Oh the joys of being a closeted atheist at very Mormon get togethers. Unfortunately, my sister outed me to my mom by explaining what the FSM in my car was and my uncle opened my computer and read my unfiltered Facebook page with all of the atheistic quotes and picture gems.

This should be interesting.

And the irony of the whole situation? Only three members of my family even knew I was an ex-Mormon.

I need a drink.

I think you'll need it!

Do you have any friends who can debrief you after today? Good luck.

Now you can proudly display the FSM wherever you like.

I'm thinkin of getin a big FSM emblem for the tailgate and a large magnetic "Postmormon.org "You Are Not Alone"" sign for the side.

Hang in there, you can't control what folks think so why care?

Do what Timothy does, pop a cold one sit back, relax, and calmly watch them spin themselves up!

I am myself in front of my parents. I have just never told my mom or anyone in my family but my sister explicitly that I'm an atheist. I'm very open about disliking organized religion and all that jazz, but I avoided saying that I was an atheist because it avoided drama.

I'm most concerned about my relationship with my mom. She's very rational, but when it comes to the idea of god, she gets very defensive. Our relationship has had some pretty low lows so avoiding something I knew would cause major strain was a choice I thought would help maintain a healthier relationship.

As for my uncle, I cannot decide if he's going to rat me out to the rest of the family or act like he used to and just keep the information on the DL.

I basically have to just wait and see how this plays out which is stressful. This is not the way I would have liked to come out of the atheistic closet.

My mom gets defensive about anything I criticize--really stupid things, even things she's criticized herself in the past. But if I say there's no god, no problemo.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/2010 05:28AM by munchybotaz.

That's what happened to me-dh somehow accessing my e-mails and found all the correspondance between me and an exmo mentor. Of course he passed all the info to our 4 tbm kids,even forwarded the e-mails to them. How special is that. I wasn't coming out as atheist,just that I thought the church was a crock. And I was NOT ready to tell anyone about my new beliefs. It should have been my choice,just as it should have been yours Tiff. I sure hope the uncle keeps the info to himself. Just the fact that this is even a concern to any of us exmo's is saying a lot about the mormon church. Why should it even matter what our choices are? We remain basically the same people,only I would guess much happier and less judgmental than we were as mormons. Can't these mo's just find the goodness in people and forget about their religious beliefs?

Tiff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am myself in front of my parents. I have just
> never told my mom or anyone in my family but my
> sister explicitly that I'm an atheist. I'm very
> open about disliking organized religion and all
> that jazz, but I avoided saying that I was an
> atheist because it avoided drama.
>
Why should your atheism cause drama? You should be able to be whatever you want. Tiptoeing around the issues indicates there are relationship issues. . . usually that means you are dealing with a controller or abuser, and you are trying avoid a blowup. Sometimes controllers take your hesitancy to stand your ground as permission to push.

> I'm most concerned about my relationship with my
> mom. She's very rational, but when it comes to the
> idea of god, she gets very defensive. Our
> relationship has had some pretty low lows so
> avoiding something I knew would cause major strain
> was a choice I thought would help maintain a
> healthier relationship.
>
Your mother gets defensive? And you not believing in God would cause a "major strain"? If you not agreeing with her beliefs would cause a rift, then she needs to learn that you get to choose just like she did. That said, I do understand there are people who you just have to protect yourself around and not reveal too much information to. I guess it's better than a blowup.

I hope it all turns out okay. Who knows, maybe when it's all out in the open, they'll get used to it and you can have a more honest relationship with them.

> As for my uncle, I cannot decide if he's going to
> rat me out to the rest of the family or act like
> he used to and just keep the information on the
> DL.
>
You could tell him that it's YOUR business. Because it is. It's NOT his place to tell YOUR stuff to other people. Tell him how it made you feel to be ratted out.

> I basically have to just wait and see how this
> plays out which is stressful. This is not the way
> I would have liked to come out of the atheistic
> closet.

That was so wrong. I hope you let your sister know how badly that hurt, and how it can't help but affect your trust for her.

Is your bathroom door open every time someone uses the toilet? Just asking.

How old are you?

If you are an adult you might want to take some assertiveness classes. You seriously need to set boundaries!

It is NOT ok for your uncle to access your computer without your permission.

Also, what your sister did was an underhanded blow. She betrayed confidences, take heed never to trust her again!

You are treating these incidents much too casually. They are indications of lack of respect for you as a person.

Cludgie, I definitely do lock the door when I use the restroom.....and the bedroom just while I'm sleeping.

And Glo you're right and wrong. I thought my boundaries had been pretty clear, but clearly that was not the case. I'm really upset about what happened. I'm basically just holding my breath to see what the fall out is.

Sounds like something a kick to the nuts would fix.