minoanmiss: Minoan men carrying offerings in a procession (Offering Bearers)
minoanmiss ([personal profile] minoanmiss) wrote in [community profile] agonyaunt2018-02-06 01:59 pm

Social Q's: I Can't Keep Going To Church

I am 17. Since I was a baby, my mother has taken me to church with her on Sunday mornings. Recently, I’ve felt less religious and less interested in going than I used to. But when I bring this up with her, it always ends in a screaming match (especially on Sunday mornings). She believes I must go. We get along fairly well otherwise. Is there a better way to broach this subject, or should I simply endure the weekly ritual until I go to college?

SARA


In one of the great understatements in (boxing) history, Floyd Mayweather Jr. once said, “Self-preservation is an important thing to me.” So it should be to all of us. You are probably financially dependent on your mother — and will be, to some extent, when you go to college. Nothing in your letter suggests a dire backdrop, but many young people are cut off by their parents for warring over hot topics such as religion or sexuality. Keep that (and your best interests) in mind.

I applaud your mom for wanting a regular spiritual component in your life. But that needn’t be church (in my irrelevant opinion) for one disinclined and on the cusp of adulthood. Suggest a weekly commitment to serving those in need — at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter, maybe — in lieu of church. She may go for a switcheroo with a moral and compassionate flavor. (Or she may want you sitting in the pew next to her.) Bring it up quietly at dinner some Tuesday night and see how it goes.