Should you get confirmed in the Catholic Church? Hemant Mehta (http://www.friendlyatheist.com, http://www.patreon.com/Hemant , https://www.facebook.com/friendlyatheist) http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2010/06/14/ask-richard-teen-atheist-faces-pressure-for-confirmation/ I've gotten emails from some of you asking whether you should go through with your confirmation in the Catholic Church. Your parents want you to do it, but you don't actually believe in what Catholicism is selling... so what should you do? First of all, for those who don't know, Confirmation basically tightens your bond with the Catholic Church. It's a requirement, a Sacrament, of the Church. You're supposed to do it after you've hit the age of reason, which the Catholic Church says could be as young as 7. (Which is really when we hit our peak logical reasoning abilities...) So what happens if you don't believe in God? Should you go through with it? The nice thing about this is that if you're an atheist, it's just a waste of your time. It doesn't really mean anything to you. But I know, no one wants to go through a ritual like that when you know it's all bullshit. Here's the biggest question I'd consider: How are your parents going to react if you don't go through with it? If they're going to make your home life a living hell, I don't think it's worth it to take a principled stand. Just bite your tongue and deal with it. If you have to live with them for years to come, why make things worse? You could fight them on it, and you'll feel good about doing that, but it might make things more difficult for you down the road. And here's another upside to going through with it. When you go through confirmation firmly believing God doesn't exist, it kind of makes you a stronger atheist. You realize it's just a big show with no real power over you. You'll be able to speak about that from experience. That's important. Same thing with CCD classes. If your parents are making you take those leading up to confirmation, it's like a crash course in the religion. You realize just how much nonsense is baked into the faith. You can almost make a game out of it, figuring out all the things that are patently untrue. And later on, when you're independent, you can always officially resign from the Church. Or just not go anymore. I would love to say you should all take a stand and refuse to get confirmed. I know that's the more inspirational thing to say. But there's a reality here we can't forget. This isn't just your decision. This is about putting on a show for your parents, your relatives, their friends, and the Church community. It's the reason some couples have a big wedding when they might be perfectly happy saving money and getting eloped. The last thing I want to see is a young atheist get financially cut off from their families as they're entering college because they didn't play the religion game. There are times when we all have to decide which battles are worth fighting for. I just don't think that, for most people, this one's worth it. I'd love to hear from those of you who went through this situation. What did you do? Am I right or wrong? Let me know. You Might Also Like ... 7 Things That Prove God is Real https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ50omyWziE&list;=PLZGLqPtxUOKEZxzukuev1YpLUQp-CtKDq&index;=128 78 Questions for Christians https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI-_FJuTPns&index;=138&list;=PLZGLqPtxUOKEZxzukuev1YpLUQp-CtKDq 4 Creative Ways to Deal with Preachers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3kHcV36dak&index;=133&list;=PLZGLqPtxUOKEZxzukuev1YpLUQp-CtKDq Join the conversation. Leave your questions and comments below and we'll try to address them in future videos. Don't forget to subscribe for more! Also, follow us at ... https://twitter.com/atheistvoices https://www.facebook.com/TheAtheistVoices https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/106662137332631352312/106662137332631352312/posts/p/pub http://theatheistvoice.tumblr.com/ http://www.theatheistvoice.com/

• published: 05 Sep 2016
• views: 3935