What Should I do about her Religious father?

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So I’m meeting up this girl I met online. Shes religious, I’m an Atheist, she knows I’m an atheist, she doesn’t seem to have a problem with it, although it hasn’t really come up in conversation. Her father from what I can tell is even more religious. I’m afraid that if he finds out I’m an Atheist, he won’t let me see his daughter. I don’t want to make the judgement and say that hes so closed minded before I’ve met him, but at the same time I don’t want to risk losing this girl. What should I do?

Category: asked December 11, 2014

5 Answers

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I will disagree with Melange. It is not necessary to attend their church to show that you respect their beliefs. In this situation, your best option is to take the direct approach.

With the secular movement growing in the US and the world at large, many Christians feel like they are "on the ropes", as it were. Christians feel very threatened by atheists and secular humanists right now, so dating a Christian, especially an underage Christian (I presume you are underage since you're worried about the family, if she were an adult, you would not need his permission). So your best bet is to just go visit them, sit down and have a nice talk with them about their family, about their beliefs and about their rules. Remember, if you have any ideas about being with this girl, it is important to get to know her family as well. Christians respect family-oriented values.

As you talk to them about these important issues, bring it up to them directly that you like their daughter very much and you would love to date their daughter, relate to any values you share with them and talk about how you would respect their family values, but let them know that you're an atheist, but that doesn't mean that your values are very different from their own, and you wouldn't want them to feel threatened by your worldview; you're not trying to deconvert their daughter or bring some kind of demons into their house.

If they accept you at that point, then you're fine, if they reject you, you can try dating her behind their backs, but that will cause trouble between her and her family. Ultimately she will make her own choices, but until she is a legal adult (provided she is actually underage as I assumed before) then she has to run things by her parents, who are legally responsible for her.

Most importantly, you must be willing to accept that you may not get to date her at all. You must prepare yourself for that possibility, or you will not be viewing the situation in realistic terms. Be direct, be respectful, be patient, and most of all, be yourself. Don't put on an act. Be on your best behavior, of course, but don't pretend to share values that you do not. If nothing else, you will earn respect for being honest, even if they disagree with you.

If you'd like to discuss this further, as I'm always excited to link up with other atheists, my inbox is always open. Message me anytime.
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Going to their church for a day shows you respect his beliefs however you might not necessarily except the same ideas. This is a huge plus when getting friendly with religious parents.
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I was going to advise the same as Melange. If it comes up just make it clear that just because your an atheist doesn't mean you disrespect him or his beliefs.
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Just be honest but also show that you respect them and have good values. Being an atheist won't matter to them if they see you as morally good and person with values.
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I think that you should look at this from an external point of view and realize that if he doesn't like you, there's a bigger chance that it's going to be because you are some random person he doesn't know anything about who wants to spend time with his family, and the way you behaved didn't help. So just try to act like someone who wouldn't hurt his daughter and has nothing to hide, and let go of the idea that "If only I were a christian he would let us be alone together in her room all night" or something, because it wouldn't really make much difference