If my parents would have not been hardcore missionaries... would my family not be so ****ed up?

I would love to conversate with anyone who was raised in a christian home or even was a missionary kid.

IT is a loosing situation when your parents are crushed and feel like failures when their children have not grown up to be God fearing christains. You realize that the only way to fix the family would be for me to tell them i became a born again christian.

Maybe without religion I would not feel like such a **** up.... If only we could find self value without feeling like our only value comes from a God above.

The last part of your post made me think of this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D4JQKVNWdo

Missionaries huh? Interesting.
What did they think their main 'mission' was?
Why do they think thier mission was important?
What do the answers to those two questions have to do with their religious beliefs?

Have you ever discussed their beliefs, including the questions above with them?

Have you ever evaluated your own beliefs and made comparisons to theirs?

My family have all simply denied my own atheism, so I don't push it.

If you have tried being respectful of their own beliefs (rites and rituals)when it come to your own compliance you can pull the trump card "hey listen, I'm respectful of you and your beliefs, I just don't hold the same beliefs as you do"

If you are truely still questioning or simply have not been able to deeply evaluate your own core values, don't be afraid to say so if asked why you don't believe as they do.

"I'm not holding to any specific belief right not (or) I'm not sure what beliefs are beyond my belief in a god but I would like you allow me my own time to discover that".

Don't be too combative, I'm sure you have expereinced many things in your life that others have not and that will serve you well. You do have your parents to thank for that.

I'm an athiest for about 40 years. My family has always denied my stance so I don't argue. I just respect their beliefs in silence, UNLESS, I see the ugly head of discrimination under the cloak of a fundamentally (wrong) religious belief. Then I speak up.

It's worked for me; many in my family are less fundamentally inclined and I am in the good graces of the family fold - we all need family. (Don't forget, family can be extended - and I have many friends who have filled the role of family over the years)

How does the saying go? "If your hand is your problem, cut it off. If your eye is your problem, gouge it out." If your relationship with your parents is really holding you back so much, it might be best to just walk away.



Thanks for the video, blackcherryroze