The Religious Chasm Between Me and My Relatives
11 years after deconverting, this is still an issue
I remember being stopped at a red light with one of my relatives when I was a child. As we waited for the light to turn, a heavily tattooed couple walked past our car.
“Dana, promise me you won’t ever get tattoos, okay?” implored my relative.
I shrugged my agreement. Sure, why not? If that was the wrong thing to do, I wouldn’t do it.
I had always enjoyed my family’s praise for being the good Christian boy, the obedient one, the one who did the right things and had innocent friends. If all it took to stay in their good favor was to avoid things like tattoos, it didn’t seem like too big of a sacrifice.
Compared to many ex-Christians I’ve heard from, my departure from religion was a cakewalk.
I’ve never suffered from a serious fear of hell.
I have many supportive non-religious friends.
I don’t miss my “relationship with Jesus” or singing worship songs in church.
I was never in conflict with a religious spouse or children.
I did feel inner turmoil throughout the process. It was disorienting to let go of everything that had held me steady and begin a new…
