Minutes ago, my parents discovered I'm agnostic/atheist

[Melon]

<thread title> My mothers reaction was quite violent. Upon finding my Atheism bookmarks folder, she called me upstairs and raised her voice about how she believes in God. My parents are Christian, my mom more than my dad. I love them but I'm a bit scared. I retreated into the basement to type this.

Does anyone have any techniques/suggestions for damage control?

What should I do if the Reaction becomes worse than yelling?

[Saoirse]

I unfortunately don't know how to tell you how you should handle this, but if you need a person to talk to, I'm here. I have Christian beliefs, but I also believe that everyone should believe what they want without interference from anyone.

Again, need a friend? I'm here.

[Age of Ignorance]

Firstly, good on you for experiencing spirituality on your own terms and not succumbing to dictatorial parents. Your beliefs are for you to hold and no one should ever impress upon you any other system of beliefs simply because they hold those beliefs and you do not. There are merits to all systems, but only you can decide what you believe in.

Secondly, let it blow over. Parents are prone to experiencing certain emotions upon learning that their children are doing or saying something that goes against their values. Ultimately, they come to accept the lifestyle you choose for yourself. They may be reluctant for a while, but every parent inevitably discovers that their children will one day come out of childhood and become an individual. The important thing for you to do is not to antagonise them, and to simply show that your beliefs do not change or determine the values you hold and the characteristics you exhibit. That should make it easier on them.

[Corrupted]

Believe in what you want to believe in. My parents never forcefully instilled religious values on me. My best friend that I've known for 6 years has had this happen to him before (his mom and his grandparents on that side of the family are Catholic), and it blew over after a while. Although your parents might not be happy with you right now, I'm almost sure that this will blow over sometime in the next week. They will eventually accept you as who you are. After all, it should be your choice in what you want to believe in, not theirs.

[ThisWillDestroyYou]

Just be agreeable. You don't need to expose your dissent any further than they've discovered. If they discovered an atheistic folder, that doesn't necessarily make you an atheist. You could say you were just reading about it to understand the viewpoint.

[DanTheMan :P]

I would just say to them that you cannot force someone to believe in something. If you dont believe there is some sort of higher entity, then your parents can scream at you all they like, or won't change your mind. In fact, it will likely turn you against Christianity more