Why do my parents think I'm an atheist? WHAT'S THEIR DEAL? LOL?

[fitche]

I consider myself to be just a regular theist and not an atheist. It seems like a person has to be part of a religious cult to be considered a theist. I'm not a Christian, Muslim, Jew or anything else. I just believe at least one deity exists. Atheists don't believe in a deity. That's the only difference between me and an atheist. I actually enjoy being around atheists most of the time because they're usually critical thinkers and very open-minded people. We enjoy a little thing called the "Socratic method". Most religious cults aren't familiar with this method; go figure. My parents are Christians, and they don't understand why I'm not. Why would I want to be a Christian though? Christians do the opposite of what their God tells them to do. They drink, do drugs, have premarital sex, break the law and do everything else their God says not to do. That's what my parents do, but then they go to church on Sunday to ask their God for forgiveness? Give me a break! lol. My dad and stepmom think I'm an atheist because I told them I wasn't a Christian. Why is it that atheists can believe I'm a theist, but not Christians? Even atheists don't consider guys like me to be abnormal. They just know I have a faith, and there's nothing wrong with that as long as I don't condemn others for not having a faith. Your thoughts?

[dennie18]

I am a Catholic. I am a lapsed Catholic. I don't attend Mass, I don't believe that married couples should forego birth control or that sex is purely for procreation. I don't believe that gay people should be denied the opportunity to marry, if two men marry, it doesn't change my marriage one bit. I find the Church sexist and out dated, and I can see it dying out, more rapidly than people suspect. In Ireland, when I was young, there were typically 4 priests per parish. Now, there are two.
I consider myself agnostic. I don't know what lies beyond this universe or this life, if anything. I don't know what the afterlife is, though I do believe in one. I don't believe that there is a God who watches over us, though I do believe that there may be a divine presence outside what we know as the Universe, but he/she/it has no direct interaction with us, and never has. I don't believe that Jesus was the Son of God, I think he was a normal man who was a product of his time. I believe that there is a grain of truth in all faiths. That each person is a combination of three things - the physical, the spiritual and the ego, the physical dies and is gone forever, satisfying the atheists, the spiritual elevates to the afterlife, satisfying the religious who believe in Heaven or a similar place, and the ego, which passes onto the next physical form, which satisfies those who believe in reincarnation. The physical is our body, the spiritual is all that makes us us, and the ego is the sense of 'I' or 'Me' when all else is stripped away. I believe that the afterlife is an abstract, spiritual 'place', no fluffy clouds, pearly gates and angels with wings, and we all have to face the people we wronged in life and suffer punishment by the crowd, not by some guy sitting outside the Gates of Heaven with all your details written in a big book.
I live my life with a sense of morals - treat others in a way you would like them to treat you. You don't need to obey every commandment in the book or be able to quote bible verse to be a good person. Like you say, often the most religious and devout are the ones who hurt the most people. The religious nuts who condemn gay people, or fight wars and kills thousands, even millions all in the name of their faith. And the lunatics who think that you're going to rot in hell if you don't believe exactly what they believe in. Life would be so much easier if religion was a taboo subject, not something spoken about outside the family home, never discussed and never EVER celebrated en masse.
Do what feels right to you, conforming to suit others will do you no good. As long as you live a good life and not hurt others, it doesn't matter what you believe in. People won't remember me for being a good Catholic, but I hope they remember me for being a good person. I raise my children with morals and they are sweet and beautiful people, yet they've never been to Mass. I dare someone to tell me that those innocent kids are destined to an eternity of agony and remorse.
I agree with you, I find that the more intelligent, best educated and open minded people in society are the ones least likely to be devout in their faith. There's nothing wrong with finding that what they believe in gels best with you.

[delton]

I think I don't give a hoot in Hell about your piddly little problems. Hey, you asked.

[dodya]

It's not because they are Christians it is because they do not understand the fact that someone they "brought up" could not follow the ideas of them. Now i myself am a very Open minded catholic( don't see to many of me) and i believe everyone has there own rights and shouldn't be categorized an atheist just because they don't believe in 1 religion. I mean god made us with a free mind to chose what we can do, no strings controlling us we all have rights,and have decisions to make, your parents should allow you to think through religion, It's a life choice and it's up to you to chose it. Though I may be on the gray area of religion, I'm sure the two other sides will love this post as a way to go on a random nonsense rant to say either your bad or good but really I think your parents should understand b4 they judge you.

[caelin]

I consider myself Christian, but I am an open minded Christian and probably do not believe the exact same things most Christians do. It sounds like your parents are pretty unfamiliar with any religion or belief other than their own. They see religion as black and white, you either are Christian or you are another religion or Atheist. They don't understand that there is so much grey area there! Even a lot of Christians don't believe everything in the bible is true. For example, a lot of Christians realize it is pretty unlikely that the earth was created in 7 days and that we all descended from 2 people (Adam and Eve), but those people still call themselves Christian.

Here's the thing, it's a belief and everyone has the right to believe what they want. You are being just as critical as they are by calling religions a "cult". Judging others beliefs really gets you no where because in the end they won't likely change their beliefs, it will just end in an argument that accomplishes nothing.

As I said I am Christian, I don't go to church because I am perfect, I go to church because I'm NOT perfect. I sin just like everyone else, I don't expect to walk through those church doors and be instantly forgiven, I just want to hear the words the pastor speaks and use them to improve myself.

That being said, explain to your parents that you are not Atheist, you do believe in God, but you just aren't sure you believe in everything else and that you hope they can be understanding and non judgmental of that and you will be non-judgmental of their beliefs as well.

[reid]

I'm sorry that your parents have set a bad example of what Christians are. Real Christians genuinely strive to please God and do His will. Of course, we're all sinners, and everybody messes up and sins sometimes, but you know, still. Most of us don't do that stuff... Or at least try not to. I think you've just been hanging around the wrong kind of Christians. I wish more people could see how we really are, and what we really try to be for God, instead of the bad apples in the bunch and the stereotypes.