3. [Serious] Atheists living in a religious household, what was your parent/guardia...

[Serious] Atheists living in a religious household, what was your parent/guardians reaction to your beliefs, and were your beliefs respected?

Catholic Household.

I told them that I don't believe in God. How did they react? They were like "That's okay. We can convert you!"

It's been about a year now, and I'm still an agnostic atheist. I still have to go to church, pray, and say grace before meals simply because I'm forced to do it. They have attempted to convert me in several ways. Whenever an attempt to convert me fails, they yell at me and saying "You're just being defiant!" simply because I don't accept religion as truth when they try to convert me.

They started making me meet with a priest for two reasons, but they only mentioned one. They said it's to help me with my depression, but it's clear that it's an attempt to convert me even though they didn't mention that. After driving home on the first two meetings, we always got into a heated argument about religion in the car, but I can never talk to them because they interrupt me the moment 2 words come out of my mouth. The priest himself said to me, in private, "This is not to convert you. It's for me to help you and understand how you feel." Religion shouldn't even be an important topic for these meetings, but whatever.

They suggested that I start reading Catholic books and the Bible more often. I ask them "Why?" They say "So you can make a more informed decision." I respond with "A more informed decision about what? " They respond "About whether or not you truly believe or not."

I give them a response that's like this.

"Learning about Catholicism is not going to convert me. The reason why I don't believe in God isn't because I don't know a lot about Catholicism. It's because I'm unsure whether or not a deity can exist. No reasons apply to any specific religion. Along with that, why Catholicism? There are many other religions I could learn about too. However, it's not very important anyway because the reason why I don't believe in God is simply because I don't know if he exists or not, and I need a good reason to believe in him or proof/evidence to believe in him. I'd like to exclude religion from as much of my life as possible anyway."

Whenever I tell them "I need proof or a good reason to believe in God.", they usually give me a response like this.

"You think you're so important and special that you are expecting God to show you proof rather than you trying to reach God yourself? You're not! All you have to do is say you believe, and then you will believe!" That's not what I'm implying at all. First of all, I'm not waiting for God to show me any proof. I don't believe in him, so that would be crazy. I don't even care. I'd like to not make a big deal out of the fact that I'm an atheist, but you are the ones that do so. Second of all, if there were to be proof of God, I'd expect it to be revealed to the world. Not me specifically. Third of all, I assume you mean that I need to go through a personal experience in order to believe? Well, I have reasons for why I don't think that personal experience is a good reason to believe or disbelieve.

There's a lot more I can say, but I don't want too much text here, so I'll stop.

/r/AskReddit Thread
Previous
Next

Recently removed from /r/AskReddit

If you were in charge, how would you solve America’s mass shooting problem without it devolving into further violence or chaos? How have you almost died? [serious] What is the worst physical pain you have ever experienced? What are you extraordinarily good at and how did you get that way? US military veterans and active personell who still support the GOP after 217 out of 222 republicans voted to cut veterans care. Why? What is the most interesting story you have of an ancestor (past your parent’s generation)? What should be the 8th deadly sin? What’s something that changed/disappeared because of Covid that still hasn’t returned? In honor of Jerry Springers passing, what's the most Jerry Springer situation you have witnessed or experienced in real life? What’s something that changed/disappeared because of Covid that still hasn’t returned? Women of Reddit, what are some safety precautions/tips that you would highly recommend for any woman who is going on a date? What’s a life-saving tip you think everyone should know? What is the biggest secret you've ever kept from your family? divorced people of reddit, when did you know it was over? [serious] What is the biggest secret you've ever kept from your family?

More Random Comments

Cat urine What’s your best diving experience? Write ‘em, Cowboy Request: Trade idea megathread Does anyone have any stories of PovertyFIRE? What can I do to be more attractive to people? AITA for not allowing my husband to stay out late at night and asking his friend to mind his own business? My stepdad (who doesn’t believe in depression) pulled me aside to tell me that if I actually wanted to kill myself, I should just do it already and stop bothering everyone. AITA for "threatening the cat" [CROSSPOST] I'm Sam Robb, and I'm running for President of the United States. Ask me anything! An ox is a castrated bull "I won't teach my kids to read." Yes, that sounds like an excellent idea. Maybe we shouldn't teach them how to eat or use a toilet either. TIFU by bodyslamming a girl who wanted to hug me. Erdogan Threatens To Recognize Genocide Of Native Americans ADVISE ME ON MY FACESHAPE! had 4 tooth extracted for braces. I read online that braces will change one’s faceshape especially after extraction. Sometimes for the worse, sometimes for the better.