Parents coming around?

[callmejay]

There are many stories here of atheist/questioning kids having trouble with unsupportive (to say the least) parents. I was wondering if any of you have had experiences with parents who started out that way and then eventually came around.

I myself am relatively lucky in that I haven't remotely been disowned. It'd just be nice to imagine that one day I'll be understood and accepted without reservation. :) I've gotten to the point where I've realized that it's not my fault, which has been extremely helpful for my mental health, but it'd be great to have that rare breed of understanding parents.

[Viti]

My mom deconverted right behind me and dad was always agnostic. No problems at all.

[SiliconWolf]

What exactly do you mean by "come around"? Joining in the deconversion or just becoming less horrified at the idea?

I'm sure my mom (a super-devout Catholic) was disappointed when I deconverted, but she never did anything drastic in reaction. In retrospect, I'm kind of surprised by that and I keep wondering if she will change her mind and freak out after all. The one thing I am sure of is that I will never be able to have a rational conversation with her about theology. Her mind is made up.

[QueTarantino]

Originally posted by SiliconWolf
What exactly do you mean by "come around"? Joining in the deconversion or just becoming less horrified at the idea?

I'm sure my mom (a super-devout Catholic) was disappointed when I deconverted, but she never did anything drastic in reaction. In retrospect, I'm kind of surprised by that and I keep wondering if she will change her mind and freak out after all. The one thing I am sure of is that I will never be able to have a rational conversation with her about theology. Her mind is made up.

I have a very similar experience.

[Megatron]

My mother was heavily involved with church for many years, even held a sort of elected position in it... however, she was never more than an "agnostic christian" (these definitely exist)

My father, however, married an insane bitch after he and mother divorced (I blame the massive amount of dope he was on), and she forced her daughter and myself to go to this abominable church (from which I deconverted). She probably would have physically beaten me had she ever found out I started skipping it, and didn't believe in the shit.

Not long after, I went back to live with my mother again... by then her 20-year deconversion was nearly finished, and she was out of the church completely.

So basically, I only had it bad for a few years, and I just kept my mouth shut since I knew it wouldn't last much longer...

Fortunately, my fiancee and her parents are all relatively agnostic, despite being born catholic... otherwise things would be rather displeasant...

[butswana]

My family was all mobbed up with the Mormons since Mom and Dad got married(1965). Mom later told me that she and my father decided that being raised in a church would strengthen the family. They might have been right. But not like they expected.
The whole idea of a Supreme Creator always seemed pretty far fetched to me. I equated the tales told in church with Mother Goose or The Grimm Brothers.
In 1984 our church went on a witch hunt. The targets were heavy metal music, Dungeons & Dragons, my best friend, my older brother and myself.
When my brother and I were excommunicated the family stopped going to church, except for Dad as he had a Sunday school teaching gig. When that assignment ran out he never went back.
They looked down on my Dad because he ALWAYS missed church when the Indy 500 was run(he has NEVER missed a race in over 50 years).
About ten years ago I started investigating religion. Realized it was like those big puff fungus things that grow in Indiana in the summer. They are about the size of a softball. When you kick them the disintigrate. A puff of spores on the wind.
I lead the charge and the rest gleefully followed.
My older brother knows it's bullshit. He doesn't care to know the details.
My younger brother married into a Catholic family. He just rolls his eyes at them and laughs his ass off when we talk religion and god at family gatherings(his favorite is my whole Jesus/redemption screed).
My little sister is fairly well versed in the history and scholarly analysis of religious texts and her husband can blind you with science(he's a bit of a zealot). I think they have done as much research as I have. They recently began getting involved in politics and CSS stuff.
Mom has a Abraham Lincoln qoute on her refridgerator, "When I do good I feel good. When I do bad I feel bad. That is my religion." She is sort of a Jeffersonian Deist.
After hearing countless lectures, discussions, debates, arguments and vitrolic rants at family gatherings, I would venture to say that Dad is maybe a Deist or Agnostic. He doesn't get involved.
So, there you have it! What a merry band of heathens we are.