said that he posted something on my facebook page. I use my mom's phone to check my facebook page, and I forget to
log out like a complete
genius. When she used her phone she noticed that I was still logged on, and instead of being a good person and
logging me off, she read through my messages.
Where a few weeks previous I'd been coming out to my friend.. There were also messages to a group called "The Thinking Atheist" where I had a letter written and sent in that Seth read in a podcast. She was livid. I was
more pissed that she read my messages!
She was more worried about one closet than the other, and atheism sort of took a back seat until the next event, which was Christmas. I was buying presents and it brought up the argument, the whole you don't believe why are you even bothering? My reply was that either A) People would give me gifts and it's rude not to trade B) Giving presents isn't really a
religious thing anyways, and it's a nice gesture and C) It's my own damn money anyways why do you care? Or do you not want the new books I just bought you? From there it spiraled down and I don't even remember how it got to "FINE THEN JUST DON'T COME".
My family just doesn't understand. My mom regrets spending so much momey to send me to Catholic school, and I turn out to be atheist. Thing is a lot of my classmates became atheist too. But personally I wouldn't have traded those years at that school for anything. It was a great school and one of the best experiences in my life. She says it was the greatest mistake of hers. I understand, though sometimes I can't help but feel depressed when I think about how she took it. I stand firm in my non belief though. I reply that she should look at herself. She trurned to her god only when she faced death, and once she was in the clear she threw it away like a used rag. She's been cancer free for five years. Hasn't been to church in four.
Yep.
I was pretty much banished from my family until recently. I was forbidden from family gatherings or even talking to extended family, because I was an embarrassment. Because of my lack of belief I was shunned on family occasions; a black sheep. I got an angry letters from family and friends of the family stating how I need to 'turn from evil' and return to the faith or I will burn for eternity. Other letters said that I was never to see their children, never speak to them for fear of it 'spreading'. My cousin is a priest. He showed up at my place to talk to me. Followed by a door to the face of course when he began preaching about my immortal soul.
Here's a post from another forum from when my mom started to 'see the light' so to speak:
"My mom has always been pissed that I'm atheist, even though she's a rather terrible believer herself. She always brings up that she said it was the worst thing she ever did to send me to Catholic school, and that it made me atheist. I have to agree, but I had to explain to her the other reasons for atheism, the ass hole of a priest we had, the sexist nature of the church, the inconsistency of the Bible, the treatment of gays in the church...
Then she flipped a lid.
Apparently I'm only "bi" because of the people I hung out with in high school. Apparently it was the cool thing to do and I did it to "fit in", just like, get this, my
atheism.
I started laughing so hard when she said I was only atheist cause it was cool and I was just acting it. So ****ing funny! I mean when I say I'm atheist, I am a strong atheist and I will start rants and jump in any religious argument I find because I CAN DAMMIT (:P)
Then I got upset. I told her that my atheism, true, has a part with how religion treats the lgbt community. But I told her that I miss Church. She shut up and listened, and it's true. I miss the music, the singing, the feeling that you're in something bigger, the safety of knowing, of feeling that you're safe. When we were in that church for the funeral I cried, not for the departed cause I barely knew them, but for the fact that I missed this, I might not believe it anymore. But the community. I remembered my church and how much I meant to them since I was the only altar server. How it felt when I helped others for church related programs and such. I explained to her that I lost a lot when I stopped believing.
Then she asked why then don't I believe? Save what I lost? I explained that if I were to act like I believed, go through the motions but not have the faith behind it, it would actually be an insult, sacrilegious, and not like I cared, but there felt like there would be something inherently wrong with that.
She said ok.
Then she started actually asking questions. Like, not being mean, but really asking questions and being
curious. It as such a step forward. Then she started asking me about lgbt stuff, purely curious. It was such a step forward! That ounce of respect I had for the church in that I didn't want to be sacrilegious, it got to her. I don't know why.