Agnostic.com

6 2

Did anyone experience the “intervention”?

Did anyone experience the “intervention” once they told their family and friends about their beliefs?

TonyW 4 May 14
Share

Enjoy being online again!

Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.

Create your free account

6 comments

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

1

No problems here in Europe - nobody gives a damn what you are.

1

I did. Never knew my father, an atheist, and was raised Southern Baptist by my mom. Before I realized the truth, I converted to Baha'i-ism in my teens. That's when the intervention happened. Funny enough, not from my mother, but my Evangelical Baptist aunt. She thought that I was becoming a Satanist or something, the way she talked. Now that I know the truth, it is kind of hilarious to recall her baseless fears and concerns. But, at the time, she was just scary and half-crazed, ranting loudly and vehemently about how I was going to Hell and going to burn for all eternity in a lake of fire... I guess she didn't see it coming or remember my baptism was postponed and ultimately called off after my three month old self peed on the pastor and into the holy water on the first attempt. Either way, Baha'i-ism was an upgrade spiritually, and no matter what she said, I wasn't turning back. In the end, I weened myself off of religion and finally made the choice to not believe anything that didn't make sense. Eventually leading to my lack of belief in any god or gods. Life has only gotten better since, spiritually speaking (if that's what you want to call it).

1

No, I never shared my views with them.

That’s an options as well. It was my family’s persistence about praying when I wanted their brain or experience or heart. Sans magical sky guy

1

After I told my family I was an atheist I took a trip out to California to visit my parents and my sister. While I was there my sister took the opportunity to express her disapproval in no uncertain terms. At least she did it in private so my parents did not see how vile she was.

I’m sorry that happened. How are things with your sister now?

@TonyW Things are more normal. She seems to have accepted my lack of belief.

1

Sort of...not nearly as bad as I thought it would have been. I "came out" as Agnostic to my family after my dad emailed me about being a lukewarm Christian. I had stopped referring to myself as a Christian about 5 years before that but never called myself anything else either. Once he emailed me, I was like whelp... time to "come clean"..and I let him know I was no longer a Christian. I went to lunch with my mom a few months later and she asked me why and all these other questions but was actually pretty cool about the whole thing. She really just wanted information. Didnt try to preach or "save" me like I thought would have happened. I don't see them often because I am 1500 miles away but when we are together it doesnt feel different to me except they don't ask me to pray at meal time.

Not to steal the thunder from anyone “coming out” about their sexuality, but I felt emense anxiety when I shared the truth about myself. I have a loving family but I couldn’t verify if they would try to pray the Satan our of me or drastically change our interactions.

@TonyW I agree. My parents were missionaries overseas at the time so it was done over email which made things so much easier.

7

My mother put my brother up to it. We met at the Waffle House before he left back to Texas. After food he began to grill me on how we were raised and what was “true”. I sort of engaged passively with what had always been my core beliefs, despite being raised in the church. I also explained how much happier I was not being my self-persecutor due to my lack of faith. He reported to our mother that I was not crazy, just different as usual.

TonyW Level 4 May 14, 2018
Write Comment
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:80937
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.