I am an atheist and have not been to Church in a few years. My mom wants the whole family to go to church on mother's day as our "gift" to her, but she knows I'm an atheist and how grossly offensive I find church. Do I comprisme my principals and do something that I think is akin to giving a heroin junkie more drugs, or do I just suck it up and go?
2007-05-05 18:08:27 · 41 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I should have explained more why I object going.
1)It's not my mind I am worried about being warped, it's hers. By playing along she will be furthered deluded.
2)But by going am I not rewarding this manipulative behavior?
2007-05-05 18:59:11 · update #1
Think of it this way...if someone were getting married in a pentacostal church and you were catholic would you still go?
Most would go for the person...not necessarily the place/surroundings...no matter how hard it is to swallow.
Although I think its kind of rude for them to put you in that positions...but hey what are moms for eh...gotta love em'
I personally would suck it up and go and hope it's catholic (1 hour) as opposed to a 2+ hour service.
You can always sing Manamana while you sit there...
picture this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC9FtLQJoGM
and you will get through it!!
2007-05-05 18:14:55 · answer #1 · answered by Rasta 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I am an athiest too. I think you are not a mature atheist though to realize that apathy is the most effective way of showing your contempt towards the church. Why should a bunch of walls and a statue bother you? I would go and not care whether I am in a church or not. Just don't do what they ask you to do. Kind of just give them a blank stare.
You can be an athiest and still apprciate the beauty of the architecture of a church just like you would appreciate the beauty of any other building. For you it's all the same.
On the other hand, it's your mother and it means alot to her.
So don't lose this opportunity and just let her know that you are only doing it for her.
2007-05-05 18:19:19 · answer #2 · answered by Tourang B 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You are an atheist, so why can't you take the whole church thing in stride? Just treat church as another place you visit.
Being an atheist means you do not believe in god, so a church is just a church, another place on earth.
Put it this way, give a normal person some heroin, that does not make him a drug addict. So when a drug addict pushes some drugs to the normal person, he just take it and throw it away, he does no inject it into his vein or smoke it.
2007-05-05 18:16:58 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you are just scared going to Church. If your mum is practising her religion she must have taken you with her when you were little. Burring your head in the sand is not a solution and attending church briefly will not change your principles. What about having to attend her funeral one day, would that be another occasion you will be debating whether you'll go to church again?
Go to Church on mums' day and make her happy. Its only one hour of the whole day. Your mum cannot be compared to a heroin addict; I hardly think she is so useless . I am sure she is a kind person who will not encourage you to do things that are harmful to you.
2007-05-05 18:40:54 · answer #4 · answered by ziffa 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on how strongly you feel about it. Personally, I would go for mom's sake; put a big smile on, make her happy, not give any money, it only costs a little bit of time and makes the old broad have a nicer mother's day. If it *really* is like giving heroin to a junkie, screw the old broad. Give her a foot massage when she gets home and be done with it.
2007-05-05 18:13:27 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am an atheist also, but every year my sister invites me to her church for their "Christmas by Candlelight" thing. I go solely to make her happy, and I enjoy making her happy. This is my opinion, but I think you should go for your mother's sake. I don't feel I'm compromising my principals when I do this, I just feel like I'm doing something special for someone I love, and there's nothing wrong with that. If you are going to be an atheist in the years to come, you will come to learn that respect for others means giving of yourself sometimes. Yeah, hon....suck it up.
2007-05-05 18:20:03 · answer #6 · answered by Petrushka's Ghost 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think if your mom is pushing this yet knows your beleifs it is more of a power struggle on her end then anything.
Couple options are "Go and laugh hysterically during the entire service...dont forget to make monkey faces at the preacher"
No not really just trying to lighten your mood...some stress relief. If it were me I wouldnt go as like I said I dont think this is about church anymore but rather a test from your mother to see if she can still make you do what she want you to do. (and I am not saying your mother is a bad person...I think she is just being a mother...ie all moms still want a degree of power over thier kids)
2007-05-05 18:17:04 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
this i a good question. i hope this helps. my religion is islam. in the quran it states you must obey your mother and do everything in your power to make her happy. this is what ever religion she is. even if she is an athiest. the only time that you do not have to obey her is if she is commanding you to do something that is against your religion. my step mother is a christian just as i used to be. i find church filled with a bunch of hipocraites etc..... but it does not mean i can not accompany her. there is a story in my religion where a man was carrying his mother to hajj on his back. in his mind he wished his mother would die so he did not have to deal with her any more. on the surface it appeared to the angels that he was going to go to heaven but allah stated that he was not on the right path because of his thoughts. islam is a religion based on intentions. so the whole point to this story was you are supposed to value your mother until the ends of the earth. try your hardest to make her happy. you do not have to pray while in the church and you do not have to believe what ever is said to you. but it is a good thing to do to make your mother happy so go ahead. ps i was not trying to convert you i am just trying to give you some insight on how to make your mother happy
2007-05-05 18:29:27 · answer #8 · answered by wedjb 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's only an hour or so out of your life - it's not as if it's going to harm you or warp your mind to go.
I find it rather interesting to attend different services. It's not something I do very often (there's only so much boredom I can take - especially while hungover), but it can be fascinating.
Someday I'd like to attend a Jewish or Moslem service, but I'd need to find someone to take me - I'm not real comfortable just wandering in off the street.
2007-05-05 18:14:32 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends. It is a little bit emotionally manipulative of your mom to do this. She's using the holiday to try to get you to change your mind and to have one last shot at preaching to you.
I can see both things being ethical. Going and not going. Could you work some kind of compromise? Say "Well, my surprise will be at the house after church" and spend the time they're at chruch making a really nice breakfast for your family?
2007-05-05 18:12:39 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