My parents

[Amethyst]

So I was visiting my parents tonight because my dad was going to glue my car's mirror back on for me after it had fallen off (it broke last year, and someone bumped it yesterday in my parking lot at work). We were talking about religion and my stepmom admitted that she thought the Bible was a fairy tale (her exact words).

 

I think that my parents are closet agnostics, but don't want to admit it to themselves, particularly because their families are so religious. My stepmom's family is very Catholic, and my dad's is mostly Lutheran, except for my fundy Baptist aunt & uncle & their kids.

 

Well, at least I am glad they don't think I am totally nuts.

[dynomatastic]

That is good, I wish my mother would see it The Bible that way. She holds on to every word as if it is real (6 day creation, fire and brimstone ending, and everything in between). It's hard to hold my tounge sometimes when I hear her talk, but I somehow manage to do it.

[Loren]

That's great to hear, Amethyst! It sounds almost like a tacit invitation to discuss things rationally. After all the other stories we read on this site about how family react to apostacy, it's very refreshing to hear about what your mom said.

 

Perhaps you could approach this from a sort of social "conspiracy of three" angle. Maybe your folks would love to be able to have a relationship with you where at least you three can speak truth with each other. It might be as welcome with them as it would be with you.

[Amethyst]

I'm usually very honest with my parents. In fact, my dad has described me as being honest to a fault.

 

But if they are more Universalist or even Agnostic, I'd like to hear them admit it in front of the other relatives so I don't have to feel like the black sheep of the family and work hard at keeping my mouth shut all the time during family gatherings.