I need Advice

[Kylyssa]

Welcome, Happysmiley!

It's great to hear about young people forging their own path.  

If you haven't told your parents yet, take your time about it.  Maybe try talking about tolerance for different belief systems to get a feel for how they'd take the news before committing to a course of action.  When the time comes to tell them be respectful and don't become argumentative even if they start it.  It will just hurt your position.  Use your judgment when telling people you are an atheist.  Don't try telling anyone for shock value, you could get hurt.  Always keep your safety in mind.

Also, any time you need to vent about this there are plenty of people here willing to be supportive, who have been in similar circumstances.

[Mister Joy]

Maybe try talking about tolerance for different belief systems to get a feel for how they'd take the news before committing to a course of action.

That's the problem with parents: the ethical principles that they apply to the world do not always mean anything in the context of themselves or their children. My ex-boyfriend had parents who were tolerant of homosexuality and even campaigned for gay marriage pre-2005. When their son 'came out of the closet', however, it was a whole different kettle of fish.

[Asmodean]

That's the problem with parents: the ethical principles that they apply to the world do not always mean anything in the context of themselves or their children. My ex-boyfriend had parents who were tolerant of homosexuality and even campaigned for gay marriage pre-2005. When their son 'came out of the closet', however, it was a whole different kettle of fish.

Hypocricy at its finest. I wonder, what exactly is so different about your kid being gay or someone from the other side of country? And if you support one for being gay, would you not have to support the other too? Or at least have some moral responsibility not to oppose them?

[Happysmiley]

I see what you're getting at. I think my parents are very accepting people. But they also feel that God should be a part of your life. I think if I told them now, when I'm only 14 they would think I wasn't old enough to make that decision or that I was just bored of going to church. I don't think they would take me at face value, at least not at first. But when I'm 18, I can opt out of the church thing. And I know my aunt would have a heat attack. She changed her will so that her kids would go and live with some family from their church if she died, instead of living with us, which is what it used to say, because she thinks her kids would go to Hell if they lived with us. Meaning I'm already hell-bound, even if I wasn't an atheist. she's a nice person though

[Mister Joy]

Yes, she sounds charming.

[Asmodean]

Ah... Hell... What all theists fail to explain to me is why exactly hell is so bad. Ok, they got burning fires and spits for roasting sinners on and legions of demons and five (?) fallen angels and they burn your soul for all eternity, right?

Uhm... A soul, not being a material thing, would have no nerve endings to register pain, heat, cold or pretty much anything. If a soul is immortal, it needs not fear death either, right? So what exactly is so terrible about the generic Christian Hell except maybe a somewhat displeasing (for some) scenary?

[crocofish]

There isn't really much to learn about creationism, really. My school, because they were private and could do what they liked, taught it in GCSE Biology

Sounds similar to my school.  I went to a religious private school, and in Biology class the teacher devoted one lecture to creationism.  The students in the class were mostly unimpressed and shrugged it off.  After that one lecture, we went right back to the more traditional study of Biology.

[LARA]

Hi Happysmiley, glad to have you here.  Even if the schools don't give you a good science background, there's always the net and there are plenty of sites and forums to learn evolution from like richarddawkins.net.  I have to say I admire younger people like you who are able to embrace their atheism early on.  It took me a long time to finally stop trying to find some sort of alternative religion and just admit I didn't believe all the craziness anyway.

[Happysmiley]

A whole lot has happened to me recently concerning atheism. For starters, I just got back from a music camp where I met another atheist. He was a year younger than me and has been an atheist since he was very young. He asked me for some atheist websites so I gave him this URL. Maybe he'll join.  
My parents found out that I was an atheist today. While I was gone, my little brother told them that I had been looking at atheist websites.  They didn't freak out or anything, they said they don't care if I'm a Christian, they just want me to be 'spiritual'. I'm not sure what that means but probably includes believing in a creator but not the Bible.  
I still have to go to church

[Whitney]

A whole lot has happened to me recently concerning atheism. For starters, I just got back from a music camp where I met another atheist. He was a year younger than me and has been an atheist since he was very young. He asked me for some atheist websites so I gave him this URL. Maybe he'll join.

cool...we'd be glad to have him here.
   

My parents found out that I was an atheist today. While I was gone, my little brother told them that I had been looking at atheist websites.  They didn't freak out or anything, they said they don't care if I'm a Christian, they just want me to be 'spiritual'. I'm not sure what that means but probably includes believing in a creator but not the Bible.  
I still have to go to church

That wasn't very nice of your brother...siblings are a big pain.  At least your parents seemed to have taken it well, even if they don't quite grasp what atheist means (probably for the better, I wouldn't correct them).

[Will]

"Spiritual" is a belief in a transcendent reality. It means you believe in some sort of religion or superstition without wanting to label yourself or interact with organized religion. Of course this doesn't describe you at all, you're a weak atheist, joining the ranks of such people as Einstein and Galileo, Sir Arthur C. Clarke and Tolstoy.