How do you live with religious parents who makes you feel spiritually insignificant cause you don't believe?

Question

But you love them nonethless and care about how they feel about you?

Answer 1

Unfortunately, you might have to just bear with it for a while. Just let them know that you care about them, and hopefully they'll eventually accept you more. Point out to them when they say hurtful things to you.

What might help you is to actually learn more about religion. Read the Bible, Koran, and other religious books. That might satisfy your parents some, and provide more fuel to answer their questions. Also, study the history of various religions, including the stuff they don't emphasize in church. Your parents will soon get tired of you having more and better answer than they do.

You might also try talking with your parents about topics, such as morality. Let them know that even though you don't believe in their superstition, you still have a good moral character. Emphasize to them that you don't just follow a list of rules blindly, but really think about what is good and bad and act accordingly. Then if they claim you aren't as "spiritual" as they are, ask them what they really mean by that. Either they'll have real trouble defining what "spiritual" means, or they'll give examples that you'll be able to easily match.

But try not to be too "in your face" about your nonbelief. Let them start dialogs and just go with the flow of it. Try not to get angry at them, because they are really concerned and mostly just want to know that you have your head on straight. If you show that you have really thought out your position, they will eventually come to grudgingly respect it.

Answer 2

What do you mean by "spiritually insignificant"? If you don't believe in any kind of God or spirituality, then what's there to feel insignificant about? If you simply mean that you don't have the same religious beliefs they do, then you'll have to deal with it until you can move out on your own. Just realize that you are likely to have these differences of opinion for the rest of your life, so you better find ways of dealing with it. Maybe just tell them, "My beliefs are different than yours, but that doesn't make me a bad person. I still love you and hope we can get along."

Answer 3

Ask yourself what the lesson is in having parents that make you feel spiritually insignificant. Why do you feel wrong for not believing? Understand that no one can 'make' you feel anything, you are responsible for your emotions, and for your reactions to the words and actions of others.

You can live as a victim and have no power or you can take resposibility and have total power. The choice is yours.


If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice,
Shane

Answer 4

You just have to realize that you have different beliefs. Your parents should not make you feel spiritually insignificant just because you don't have the same beliefs, but of course they're going to worry. Of course you love them, but you need to realize that they're entitled to their beliefs and its ok if you don't believe the same things. Parents can worry too much about keeping their child's soul safe. In fact, I practice the same religion as my parents, just in different ways, and my mom still hassles me. I'm not sure if you could ever convince them that it's ok for you to think differently, but just don't let it get to you and you are in charge of your own spirituality.

Answer 5

It's too bad the parents condemn the children. Maybe that's the reason they stopped believeing in God in the first place. God's love is meant to be unconditional to everyone, not rejecting or putting others down. If your parents are truly believers of God they should show love and compassion not being judgmental.

Answer 6

I had two Pentecostal parents. One was a militaristic bully whose day wasn't complete unless he'd administered a good beating. The other was a hallucinating schizophrenic who imagined airplanes overhead were flying crucifixes and was tortured by fears of unforgivable blasphemy because she could not stop herself from dreaming she was having sex with Jesus Christ. My parents were so totally obsessed with religion I was utterly ashamed of them and never ever brought any of my friends home.

I survived the latter part of my childhood by giving myself a goal to work towards. My goal was to move out and live on my own as soon as possible. I started my secret escape fund when I was about fifteen. Every penny I could scrimp and save went into my secret stash. The thing which really made it work for me was that my escape fund was a total secret from my parents. They couldn't control it because they didn't know that it even existed, and that gave me my first real sense of power over my own destiny. I moved out on my twenty-first birthday with more than five-thousand dollars in my pocket, which was a lot of money for 1968. Once I finally escaped, and was able to manage my own affairs, life became much, much better. There was nothing in my young life so liberating, so fulfilling, as to finally be free of Mom, Dad, and the ever present Jesus.

My suggestion is that you start your own escape fund and begin to develop a sense of control over your own life.

Answer 7

very good question i be conscious of many gay mothers and fathers who're elevating astounding babies .in addition they teach them some thing that regrettably many heterosexual mothers and fathers do not the main suitable values love and tolerance compassion in direction of human beings no count number what their variations are.curiously those human beings additionally do not look to hold close the belief if those babies might desire to not locate mothers and fathers they might proceed to pass down the line of foster care and that's amazingly merciless and unfair to the youngsters.Love is familiar with out obstacles it extremely is in order that unhappy that some human beings have self belief hate is greater substantial than love. Leftspeechless: you're an occasion of genuine lack of understanding information tutor that heterosexual marriages are greater probable to have issues like infidelity abuse etc than gay marriages do.in case you do not have self belief me be at liberty to look IT UP. Your stereotypes are additionally appalling lesbians could be butch so can gay adult men very definitely your generalizations make no experience in any admire.the only element it is known via your remark is your descriminatory factors of perspectives approximately people who're gay.i've got self belief to your pals who're gay they deserve somebody who respects them for what they're and treats them like human beings.

Answer 8

learn to use the bible against them, I'n guessing your family is either catholic or christian? mine still love to throw in my face how " my opinion doesn't count because I don't go to church". SO I got into bible history and archeology and you know what? their bible doesn't job with reality! there's a lot of fun stuff like:

1) ask them how they could let you read a book that had incest in it when you were a kid? lot's daughters and john the baptist's parents were first cousins

2) joshua's conquest of canaan " left not a single survivor" yet after he dies the people ask God in judges " who will be the first to attack canaan?" hello???

3) TWO creation accounts in genesis ( god only makes adam and eve yet there's a woman for Cain to marry in Nod)

4) NO roman record whatsoever of their being a tradition of releasing a prisoner

5) Joshua 1:19 " yaweh was with judah and drove out the inhabitants of the hill country, for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots"
Say WHAT?????? God creates the world but can be stopped by metal? what is he a werewolf???

6) this is my FAVORITE: Matthew 10:7 GO NOT UNTO THE WAY OF THE GENTILES, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

tell them that this verse means their wasting their time because their gentiles!!!:-)


Vin

Answer 9

You basically have to grow a tough skin in regard to that personal opinion.

This, I think, is where some of the nonbeliever sarcastic sense of humor comes from.

Answer 10

thats messed up! i hope you are taking it the wrong way...i hope they arent trying to mean it that way
what is the religion?
tell them how you feel...you are feeling attacked, right?
ill pray for you! :)