Atheists and Agnostics please??

Question

Im just curious.....do your family, friends, etc. know about your beliefs? I am christian but questioning my faith. Now wait, Im not asking for a "conversion" here! Im just wondering? I know my family would flip out just on the fact that Im "questioning"!! So I was just wondering what your experiences with your family and friends have been like??

Answer 1

Well, I was lucky. My family was cool about it. They weren't thrilled, but they're very open-minded people, and are really of the belief that it's your acts that determine whether or not you go to Heaven, not whether or not you *believe* the right thing. They know that I'm a good person.
They also know that my beliefs are not something that I take lightly. They know that I researched, and studied, and questioned for a long time before determining that I didn't believe in the existence of God. I think they would have been more upset if they thought that I didn't take it seriously.

Answer 2

I would say that most if not all of my friends know that I am an atheist. They have all been very accepting and often times interested in my beliefs. Many times when I tell a friend that I am atheist they have a lot of questions because atheism is not very prominent in the Bible Belt, where I live. Many people around here actually do not know what an atheist actually is (being that it is a person who does not believe in supreme beings...not a devil worshiper). I have had almost no problems what so ever with my friends being accepting of my beliefs.

As far as my family goes - only my father knows that I am atheist and perhaps his wife, my stepmother. My mom and I are very close but she is Catholic and set in her ways. I have not yet told her I am an atheist but I'm sure I will some day and I think she has somewhat of an idea. As for the rest of my family, we are not quite as close as my parents and I so religion is never really discussed but I dont think I would have a problem being open about my atheism with them.

Answer 3

I was brought up without religion and left to make my own choices. My mother (now in her fifties) is becoming religious and I'm extending her the same courtesy of just letting her get on with it. It's a personal choice and should not be influenced by what others think.

You cannot deny your own thoughts, feelings and experiences because somebody else (no matter how close to you they are) tells you they are wrong. Your interpretations of what evidence of God(s), force(s), spirit(s) and scientific information are able to be presented are as valid as anybody elses.

Nobody knows the truth. Some facts are fairly proveable, but none utterly disprove another.

Your family should understand your choices and allow you the freedom to be your own person. Anything else shows a lack of basic respect a person should show to a total stranger. If those closest to us cannot do this, what hope is there for the rest of the world?

I find that most religious people who are intelligent have a sense of humour and an openess to accept differing points of view when it comes to discussion of faith and origins. It tends to be the stupid ones who cling fervently to antiquated scriptures and have no analytic thoughts of their own who are most pig-headed about it all. I often consider that if there were a God, s'he would want people to exercise the fullness of their intelligence - even if it was flawed and that the ultimate purpose of God would be for people to reach a stage where God was redundant. But that's just me.

You must go your own way, or die inside.

Answer 4

I have not told most of my family yet, as I don't want to cause my mother further emotional upset. My cousin knows as he and I have philosophical discussions quite often, I'm pretty sure my Dad has figured things out, and my grandmother thinks that I'm lost and must be saved. Oh, and my brother knows, because we discuss religion and politics and whatnot regularly.

My mom has been Catholic all her life and is also a scientist (how that works I'm not exactly sure) but I do not want to tell her because I think she would become very sad and feel like she has failed, even though it's not her responsibility. Perhaps I shall tell her when I go home to visit, but I certainly don't intend to tell her over the phone or via email.

I don't have many friends, but that is not because of the atheism. I went to a Catholic school for thirteen years so all of my friends from home are Catholic. My cousin, whom I mentioned earlier, finds it interesting; my childhood best friend thinks I'm a bit dim and going to hell. Another of my friends doesn't get it but she thinks it's cool. I was an "out" atheist in my senior year of high school last year, and when my classmates and I would have philosophical discussions that interested us or partook in the mandatory theology classes, some of them got very irritated. One said "That's ridculous! How could anyone be an atheist when god is so obvious?" and another said "God says we're either for or against him. Atheists are against god, because they refuse to believe in him. So, atheists are of the devil. Why do you follow Satan?"

Answer 5

Yes, they do. They think I might "get over it" someday, but they are otherwise supportive of me.

I'm glad to hear that you are questioning your faith. Maybe someday, you'll actually deconvert. That would be a good thing.

My parents didn't flip out when I told them, but all parents are different. They, at least, allowed me to question my faith. Religions, in general, don't like the questioning of faith because they really don't have good answers. Religion relies on emotional control. They'll use arguements like, "Don't you just feel there has to be a god?", "Remember, Jesus died for you!", "Don't you want God's love?", and other emotional hooks. This is effective, because humans have been emotional animals for far longer than we've been rational ones.

Good luck on your journey.

Answer 6

Yes they do. I wouldn't say they exactly support it, but they understand my reasons.
I am an atheist, my parents are agnostic, and the rest of my family are all practicing Anglicans. My fathers family were all Presbyterian and this is how we were raised, to value work, family and God - I just dropped the last part
Religion is rarely an issue with us, we sometimes debate it but we all value our relationships with each other more than a difference of opinion

Answer 7

My mom knows what I believe and accepts me for it because she feels the same way. We both believe in a higher power, God if you will, but we also think that the Bible is just a man written book with a bunch of rules. My dad on the other hand is another story. Although he doesn't go to church half as much as he used to and he doesn't talk about God as much I know he would flip out if I just outright said I didn't believe in the Bible. I won't hide it if he asks me about my beliefs but I'm kind of scared to be the one to bring it up to him. I think he already has a clue though because of some of the things I say on a daily basis so maybe that's why he doesn't bring it up to me. He and I both know that it would turn into a huge argument. Sad but true.

Answer 8

My parents are dead. Before they passed, I tried to spare them the heartbreak of knowing what I believed, to no avail. My mother did the guilt trip thing but accepted nonetheless. My only surviving family member is my brother who is an agnostic, so there are no issues there.

Your belief is your's alone and the influence of others should have no bearing. This doesn't mean you have to flaunt it if you know they would be hurt by such things.

Answer 9

Well most of my friends do. Most of them share it. But I would not make it a point to tell everyone.

My parents were really weird about it. When I was about 13 I decided to tell them. My intro was that I didn't want to go to church anymore. They said OK and dropped it. I guess they either knew, or didn't really want to know. But that was about 30 years ago and it has never come back up.

I mean they must have a pretty good idea by now.

Answer 10

It was very hard for me to tell my family (christians) that I questioned my way out of the religion. I never told them that I was questioning at the time, only after I had finally realized the truth did I tell them. I have compared it to a gay person telling thier family that they are gay. Though, depending on the families views, either one could be easier.