I was wondering if atheism runs in families? In other words, if your parents or siblings believe in God, is it because their parents did not and would that trickle down into your own beliefs. What about the people who just don't believe in God even though their parents do? Would that cause arguments and how would you handle it?
As for me, my parents believe in God and I am very curious what would happen if I walked up to my mother tomorrow and said "Mom, I love you, but I don't believe in God". LOL. What do you think would happen if you told your parents this? I am very interested in knowing.
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Actually my parents already know about me being an atheist. They themselves have doubts about the true existence of such beings. There's the story about how man came to earth but those stories now are being explained as extra terrestrials which may also explain the reason why people have believed in god, because they don't understand at first how should such beings be called.
Because of my cultural background, I generally avoid arguments with my parents as it's deemed to be disrespectful. It can be tricky at times though. Saying that, I've had discussions (not arguments) with my parents about religion and other matters.
My parents are Christians (Roman Catholic) and I was raised one. I no longer consider myself to be one. My siblings are though. I'm not sure if my grandparents were Christians. I think they might have been.
I've never told my parents I don't consider myself Christian. I'm not sure how they'd react. I have varying sets of beliefs and tend to go with what resonates with me. I'm like that with music too - if I hear a song and like it, I like it. Genre/artist doesn't matter as much to me. I don't think my parents would understand all that so it's best to keep schtum.
In my opinion everyone have their own belief and should be given all the freedom to leave their own life.
And their is nothing wrong in being an Atheist, until your ethics are not hurting anyone, But once you start to preach being Atheist, Its would be like an communial war in house.
I never indulge in any debate with anyone on this, and If I do, I feel I am trying to prove my point or thrust my perspective onto others, juts like the non-atheists do!
Why most atheist think that non-atheists are trying to force their religion upon them? I'm Christian, but I do not give a flying fork about what other people believe in.
You're just one Christian out of many, unfortunately, the ones that want to force their religion are louder than the ones that doesn't really care.
When I was young my mother brought me to the church every sunday.But now I'm old enoght to decide, I'm not christian and we have talked about it sometimes, but these were not really arguments...
I was born into a Christian family and I don't have close relatives who are non-Christians or atheists, so there has never been an issue about religion in our family. But if let's say I'm an atheist, I don't think that would be a problem. Although I have relatives who are devoted Christians, they don't go around trying to convert other people into Christianity. As for my parents, they aren't very religious, like me. So yeah, I don't think being an atheist would be a problem.
I grew up in a house that never went to church. My mom is a non-practicing Baptist and my dad is a non-practicing Catholic. Religion is never discussed. I found Christianity on my own when I was 18. And I tried to live by the ways I thought god would want. Before I turned 18, I was an atheist because of the bad things that happened to me. I didn't really understand atheism at that time. Now I do. And I can assure you that even though my parents are non-practicing, they would be ashamed. It's like an unspoken agreement to them that everyone should believe in god. At the same time, I'm not going to waste my life worshipping a god that cannot be proven to exist, except for a book that could've been written by some poor person who was a good storyteller. And not even that good, to be honest. Especially when you look into all the contradictions in the bible. I have a problem with people trying to push their beliefs (not facts) on me because I would never push atheism at them. I would state my point if they wanted to hear it. You have to think for yourself. You only live once and only you can make the decision on how you want to live this life.
I'm also having problem on how to open to my parents that I'm no longer a christian so I'm just keeping my mouth shut.
I observed that some atheist are previously christians. They turned into atheism due to the bad experiences they had in life. I'm wondering, what if everything in their life were smooth sailing, would they become an atheist by then?
I had several trials and pains, and I must admit that they are one of the reasons why I turned away from christianity. Aside from that, I became a seeker and found out how hypocrite religions were. Any one in the same boat?
A big part of my decision was because of bad experiences, that is true. I think I would've eventually got wise to the idea of a "loving god" without bad experiences. All you have to do is look at society at large. Look at Africa. Those children are starving to death. No matter how mad my true parents got, they wouldn't deprive me of food. In the time of Noah, god destroyed all of humanity/animals alike except for two of each kind. Why did he do this? Because he wanted to essentially start over. With all the crime, rape, murder, etc...why wouldn't he want to "start over" now? And if he truly loved his "children," why would he allow them to be raped, etc? I was molested (raped) for about 12 years. What did that do to help anybody? How did that help me? It didn't. It turned me into the person you see now. The one that wants real answers. The person that seeks truth instead of beating myself up because a few things I did didn't please god.
I used to have arguments with my parents about it but now they respect my views and as long as i respect theirs there should be no problem at all.
I had a lots of problems with my parents because i was raised a christian and when I denied their religion they almost stopped talking to me. But then with time they at least have come to realize that I have the right to think what i want to think as long as I do no harm to anyone. They can see that I am a good person and this makes it easier for them to accept my denial of religion.
Maybe some generations from now people wont have to feel like outsiders for questioning ridiculous religious doctrines.
My Grandmother refused to acknowledge it, but she was raised very religious. My other Grandmother was Catholic as well, but where we are from that is edging into Santeria, and so she would just light a candle and slaughter a dove in hopes that I would find "the truth". Her son, my Father, is not religious at all but views religion as a negative force of shame, guilt and control and therefore rejects it outright (he's right in many ways). My mother knows better than to argue with me, and knows that her beliefs are illogical, but also knows the fallacy of perspective in logic (she's a smart woman) so we just agree to disagree. I'm not sure if she believes, so much as admires, her religion.
Basically, we're all cool with it. We're all scientists, lol.