tdekeyser

Nick,

'Ugh' is right. It kills me to see her in so much pain because, yes, she wants her family and I to get along.

The only choice we have is to hope they back off from their faith a bit, but it is unlikely.

Thanks for the concerns as it tells us we are not alone.

I ate Pascal's Wafer

I hate to hear that. I wish her family could see that you are a good person, and that the only difference is that you don't believe in a supreme deity. I hope they come around around some day and accept you as a part of their family, but knowing how some fundies act I find it unlikely as well.

No, you're not alone out there. I can understand your situation. Something similar happened to me, and it nearly cost me my relationship with my girlfriend. My situation didn't involve my girlfriend's parents, but rather directly with her. When I came out as an Atheist she was shocked and hurt because her belief system dictates that I burn in hell for eternity, where we will both be separated. Since I came out she thought that I didn't care about her since if I did I would want to spend eternity with her, wherever that might be. Later on she said she didn't think a relationship between us could be worked out, and we nearly broke up because of it.

With some patience and tact I've managed to keep our relationship going, and she can see where I'm coming from much better now. She understands my view on things, and just recently agreed that she just might be an Atheist too if she didn't have certain emotional experiences. Her originals concerns are nonissues now since that point.

I guess the whole point in all that is that you aren't alone out there. In our society it's tough to meet somebody who is not related in some way to a strong believer of sorts. Our best hope is to remain optimistic and keep a positive outlook on things, and hopefully the strong believers will come to understand our position as the shock wears off.

Ok, remind me not to ramble so much in future posts.

-Nick

Hubble head

Non sequitur? You've never lived outside the bible belt, have you?

I lived off Metcalf for 5 summers behind a car dealership. Kansas City definitely has fanatics - South Central/Wichita-Saline Kansas has some of the freakiest people I've ever met too.

But they were still peaceful. Xians here are border-line militant, IMO. Maybe your's are more militant now too.

It's a big city so there are some bright spots - I plan on checking the freethought church group out in the near future. I am kind of thrown off by the word church, though.

tdekeyser,
The xians in that family are sick. I've felt a similar disgust when my first serious girlfriend's mother told her she couldn't see me after college. I was more agnostic back then.

You're fortunate she's intelligent enough to see what is what. Trust me, the good one's are hard to find.

[ November 22, 2002: Message edited by: science ]

[ November 22, 2002: Message edited by: science ]</p>