*Needs help* Anyone care to give me acive...? hehe...

[Yami_Ichi]

All right. Well, I recently became an atheist. It came when I entered high school, though I had lost faith in Christianity way before then.

Well... my parents don't know I am an atheist. I wish to tell them, but I don't know not to break it to them. My parents are the type of people who will answer you with a bible verse... for everything. They are HARD CORE Christians...

So, I need some advice on how to tell them...?

I can see a few scenarios in my head.

1) Parents are dissappointed in me, but are okay with my decision.

2) Parents are mad at me and proceed to try and convert me.

3) Parents do not understand and kick me out of the house.

I am thinking it is the 2nd or 3rd one...

Help...?

 

[Sanguvixen]

Firstly...don't even consider telling them until you are close to graduation.

Are you around 17 or 18? If not keep it quite until you are there. It will make things a lot easier on you if you do.

 

[Yami_Ichi]

I am a mere 15. I turn 16 in September. Freshman in high school.

 

[Saurencaerthai]

Don't bother telling them. If they really are hard core Christians like you describe, it's just going to be trouble for everyone involved. In the long run, you have nothing to gain from telling them.  

[Taylr752]

Yami_Ichi

All right. Well, I recently became an atheist. It came when I entered high school, though I had lost faith in Christianity way before then.

Well... my parents don't know I am an atheist. I wish to tell them, but I don't know not to break it to them. My parents are the type of people who will answer you with a bible verse... for everything. They are HARD CORE Christians...

So, I need some advice on how to tell them...?

I can see a few scenarios in my head.

1) Parents are dissappointed in me, but are okay with my decision.

2) Parents are mad at me and proceed to try and convert me.

3) Parents do not understand and kick me out of the house.

I am thinking it is the 2nd or 3rd one...

Help...?

sweatdrop I find it better not to tell anyone on my moms side of the family there like puritian, my dad wouldnt care he'd be proud I made a religion choice on my own, but he might slip and tell my mom  

[Taylr752]

Sanguvixen

Firstly...don't even consider telling them until you are close to graduation.

Are you around 17 or 18? If not keep it quite until you are there. It will make things a lot easier on you if you do.

how 'bout after graduation thats what im going to do, along with tell them I swear, etc.  

[Sanguvixen]

Yami_Ichi

I am a mere 15. I turn 16 in September. Freshman in high school.

Let me put it to you this way girl. Keep your mouth shut about it.

If your parents are hard-core christians and you're still around the freshman/sophmore years...there is a good chance that by telling them you are athiest that you are going to make the next years of your life very difficult.

Your parents could make things very difficult. Wait until you are around the Junior/Senior years of high-school. Save yourself from the stress and just wait...ok?

 

[caustic 0_0]

How do they react to other issues? Or how do they talk about atheists or other people who do things they don't agree with?
Is there any reason you need to tell them now?

I would say if you aren't sure what to do, then wait. Maybe you don't even have to wait until graduating or moving out, but waiting could give you a chance to try and figure out how they'd respond.  

[Taylr752]

c a u s t i c

How do they react to other issues? Or how do they talk about atheists or other people who do things they don't agree with?
Is there any reason you need to tell them now?

I would say if you aren't sure what to do, then wait. Maybe you don't even have to wait until graduating or moving out, but waiting could give you a chance to try and figure out how they'd respond.

and risk getting discriminated by my own parents  

[Dande_Lion]

Do you remember hearing about the guy who came out as gay to his parents and got shipped off to a make-my-kid-straight-via-the-Bible camp?

My Mom is a religious fanatic. I didn't believe in her religion starting around the time I was fifteen. However, I didn't mention it to her because we're not close. When I was seventeen, I argued that I should be allowed to decide for myself whether to go with her to church or not. She said okay, but was disappointed in me. I went a couple of times for forms sake, and then stopped going. AHHHH it was nice to have the time to myself. It was like my weekends were suddenly longer and more wonderful.

My mother gradually came to understand how I feel about her religion. She's still somewhat in denial.

I never lied to her, though, and I mostly picked other means to get out of doing religious things than by telling her that I'm an atheist.

