Talking to my religious sister about atheism

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Waterbear's picture
Talking to my religious sister about atheism

Hi I'm Riley and I'm new here. Let me know if this is not the right place to post this.

I am an atheist living in a Roman Catholic household. My family's the kind of religious where we don't really talk about it out loud but it is very much expected that we are Catholic. I'm not even sure my parents know I'm an atheist. My sister is rather religious, and younger than me. She takes part in a lot of church things and I don't want to be a jerk about it but if I could I would like to have a conversation with her that might get her thinking. Not just because I want her to believe differently, but also because I don't want her to get sucked into listening to all the bad messages the Bible and church send toward women and about female sexuality, etc. Any advice on how to go about it?
Thanks a ton!

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CyberLN's picture
Hi Riley! Welcome to AR.

Hi Riley! Welcome to AR.

You might want to start with just asking her what she thinks and why she thinks it. Approach it with curiosity. Resist making any editorial comments. This gentle start to it will give her room and time to actually think about why she believes what she does and perhaps, IF she actually believes it or is simply doing what she knows.

Waterbear's picture
Thank you CyberLN!

Thank you CyberLN!

LogicFTW's picture
Seems like the right place to

Seems like the right place to ask to me.

Hard to add to Cyberln's advice, perhaps if you do get a dialog going with her, maybe ask her to read the bible starting with chapter one, and then ask you any questions she has about it. I think it is inevitable she will, and you can be there to point her towards all the contradictions, logic flaws, reasoning errors and so on and guide her towards the concept that the bible is insane as soon as you realize it was written edited and printed by people and is not the word of god.

The_Hyphenator's picture
Sound advice all around.

Sound advice all around. Judging by what I know and what I've seen, nobody can be "converted" to atheism (I understand that's not your goal, Riley), it's a viewpoint they arrive at by themselves by asking questions and examining the evidence. Asking your sister about her beliefs and asking questions about why she believes what she does is an excellent way to get her to ask questions of your own. No need to pontificate, just to ask some honest questions to get the ball rolling.

Asking her to read the Bible is also a good idea. Frankly, I think there's a reason that, per capita, more atheists seem to have read the Bible cover-to-cover than Christians. And reading it at least once from a literary, analytical perspective is a good idea for anyone, whether they believe or not. So much of Western culture, art, literature and philosophy has its roots in the Bible that a critical reading goes a long way to further one's understanding of it.

Finally, once you get the ball rolling with the aforementioned suggestions, the best thing you can do is not push, let her take things at her own pace, and be available to lend an ear and to talk things out, Like most processes of self-improvement, your sister will have to do most of this on her own. The best way you can help is not to crowd her in it, but be ready to offer help when it's asked for.

Will Carrick's picture
I was born Roman Catholic,

I was born Roman Catholic, what got me was the fact that "If Jesus died for our sins then why does a priest have to forgive them every Sunday? Ask her to figure that out.

doubleAtheist's picture
I was an atheist before my

I was an atheist before my sister, we grew up in a hindu household. My sister would always overhear me asking my parents questions. She could see that my parents could not answer those questions so she began thinking, and we all know where thinking leads. She is now an atheist. But every sister is different and depending on how much the faith means to them. My sister was never to religious so it did not take that much convincing.

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