If you still live with your parents and suspect that they would react badly: Say nothing. Fake it if you must; otherwise just drift away from church quietly.

If you still live with your parents but they're open-minded types who won't punish you for it: Be gentle. Even if they aren't the type to punish, it could still break their hearts. Reassure them that you are not rejecting THEM just because you no longer believe as they do.

....

If you live on your own and support yourself: You have more options here. You could go minimalist by just saying nothing (this can be fun, by the way - especially if you say nothing even when directly asked! This is how my sister has chosen to be - it really is maddening, how evasive she can be!)

Or, you could go so far the other way! You could bombard them with agnostic literature! Show up on the doorstep with a friend, and hand them pamphlets! Good times!

Ooh! Or you could make a Religion Reveal Cake, like those gender-reveal cakes that were so popular a few years back! Cut into it, and.... it's empty!

Don’t tell anything, you don’t have to justify your beliefs.

Don't fight battles you don't have to. This is an important rule of having a more peaceful life. Don't forget it. There is no need to confront your parents with your beliefs unless you want to go into a battle with no winners. I'm nearly 70 and when I talk to my mother, it's yes mum, yes mum etc and then I wander off happy in my beliefs and she wanders off happy with her loving son. You may think that hypocritical but I know that when you're a parent, there's a lot of things you do not want to know. This is one of them..It's right up there with your daughter telling you about her cycle.

I will never tell my family this about myself. No good will come from it for me. I would likely be exorcised.

I suggest you first talk to your parents on this subject and see how they feel about non believers .If they look negatively on them or show hostility I would definitely not tell them that you are agnostic .This would serve no purpose other than to alienate yourself from them .

Unless you are able to support yourself emotionally and financially without them, you might want to keep those feelings to yourself a little longer.

You don't have to share your inner most thoughts with your parents. Seek comfort in truth as you know it. As you get older you'll live your life as you choose. You can't change them, you can only mold your future for your goals and happiness. You can still love your parents even though your goals are different.

Do you still live at home? If so, keep your mouth SHUT! Unless you like being either badgered incessantly, prayed over/for, a lot of wailing & gnashing of teeth, OR being thrown out on your ass.
I do not believe Anyone on here has ever recommended "bear-baiting"! It might feel good for a minute but the backlash will be not only severe but never-ending.

Don't know if this will help bit this is how Sue-Ann Post told her religious parents that she did not believe in their god any longer. It cracks me up.

Good points, all well considered. Now, as you travel the atheist/agnostic community, you will discover that we do indeed have judgmental and hypocritical atheists and agnostics. My guess is that as a percentage, it is far less than what you've been used to. At any rate, congratulations on breaking free.

My mother was a very religious person so I never told them I was atheist but mom suspected.

Welcome to the asylum. Enjoy your stay.

Good luck with your journey.

Exactly, but it is not just one book - 66 of them at least and more if you are Catholic. Some of the problems are that they were never meant to be only one book and that one buybull book came into existence some 300 plus years after Jesus. This fact alone is why it has so many contradictions.

I agree with some of the others here if you do still live with your parents. Keep your breaking away as your little secret for now. It's not immediately important that you talk to them about it.

They are honoring a tradition. You are the new generation, with evolving thoughts to better adapt to the modern world, in order to fit in. Fact is that the younger is generally far more secular minded than the previous generation.

Fight as they might, the older generation really can't argue with the science of the day, and the feeling of unity that together, most religions have the same goal, better citizens of society, even humanism, if you choose to call that your religion, to show something, when they say "you can't believe in nothing!" you can present some things you do believe in.

My advice to you would be to show respect for their beliefs, while you explore and assert your own beliefs.

In time, you might have a ready set of tenets to share with them to explain your beliefs when you get that point.

Whether you create your own, or subscribe to one of the many humanistic tenets, whatever works for you as a personal philosophy, perhaps something like this card:

It's just so silly, the entire thing. And no one thinks about how many gods there were before which no one believes in any more. We have a few left in this world, and in one or two-hundred years there will be none... assuming humans make it that far. We're nonbelievers in a believing world, but we're ahead of the curve.
Good luck adjusting.

The Bible as we know it today is not 2,700 years old, it is a translation of a translation of a translation and it is heavily edited. So much for the unimpeachable and unchangeable word of Yahweh. I wouldn't get too fussed about coming out to your parents about your doubts until you get a little more research under your belt. Try reading the bible as a book, it's like lord of the rings only really poorly written with a whole lot of stupid stuff that keeps you guessing as to who the bad guys are from the good guys, to the point that you wonder if there are any good guys.

Don't worry, be happy. Reality is very nice. Whether you tell anyone or not, enjoy today. If you do choose to tell someone, enjoy today. No need to defend your choice, enjoy today.

There is a flaw in what you believe on how they act and how they behave. One word. Trump.

Wait til Xmas morning then tell them. That way you can pass it off as a gift.

They shouldn’t. Good choice.

One of my learning/thinking things was that Yahweh was/is one of the Canaanite gods and also never having a prayer answered. Also as has said some historian teachers 'jesus' is a myth/legend.

Just make sure when you're ready to tell them you have your side of the story straight and not in an offensive way. Watch how Neil de Grasse Tyson explains himself. Like many of the others that I love, who are touted here as heroes (and deservedly so) some of them can come off a bit abrasive. Let your folks do that, it will earn you points later. Being Agnostic is the perfect out as long as you stress you don't go one way or the other, you just prefer proof to faith. So many preachers have abused their congregation's faith that people seem to understand the turning your back on that stuff. As long as they don't hear Atheist, they believe there's hope you'll turn around someday. Easy peasy and you don't have to abandon your family if you don't want to, lol. I'd move away from my dad and would never explain myself to him. My mother is a completely different story. But the time will present itself when you are ready. Not being ready will turn into an argument because you won't explain yourself properly.

I never told anybody in my family. Didn't consider it a topic worth creatimg a rift in the family over. I just moved away. Going along to get along is a lot easier when you only have to do it now and again.

"The best cure for Christianity is reading the Bible" SClemens