Religious Peer Pressure On Your Teenage Child
Yesterday’s post sparked discussion about a specific situation we will surely find ourselves in (and maybe some of you are currently). The situation is that of their friends pressuring our teenage children to join their religious group.
Fran was the first to mention “peer pressure for Jesus”, and then Cassandra, from The Atheist Mama, expressed one of her fears:
But when you have 14 year olds (for example) asking to go to church with their friends – well, I’m not so sure how I feel about situations like that. Young people are so easily drawn in to things, especially when it looks like a good opportunity for “happiness†and “acceptance†and “forgiveness.â€
When teenagers are starting to search for their beliefs, and themselves, I think that stepping in and steering them in the right direction may be important.
I watched a 14 year old boy join the Mormon church. His family (xian, but not really church-goers) was dumbfounded. It all started when he stayed at a friend’s house one night and went to church with them the next day, just to hang out…
I know that in the past, some have suggested exposing our children to other peoples’ religions. I can see the benefits of this, especially when our kids are young and we are there with them to explain it the way we see it. But what about sending them with their friends? Cassandra is right that those formative teen years give the child a desperate need to find a cause that is separate from their parents’. They need to belong somewhere where they will feel accepted. The “acceptance” they will encounter at churches will be alluring, but deceiving, because the acceptance comes with unrealistic and manipulative conditions.
Having been a Mormon teenager myself, I have witnessed numerous times how teens take on a martyr-complex when their parents don’t allow them to get baptized. I’ve seen how the church members feed that complex; how church members pit the child against the parents by insinuating that the parents are fighting alongside Satan against God’s will.
I had already decided that I would never allow one of my children to get baptized in a church of their choosing as long as they are not legal adults. I already anticipate this problem because Mormons dominate our city (Mesa, Arizona). I have already told my son, Blake, who asked about getting baptized when he attended his cousin’s baptism, that joining a church is a decision for mature adults, not children and teenagers. I had not really thought about the inevitable times when their friends will invite them to church after sleepovers, or to activities during the week.
Do we outlaw all participation in church services and activities? Will that seem paranoid? Does that matter? Do we let them go and then talk about it with them afterwards?
After thinking about my experiences as a teen, I feel inclined to not allow it at all. But maybe I am reacting to the anger I am starting to feel at my memories.
What are your thoughts and experiences on the matter?
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February 27th, 2006 @ 8:39 pm
Attending church with friends was fun when I was a kid. It was a bit less fun when I was a teen and really had different views from the other kids — but still very interesting.
I think attending various churches is good education, a good way to learn culture. And face it, we can’t regulate what our kids believe. We cannot choose their path on issues of religion. So, as with most ideas, I think that the best way to make sure it’s not a situation where the kid surprises you with the announcement that the reason he wears saffron robes and has a topknot is that he’s joined the Hare Krishnas, is to discuss those issues openly. What do other people believe? Why? What’s different about their worship services? Let the kid be a reporter to you, and take in the editorial comments, too.
Most kids rebel against their parents’ faith at some point. Expect it, and be ready, with education.
February 28th, 2006 @ 12:08 am
simple question for the wonderer: is God only to be found in the ________ church? If you don’t like to say God, you can say, Good. Look for Good everywhere. be discerning. be critical. be accepting. learn to trust your own judgement. if I had kids, that’s how I would like to raise them, by example.
February 28th, 2006 @ 6:57 am
I guess that our children are going to make decisions that we, as parents, disagree with. It may be religion, it may be using drugs or smoking cigarettes, it may be driving way too fast or shoplifting. I guess that’s how I’m going to try to look at it. We can only do so much, I suppose… I don’t think I could ever tell my boys that they weren’t allowed to go to church, but I think I’ll draw the line at Catholic churches.
You know what’s funny? As a teenager, I didn’t hang out with the safest, cleanest crowd. We were trouble makers for sure. Who were the ones to cause the most trouble?? The kids who came from Mormon families. Boy, out of all of us, they were the biggest “rebels.”
Thanks for the link Noell!
February 28th, 2006 @ 7:53 am
My sister died in June of 2004 of a sudden heart attack. She was a heavy smoker, something I battled with her about all of her life . She wanted to be cremated so her husband honored her wishes . She was highly educated and never believed, though she was reluctant to classify herself an athiest or even a secular humanist for that matter. She neither hung crosses nor pictures of christ in her home . Anyway, My brother in law was receiving everyone and several people came by and seated themselves in a circle in the living room . With them was a Baptist Preacher who sat himself at the head of the circle . He scanned the house , looking at all of the walls searching for religious symbols. He couldn’t find anything that would allow him bust out in prayer. He never gained ” permission, ” so to speak, so he remained silent. There are tons of ways of dealing with intruding fanatics. I think that children need to be educate themselves and learn how to deal with the “Ah, come on , you gotta believe in something.” statements. I also think that parents need to educate themselves so that they can help teens at critical times . Go to the e-zine and at least take the free courses that are available, and if you are financially able send your child to the secular humanist camp in the summer. They’ll help you…… The kids have fun and they learn how to deal with peer pressure the appropriate way. Religious people believe in fantasy. They believe in ghosts and spirits . None of which can be verified to even exist.
