CynicalSkeptic
30th April 2007, 01:58 PM
Short version of the story:
My Mother-In-Law has recently confided in me that she no longer believes that Jesus is the Son of God, and she doesn't think she can call herself a Christian anymore. She likely believes that someone name Jesus existed, and taught some good things, but she doesn't accept the resurrection, virgin birth, or any of the other nonsense. She does still believe in some kind of Creator, so it seems to me that she's well on the road to Deism, if not already there. She also seems to believe that The Da Vinci code is credible or at least as credible as the Gospels. I don't think she's shared this with my (liberal Christian / Biologist) wife yet, so things may get interesting when she comes to visit next month.
All this from a woman who just two years ago insisted we get our baby daughter baptized and who stayed up nights holding said baby up to Jesus asking Him to save her. While she was no fundy, she was definitely a Believer, at least in the New Testament.
Ok, now for some background:
Our daughter has a genetic disorder called Tuberous Sclerosis (http://www.tsalliance.org/) (wife and I are negative, so it was a Random Mutation). As an Atheist, I accepted that this was just something ****** that happens in the universe. My wife, though a Biologist, didn't quite accept that, and thinks that God is somehow testing her. I'm not really sure what MIL thought about that whole thing from a religious perspective, but her fundy relatives believe that it was Jesus using our daughter as a tool to convert/save me. i.e. if I accept Jesus into my heart, He will cure her. That's right, our wonderful loving god ********** up my daughters life to prove that he wants me to return to the flock :boggled:. They also said that my wife's bloodline is cursed. MIL and wife are both on their 2nd marriages, and our daughter was conceived out of wedlock, so there's all sorts of biblical nonsense that speaks out against that.
Anyway, MIL has stayed with us on & off over the last two years and her and I have had decent, civil discussions about our (lack of) faith. My wife rarely participates in these discussions as any disagreement with her rapidly turns into an argument. MIL and I were once talking about creation/evolution, and my wife interrupted emphatically stating that evolution was "fact", and that's the "end of it" (remember, she's a biologist as well as a liberal Christian (can you say compartmentalization?)). Like I said, it should be very interesting when she comes to visit next.
Anyway, though I never explicitly tried to deconvert MIL, I'd like to that think that I did have some influence. Primarily, I showed her that atheists aren't all horrible immoral people who eat kittens, and drink blood. I also shared some of my rationalization for my own deconversion. I also think her family (the above mentioned fundies and her hypocritical husband) have shown her that just because one claims to be a Christian doesn't necessarily make him a good (moral) person.
My Mother-In-Law has recently confided in me that she no longer believes that Jesus is the Son of God, and she doesn't think she can call herself a Christian anymore. She likely believes that someone name Jesus existed, and taught some good things, but she doesn't accept the resurrection, virgin birth, or any of the other nonsense. She does still believe in some kind of Creator, so it seems to me that she's well on the road to Deism, if not already there. She also seems to believe that The Da Vinci code is credible or at least as credible as the Gospels. I don't think she's shared this with my (liberal Christian / Biologist) wife yet, so things may get interesting when she comes to visit next month.
All this from a woman who just two years ago insisted we get our baby daughter baptized and who stayed up nights holding said baby up to Jesus asking Him to save her. While she was no fundy, she was definitely a Believer, at least in the New Testament.
Ok, now for some background:
Our daughter has a genetic disorder called Tuberous Sclerosis (http://www.tsalliance.org/) (wife and I are negative, so it was a Random Mutation). As an Atheist, I accepted that this was just something ****** that happens in the universe. My wife, though a Biologist, didn't quite accept that, and thinks that God is somehow testing her. I'm not really sure what MIL thought about that whole thing from a religious perspective, but her fundy relatives believe that it was Jesus using our daughter as a tool to convert/save me. i.e. if I accept Jesus into my heart, He will cure her. That's right, our wonderful loving god ********** up my daughters life to prove that he wants me to return to the flock :boggled:. They also said that my wife's bloodline is cursed. MIL and wife are both on their 2nd marriages, and our daughter was conceived out of wedlock, so there's all sorts of biblical nonsense that speaks out against that.
Anyway, MIL has stayed with us on & off over the last two years and her and I have had decent, civil discussions about our (lack of) faith. My wife rarely participates in these discussions as any disagreement with her rapidly turns into an argument. MIL and I were once talking about creation/evolution, and my wife interrupted emphatically stating that evolution was "fact", and that's the "end of it" (remember, she's a biologist as well as a liberal Christian (can you say compartmentalization?)). Like I said, it should be very interesting when she comes to visit next.
Anyway, though I never explicitly tried to deconvert MIL, I'd like to that think that I did have some influence. Primarily, I showed her that atheists aren't all horrible immoral people who eat kittens, and drink blood. I also shared some of my rationalization for my own deconversion. I also think her family (the above mentioned fundies and her hypocritical husband) have shown her that just because one claims to be a Christian doesn't necessarily make him a good (moral) person.