I recommend not lying to your parents, but not feeling like you have to make a big announcement either. They'll get the idea, plus since you didn't make a big statement about it, they won't have to make a big statement about their opinion of it. They won't feel like they have to do something to make you see the light.

If you do it the gradual way, also, by the time that they realize you're an atheist, they know that you're serious about it, and that it's not just some phase you're going through.

But give it a few years, and if you still want to make a big announcement, do so when you're not dependant on them-- just in case.  

[Dathu]

The best part about being atheist is that you have nothing to prove.  

[GEt CrUnK iTs BiLlY!]

I actually enjoy and laugh at the converting thing because I am 12 years old and I told my Grandma I was an atheist and she freeked out. She almost started crying and was all,"I don't want to be lonely in heaven!"  

[Yami_Ichi]

My dad and mom talk about how they wish that people who were atheist would 'see the light'. I listen to how they want to convert people, and it is sad. They have no clue how atheists think, yet they think they know everything there is to know about them.

I really have no reason to tell my parents now. I just feel as if I am living a lie. I cannot be my true self around them; I have to pretend to be the Christian angel that they raised me to be. I don't want to keep things from them, but I am scared to tell them.

I am close to my parents; they are always there for me. And we may not see eye-to-eye, but I don't feel like I should keep this from them. But when I think about me telling them, and the reaction I could get, I get totally scared.

 

[Taylr752]

Dande_Lion

Do you remember hearing about the guy who came out as gay to his parents and got shipped off to a make-my-kid-straight-via-the-Bible camp?

My Mom is a religious fanatic. I didn't believe in her religion starting around the time I was fifteen. However, I didn't mention it to her because we're not close. When I was seventeen, I argued that I should be allowed to decide for myself whether to go with her to church or not. She said okay, but was disappointed in me. I went a couple of times for forms sake, and then stopped going. AHHHH it was nice to have the time to myself. It was like my weekends were suddenly longer and more wonderful.

My mother gradually came to understand how I feel about her religion. She's still somewhat in denial.

I never lied to her, though, and I mostly picked other means to get out of doing religious things than by telling her that I'm an atheist.

I recommend not lying to your parents, but not feeling like you have to make a big announcement either. They'll get the idea, plus since you didn't make a big statement about it, they won't have to make a big statement about their opinion of it. They won't feel like they have to do something to make you see the light.

If you do it the gradual way, also, by the time that they realize you're an atheist, they know that you're serious about it, and that it's not just some phase you're going through.

But give it a few years, and if you still want to make a big announcement, do so when you're not dependant on them-- just in case.

I dont want to go to a religious camp!!!!!!!!!

(Just to make it clear id go to camp for athiesm, Im straight completely, I have a girlfriend.)  

[DivideByZero14]

Dande_Lion

Do you remember hearing about the guy who came out as gay to his parents and got shipped off to a make-my-kid-straight-via-the-Bible camp?

My Mom is a religious fanatic. I didn't believe in her religion starting around the time I was fifteen. However, I didn't mention it to her because we're not close. When I was seventeen, I argued that I should be allowed to decide for myself whether to go with her to church or not. She said okay, but was disappointed in me. I went a couple of times for forms sake, and then stopped going. AHHHH it was nice to have the time to myself. It was like my weekends were suddenly longer and more wonderful.

My mother gradually came to understand how I feel about her religion. She's still somewhat in denial.

I never lied to her, though, and I mostly picked other means to get out of doing religious things than by telling her that I'm an atheist.

I recommend not lying to your parents, but not feeling like you have to make a big announcement either. They'll get the idea, plus since you didn't make a big statement about it, they won't have to make a big statement about their opinion of it. They won't feel like they have to do something to make you see the light.

If you do it the gradual way, also, by the time that they realize you're an atheist, they know that you're serious about it, and that it's not just some phase you're going through.

But give it a few years, and if you still want to make a big announcement, do so when you're not dependant on them-- just in case.

I completely agree. Never lie. There's not reason you cannot be a moral person that your parents would be proud of, and still not believe in any god. If they ask, tell them, but do not volunteer. If they love you, then they love YOU, not your religion. Your religion should make about as much difference to them as the clothes you wear.