February 28th, 2006 @ 8:13 am
Noell, I have to agree with Ed. It is important for a child to gain their own knowledge through experience. Granted, as parents, we want to limit those experiences as much as posible. The whole, “I’ve done it, Iknow, so learn from my experience.” But the truth of the matter is I am sure you (and any parent for that matter) would rather their children ‘play around’ with religion then the a long list of other things they could get involved in.
February 28th, 2006 @ 8:25 am
Ed Darrel, I’ve missed you.
Christy, I get your point. I think I got emotionally caught up in memories last night. Seriously, it wouldn’t even be that bad if they chose to join a religion unless they were ultra-fanatical. It’s not like we believe they will be condemned to hell for making that choice, which is what many of our parents feel about us.
And here is the reality of the situation I often think of: There are not a lot of humanists/atheists/agnostics. Our kids are more likely to marry someone who is devoted to a religion, than they are to marry a no-religion type. Which means there is a good chance of them also joining that church. And raising their kids there. All the while we must be loving supportive parents, fostering a postive relationship, which means biting our tongues.
So I guess it all boils down to teaching them how to use reason, giving them a good foundation in science, exposing them to myths and fantasies, and educating them on the subject.
February 28th, 2006 @ 11:10 am
First I would like to say thank you because it is giving me such good ideas for when my daughter gets into school. I too am scared about when she starts challenging our beliefs. Let me tell you I should start saving up now for those Humanist camps so if we have more children I can send all of them. Plus a nice break for mom and dad
.
You know what really chaps my hide is people of faith think we don’t have our own traditions or morals. I was talking my husband last night after reading about how humans need groups and a community and what should we do for our daughter. He said we have to celebrate science or every sunday when people go to church we give back to the community like soup kitchen or have other families like ours get together to give her a group to hang with. I want her to have good morals. As if when you don’t believe in God you tell your kids to kill, steal, rape and beat, because we didn’t put the fear of God in them. We want our children not to do any of the said above because you don’t treat another human that way not because your going to go to hell. Yes I know I am rambling and off the subject. But listen to my last 5 days.
My friend from back home is staying with us and her 20 month old son. I new she was Lutheran and so WAS I, but we never really talked about it. She was not super christian and we normally would talk on the phone about the babies. THEN… on Saturday night we all were out to dinner, and she says she has a gift for Lucie and us. I was like that’s nice. It was a bib that read God Loves Lucie and hand towels that said God Bless this house. Then proceeded to tell us that her husband and her have been saved and would love to share the gospel with us. If you could have seen my face. I said thank you but not tonight. She is with us for 10 more days. I keep telling her I forgot the bib in the car when she asks me and since Saturday has not asked if she can share the gospel. I am not ashamed of knowing there is not a God, but I have to live with this brain washed person for 10 more freaking days. Help!!! She keeps trying to have her son teach Lucie the lords prayer. Is she nuts?? Okay, stupid question. These born agains are crazy!!
Petunia- I really like that. Look for Good Everywhere.
February 28th, 2006 @ 12:46 pm
A couple of years ago, my niece was invited by her friends to spend a weekend with them in the mountains at some Christian youth camp. I found out about her outing after she returned when she told me stories how boring it was. Apparently, there were no activities that interested her. All they did was praying and reading Bible. And she found it quite bizarre to say prayers before taking a first bite during mealtime. Well, my niece grew up in Ukraine. The world she is so used to was predominantly atheistic. She didn’t know anything about prayers and religious rituals. Nobody put the fear of God in her, and yet she was brought up knowing that it is the right thing to treat other people with respect, be polite, honest, kind, and just.
I guess, when she visited that camp, she already had a strong foundation of values and beliefs. Prayers and Bible readings didn’t have any effect on her. She was in high school then. Now my niece is in college. She just told me that she decided to give up chocolate because of lent. She thought it would be a cool thing to do for two reasons: to support her religious friends and test her own will power. I guess it’s her way of adjusting to a new surrounding. And I am actually quiet happy for her.
