Am I the only one who hides my atheism from my grandma?

She is such a zealot; she'd never understand. 

 

Who do you hide your nonexistent religious views from? 

 

 

Hi! I just joined everyone. :P I hope to really like this place! Hello everyone! :D

Danny.

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Permalink Reply by Kris Potter on April 12, 2011 at 10:27pm
If confronted I would respond truthfully about my lack of beliefs and the utter absurdity I find that it is to hold any positive belief in any God. I don't advertise my non belief though as it's pretty tiring to talk about all the things you don't believe in, and no one has ever asked me. When awkward situations arise though, like saying grace and religious overtones I play along. Thats the least I can do
Permalink Reply by James on April 12, 2011 at 10:30pm
My grandparents don't know either. I'm not sure how much they'd care, but I worry in the back of my mind about how they could react health-wise.
Permalink Reply by Akshay Bist on April 12, 2011 at 10:41pm
Well I never outed myself as an atheist to my family, but they kinda figured it out through my actions. No one is made a really big deal about it, which is quiet surprising as my family is pretty religious. On the whole I don't tread on any toes, just try to stay out of the way during any religious ceremonies & wait outside when they go in a temple.
Permalink Reply by Justine Robinson on April 12, 2011 at 10:59pm
I have not told my relatives on either side of the family. With my dad's side I have an uncle who is agnostic/atheist so I will probably " come out" to that side of the family when we get together again. But on my mom's side they are church goers and my cousins go on missionaries during the summer, so I might just suppress my feelings around them. With my grandparents only the ones on my dad's side is still living my grandparents only bring up the bible minuscule amounts of times(not enough for me to complain). I just nod along since they are getting older now and I do not want my last visit to be in bad standings.
Permalink Reply by IEatDinosaurMeat on April 13, 2011 at 2:38am

It's tiring, and annoying, but needs to be done.

 

The thing is, it comes to a point where it's priorities that need to be evaluated. Unfortunately many religious family members would rather you play religious than actually know the real you. I have recently come out of the secularist/agnostic closet to my parents and it wasn't easy, and I don't think they really realize it, or they still want to deny it. The thing is, the way I figure it, if they want a real relationship with me then they need to accept me for who I am, if they don't I can keep faking it, but I'll fake it from a very far distance (currently living in Korea) in order to keep my sanity. It would be tiring to be where most all other beliefs are relentlessly mocked, ranted against, and vilified.

 

And there's my rant!

Permalink Reply by Brandon Cure on April 13, 2011 at 10:42am
My grandma doesn't know. In my family the ones that atheist or agnostic aren't pressured to accept Christ, but religion isn't really discussed with us. Pretty much just my brother, aunt and myself are the only ones though. It's more of a respect for everyone involved.
Permalink Reply by Amber Cantrell on April 13, 2011 at 11:15am
Nope, my grandma is oblivious, and I plan on letting her be blissfully unaware of my lack of faith =)
Permalink Reply by Big Fella on April 13, 2011 at 11:28am

Isn't it awesome that so many people pretend to be somebody else just for the sake of other family member's feelings? Isn't it sweet and caring that people would rather hide their true self then to share who they are with the people that they are family with?

 

To me, it is most definitely not.

 

I'd rather show who I am and hurt a few people's feelings in the process then that I would hide who and what I am. To hide who you are from your family members is a sign of disrespect in my opinion, it's as if you are the judge of what part of you your family members can be trusted with for their sake. Isn't it a more beautiful gesture to be honest and truthful to your family? 

 

But then again, that's my opinion based upon what it would mean to me if I were to hide who and what I am from my family. I can understand that if you don't feel or think this way about it, you might very well have a contrary opinion that is equally valid to you.

Permalink Reply by Scarlette Blues on April 13, 2011 at 11:36am
I'm not really hiding it but my Nana doesn't know. I'm not sure how she will take it but I'm sure she will still love me. She is the one person I can't see cry. On the hand other hand, my Evangelical side of family does not know. They are bible-thumping, tea-party, obama-isn't-a-citizen kind of people. To be honest, I don't really give shit about it. If they decide to disown me when they find it, then so be it. It's just gonna suck on Christmas lol
Permalink Reply by Sarah Emmaly Burgett on April 13, 2011 at 5:16pm
I will NEVER tell my grandmother or grandfather!! they would be too heartbroken.. it sucks but it's a matter of respect for them... especially my grandfather... he's fantastic. Oh and welcome!!
Permalink Reply by CJoe on April 13, 2011 at 11:03pm

My grandfather died recently. He was super worried about my salvation not too long beforehand. I was home for Thanksgiving and he cornered me to ask about it. He started crying. I told him I was saved, but I don't think he believed me. My mom was oblivious to his need to believe I was a Christian, and blabbed it to both grandparents.

My heart breaks when I think of him, just because I know this thing was not resolved. I know he's gone now, and it doesn't hurt him anymore, but I wish his last memory and thought of me could've been positive and happy. I wanted him, of all people, to be pleased with who I had become. I feel like I deeply disappointed him, and that hurts in a way I find hard to express. It's not that he didn't love me after finding out... it's that he loved me so, so much... and only wanted the best for me. Even though I think prayer is useless, there was still something special about knowing he said a prayer for me every, single day. Just knowing I was on his mind every day meant a lot.

Like I said in a different post, I wish my grandma didn't know. I didn't tell her. I feel betrayed that my mom told her.

Permalink Reply by Ryan E. Hoffman on April 13, 2011 at 5:53pm
I hide my atheism from my grandma too. She's a hardcore Catholic. It gives her comfort, and I'd never be able to change her mind anyway. There would be no point in revealing such information.

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