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I just had a mind blowing conversation with my fundamental christian mother. We discussed the bible, evolution, the universe, and other light subjects.

She tearfully admitted that she does not believe the bible to be infallible. She said that it was obviously, "too full of man".

She politely asked me to stop because I was, "crumbling the last foundations of her faith".

I informed her that I wasn't attempting to do that, but that I was glad she was willing to talk about it with me.

I never thought this day would come.

She told me that she thought I was very intelligent and thoughtful and that she admired me.

Up until today, I was only described as wayward and sinful.

Oh, happy day!

Donotbelieve 9 Sep 13
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134 comments (101 - 125)

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1

Mixed feelings.... I'm glad you and mom had a revelation together.

1

I'm happy for you, truth has a way of shinning through being not born from deception.?
Fourty two is the answer to life the universe and everything anyhow ?

1

Where there is faith i shall bring doubt!

Were their is faith I will show you some one who has been brainwashed and or indoctrinated in to talking like an idiot.

1

This is heart-breakingly beautiful. Thanks for sharing it with us! 🙂

1

Lovely!

1

Sorry that you had to give up only being wayward and sinful ? But, I bet it was a great feeling to be able to communicate with your mother that way!

1

Wow, I would say that's great step in to the right direction ! At least mom was open minded enough to a point.
I had a great conversation with my JW friend today. She's going to be one of us in no time !
She felt so cheated after our conversation ! Cults are very powerful ! I was a JW kid thanks to my mother.

1

Having parents of faith when you're not is almost always fraught. You wish they would come to the point of leaving the faith, but you never wish for the crisis of faith that often accompanies that transition.
A couple years ago, I saw signs that my mother was experiencing a crisis of faith. I was hopeful that it would result in her eventually walking away from her fundamentalism and I felt guilty for wishing for it. However, it turned out to be extremely short lived and she's deeper than ever.
Either way, I'm glad you were able to have this moment of understanding with your mother and I hope it might strengthen your relationship.

1

You've reached your quota for a couple years now.

godef Level 7 Sep 13, 2018

@Donotbelieve You go girl!

1

My grandmother was a hateful southern baptist. On her death bed she realized that she was a bad person all of her life and asked me to apologize to those that she she was hateful towards. I am glad that you seem to be connecting positively with your mother. It is a tough go to realize that everything that you knew to be true is now in question. Give her big hugs and lots of love.

@linxminx I do not know. I could tell you stories though. ?

1

Congratulations! I somewhat know the feeling as I have seen a few people crumble as a result of similar discussions with me. This reminds me of a long series of discussions I had with a hard core Catholic who asserted (among other things) "All gays should be placed on a small island so god can kill them." After dozens of hours over many weeks, the day after I changed tactics and decided to complement him on every one of his positive attributes; the conclusion of that session he left assuring me he would carefully examine my points. The next day I found him in a corner of the stairway going down to the men's health center (higher priced luxury locker room) at the YMCA (my theist hunting ground). He was curled in the fetal position and supported by the two concrete walls. I decided not to debate him that day.

1

Excellent! My Christian mother once made an odd remark, long after I was an adult, regarding religion. That remark (don't remember what it was) caused me to ask her outright if she believed that Jesus Christ was her lord and savior. She said "no" and when I said something about her not being a Christian she was quick to tell me "Of course I'm a Christian". No wonder I'm a non-believer.

OCJoe Level 6 Sep 13, 2018
1

It takes time but appears that you are finally making progress. My stepdad told me once that if I am right it means he has no future. Go figure.

1

Happy day for you, the fact that she has opened her mind to the possibility that everything in the bible is not true is just the first step for her. It must be hard for her to face the fact that everything she has always believed in is not infallible after all. She is able to rationalise in her head that is due to manmade mistakes in the writing of it rather than the message itself being wrong. Doubt has crept in and that is the first step towards considering that the whole thing might just be wrong, Take things slowly, and hopefully after more discussions with her she may see more of your point of view. I am sure it must have been a wonderful change to hear your mother say these lovely words in your praise. I feel like giving you a hug too.

@Donotbelieve Thank you, I mean them.

1

I'm glad something you feel is positive happened between you and your mother. Cherish that.

1

Wow !!! People can change sometimes.

Ohub Level 7 Sep 13, 2018
1

Wow! I wish more people would see the light...

1

Nice. I never had such talks. My family was never big on god.

1

When I point obviously discrepancies to my mother she is I never thought of it that way. I can't even count how many people I know that are nieve with the religious insanity.

1

Congratulations! It sounds like it was a very civil and thoughtful discussion. These are not always possible, even with family. It seems you may have breached a barrier to understanding. Now all you need to do is show her how to fill that void of faith with an acceptance of reality and why that isn’t a bad thing. Little steps at a time.

0

I hope your mother realizes that she does not need a false belief to be a good person and a loving mother. She's perfect without any need for any god. Let her know that being the great mother she is makes her special, period.

0

I hope your relationship goes well!

0

A mother's love is a blessing

@Donotbelieve here I was thinking you had a reconciliation evidently not.How thoughtless I was to be happy for you if you did.

0

That's awesome, thankfully my parents have always been supportive but we've had minor disagreements over the decades.

Reuniting and drawing closer together is awesome, I'm glad and impressed you did so with a fundamentalist parent!

0

Some headway. Good.

@Donotbelieve Sorry.

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