My mother's oldest sister died last Thursday after a very long illness. She was 83 and lived a very difficult life. The funeral will be held on Sunday where she'll be buried next to her only husband and youngest daughter. Yeah, I'm going.
I've been absent from my blog again for several reasons. This is tennis league season and I'm on three teams. My record is 8-1 so it seems the captains are putting me in the lineup every week and it takes a huge chunk of time away from my Internet activities. I'm not complaining, as I love tennis, but I do feel out of the loop when I'm away for so long. The other reason is my DH. Since we are self-employed we have the extra burden of keeping track of all of our expenses and I'm the one who gathers the information and organizes it into spreadsheets. It tedious and rewarding at the same time. The last reason is I've found a website with back episodes of House, MD and I've become addicted.
Anyway, back to the subject of this post.
My family of origin is comprised of 2 atheists (my brother and me) and 2 conservative Christians (sister and mother). My mother's husband is Catholic and my sister is raising her young son to be Christian, whereas my brother is raising his daughter to be a critical thinker to give her tools to make the decision on her own. Of my extended family everyone, save one person who is an atheist, are all conservative Christian with a sprinkling of crazy fundie mixed in. This is what I will have to deal with at the wake and funeral of my dearly departed aunt on Sunday. Sounds like fun?
Actually, it's been about four years since I've declared my atheism and since then I've educated myself on all the typical arguments that Christians use when defending their positions. I'm confident that I can hold my own without getting into a shouting match. To be honest, I'll be surprised if anyone approaches me to discuss the existence of a deity and the reasons for believing in such fantasy. I've decided to play their game and not call attention to my position. I'll bow my head and be respectful to my aunt and to my relatives. In fact, I think if I'm approached by anyone I'll say that this is not the time or place, that I'm there for my aunt and to show support for the family, not to fight for my immortal soul. Engaging in a potentially volatile subject in their presence is disrespectful and has a high probability of making me look bad, something I don't wish to do in the name of atheism.
3 comments:
Sounds like a plan. Let them make an ass of themselves.
You're right. Wrong place and wrong time. I guess I've been lucky, the family fundies haven't approached me at funerals, yet.
My mum's husband (my mum and dad separated in 1982) tried to engage me the other day, saying he used to be an atheist, but reckons now that you can't 'prove' the non existence of something.
I didn't get angry or argue, I just said that I believe there is nothing, and i am happy with that belief and feel no need to justify it or argue with others.
They can think what they like, but they can't tell me what to think.
He was ok with this and shut up (he's getting old and decrepit, so probably starting to hope there is an afterlife)
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