Forced to go to church

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JeoffreyAltKid08
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Forced to go to church

Post by JeoffreyAltKid08 »

At The moment, I still live with my parents and my family go to a Pentecostal church every weekend. I haven't told my parents that I no longer believe in Christianity since they are very strict when it comes to their religion and I'm a little worried on what may occur if I tell them. The question is, how do I put up with the situation and what are ways that I can utilize the time when I am at church? :?:
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brimstoneSalad
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Re: Forced to go to church

Post by brimstoneSalad »

Can you bring a book to read? Or will the sermon be too distracting?

You may be able to bring headphones, and listen to an audiobook. Non-fiction books could even be educational and make good use of the time.
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JeoffreyAltKid08
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Re: Forced to go to church

Post by JeoffreyAltKid08 »

brimstoneSalad wrote:Can you bring a book to read? Or will the sermon be too distracting?

You may be able to bring headphones, and listen to an audiobook. Non-fiction books could even be educational and make good use of the time.
The problem is that my parents expect me to be listening to the sermon and not doing anything else. Therefore, bringing a book to read wouldn't work (unless it was the Bible or something). Same goes with the headphones and audiobooks as well.
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brimstoneSalad
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Re: Forced to go to church

Post by brimstoneSalad »

Will they let you choose a different church? Or do they believe on their denomination is saved?
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JeoffreyAltKid08
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Re: Forced to go to church

Post by JeoffreyAltKid08 »

brimstoneSalad wrote:Will they let you choose a different church? Or do they believe on their denomination is saved?
They believe their denomination is saved. Moreover, the church that they go to has ties in with our family since my father's brother is the pastor of that church.
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_Doc
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Re: Forced to go to church

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Only once was I forced to go to church with my mother and that was when she was going to be baptized. While I was at the sermon I listened to music on my wireless ear buds. My mom saw me and told me to take them out and went back to paying attention to sermon. I was able to keep on one of them in my left ear since she was to my right.

With how strong they feel about their religion it sounds hard to really do anything else. The only other advice I can think of is to just put up with it till you can move out. And tell them then.

Do you think your parents would be less mad if you told them you are an atheist instead of a different religion? Sure it be a lie but I feel that if I followed a different religion my mother would try harder to convert me. But, this my mother.
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brimstoneSalad
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Re: Forced to go to church

Post by brimstoneSalad »

JeoffreyAltKid08 wrote:
brimstoneSalad wrote:Will they let you choose a different church? Or do they believe on their denomination is saved?
They believe their denomination is saved.
Sorry, I meant "only" their denomination is saved. Do they think other Christians can not go to heaven?

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mckenna
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Re: Forced to go to church

Post by mckenna »

hello! I wanted to tell you I am in exactly the same situation. the faith my parents belong to is also "we are right and everyone is wrong and If you are not active in the faith you will not be saved when the end comes"... I'm an adult and married but live on the property with the rest of my family, so it's even more expected that I attend services. I never did believe in the faith but ended up getting baptized and dedicating a ton of my time and resources to it to make my parents happy. if they found out I don't care about it at all, it would destroy them. so I live in silence and go to services most of the time :/
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PsYcHo
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Re: Forced to go to church

Post by PsYcHo »

Since you are not ready to tell your parents, and are pretty much stuck going, you could look at this as an opportunity to learn about the religion from a historical standpoint. If the sermon is boring (which they always are, IMO ;) ), flip thru the bible until you find an interesting story. (I recommend getting a NIV bible if you must, the translations are easier than KJV) The bible is full of crazy things, but some of it is interesting even for a non-believer. You could research online for some stories that may at least make the time bearable, then mark them in your bible, and to your parents it will just seem as if you have a new-found interest in biblical studies. (Which would be kinda true, right?)
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JeoffreyAltKid08
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Re: Forced to go to church

Post by JeoffreyAltKid08 »

_Doc wrote: Do you think your parents would be less mad if you told them you are an atheist instead of a different religion? Sure it be a lie but I feel that if I followed a different religion my mother would try harder to convert me. But, this my mother.
I'm not entirely sure since it depends on the other religion. As a deist, based on what I know about my parents, it seems as if they would be less mad if i told them that I'm a deist instead of a Christian than if I told them that I'm atheist instead of a Christian. This is based on many conversations I had with my father and his views on atheists.
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