Atheists & Family: Problems, Conflicts, Resolutions

Questioning a religion you have grown up with and to which your family continues to adhere can be a very difficult thing to face. Contemplating the possibility that you might abandon your family's religion can be even more daunting. Nevertheless, it is something which many people do go through in their lives and which every devoutly religious...

So, you've decided that you cannot rationally or reasonably continue with the religion which you have always been involved in and which your family continues to belong to. Indeed, you can't even continue to call yourself a theist anymore - you find belief in the existence of God to be unreasonable for one reason or another have to abandon the...

Unfortunately, not every family is very accepting of people rejecting their religion; rejecting belief in a god altogether can be even more difficult. You've told your family that you are an atheist, but like many families, they aren't reacting well and things are going badly for you. Figuring out what to do next is very difficult.

This sort of situation occurs more often with young atheists than with adults - perhaps it is because young people do go through a number of "phases" during which they explore various ideas, philosophies and positions. Although term "phase" is used in a derogatory manner here, it shouldn't be.

Although this is a situation which tends to occur more often with young people living at home than with adults, atheists of all ages still have to contend with religious families who want you to maintain the outward appearance of religiosity, asking you to hide what you really think and act as though you were still a theist.

Although this is a situation which affects young people living at home more than adults, atheists of all ages still have to contend with religious families who want you to maintain the outward appearance of religiosity and pretend as if you were still religious. Some atheists don't mind and some may even enjoy some aspects of church services, like the music...

One problem faced by many atheists whose families object to atheism is the idea that you may be a bad influence on others in the family, particularly younger siblings, nieces, nephews, etc. Your family thinks that you are on a bad path and they don't want you to cause others to follow you. It's important to understand that, from their...

Although this seems to happen more often with young people living at home than adults, atheists of all ages can face families who want you to 'return to the fold' - renounce your atheism and become again a religious theist. The first thing to understand is that they are not doing this out of malice - no one who tries to convert you is doing so because they hate you or wish you ill.

What can secular, skeptical, atheist, and freethinking parents do to encourage their children's intellectual, emotional, and psychological growth (but hopefully without overburdening them and denying them unstructured free time)? What sorts of activities would you suggest for children to do on their own, thereby learning independence, and for...

It's not surprise that many atheists would go to religious services occasionally, since atheists tend to have religious family members, but why would any atheists or agnostics go to religious services once a week or more?