February 28th, 2006 @ 1:14 pm
Sometimes it’s difficult to explain to people just how committed you are to something and perhaps it’s easier just to give them the material and let them read for themselves. A truely educated person is addicted to print . I know I am ,and that is what got me to this point. I’ve always been a fan of logic. I don’t know why it is, but if things don’t add up to me and through deductive reasoning they don’t make sense I reject them out of hand .There is nothing wrong with telling an intruding person that I believe what I believe because it ” just makes sense ” It follows a logical line that I’m comfortable with.
February 28th, 2006 @ 1:18 pm
When considering the decision to let one of your children participate is some function organized by some religious group, be it a church service or a party, be aware of the fact that the leaders of those organizations have been through years of training aimed at gaining followers.
One of the very effective strategies is the general approach of trying to involve the “whole person”. A simple example is all the inspirational music in any evangelical gathering. As a secular parent you may have been working for years to make science a cornerstone of your children’s background with the hope that is will form the basis for their deciding to become or remain secular. The problem with that is that you are basically working on the part from the neck up, not the whole person.
To cite an example, a minister of a protestant church once told me that a cute friendly teenage girl had more success in attracting young boys to his church than anything he could do. I personally am aware of someone joining the Mormon church because Miss ( ? ), a beauty contest winner, was in the congregation. (He ultimately married her!)
My point is that the secular parent must be cognizant of the need for addressing the emotional, social, moral, physical, and yes even financial aspects of the teenager as well as the intellectual.
February 28th, 2006 @ 8:58 pm
Olga, it sounds like your neice gave up chocolate because of her own values from within, for health and to support friends. Sounds cool.
Tracy-
The way I see it, you have two options: put the bib on your child while your friend is there, OR gently tell your friend that you appreciate her thoughtful gift and desire to share her excitement about her new conversion, but that you don’t share her beliefs about religion in general. Or God, for that matter.
I have found that in sticky situations, it helps to first say you don’t believe in religion. It’s slightly less offensive to them than a rejection of gods. So before you say you don’t believe in God, it seems to help soften the blow slightly by first saying you don’t believe in religion.
Back to my point, there needs to be some closure on the gift, since she’s wondering why you haven’t used it. It would just be gracious to do one or the other (use it or open up). And it seems to me that if these people are close enough to you to stay in your home for 10 days, then you probably just need to come out with the news or this will just keep coming up.
Remember, until you tell her, she has no reason to think you’re anything but a typical Lutheran. Just do whatever you can to make them feel accepted and appreciated in your home over the next few days, despite the religious differences.
The hardest thing, in my opinion, is coming out to the parents. You’ve already climbed that mountain. The rest is just the descent back down.
February 28th, 2006 @ 10:33 pm
Hey,
All of the comments above are good. I think, though, they make it clear that there is no easy answer. Religious issues involving our children will have to be handled as they arise. What works on one occasion may not hold up in another.
Just attending a service or a mass is not likely to be particularly damaging. However, I would be very circumspect concerning week-end retreats and the like. Such gatherings supply far too many opportunities for inculcation. As noted above, peer pressure can easily come into play. As with smoking, drugs, and sex, parental opposition to our children’s involvement in religious activities can have the effect of driving them directly into that which you so dearly want them to avoid.
I thought it interesting that Cassandra stated she would draw the line at catholic churches. My wife and her family are catholic. I have attended any number of catholic masses over the years. I find that catholics are far less likely to evangelize than most protestants. In my experience catholics are the least “pushy” in their efforts at conversion. “You want to be a catholic? Fine.” You don’t want to be a catholic? Okay, that’s fine, too.
Whatever.”
As I’ve written Noell, both of my sons attended a catholic high school. Both were baptized in the catholic church. They attended any number of retreats and other sometimes rather bizarre and ritualistic events during those years. Now in their twenties, neither have any interest in the church. My older son (now 27) still “kinda” believes in god. He is a tenor who often sings religious oratorio like Handel’s “Messiah,” Mendeossohn’s “Elijah,” and so on. While he would likely have some difficulty in openly disavowing god in his particular circumstance, he does not embrace any religion. It’s just not an important issue in his life at this time. He is far more concerned with getting jobs, making a living.
My younger son has pretty much set himself apart from the church and any belief in god. Both of my kids are pretty smart. In the end you may simply have to rely on your kid’s intelligence and discernment to make their own choices. Again, just take each moment as it comes.
But be wary. I’m sure many German parents in the 1930s allowed their children to join Hitler Youth with some trepidation, but let them go anyhow. (I know. Not an altogether analagous situation – It’s likely that most such parents didn’t have any say in the matter – but still.)
TLS
March 1st, 2006 @ 1:24 am
i stumbled upon your blog because we have the same name. im a little blown away that the last comment threw joining a religious group in the same cateogory as joining hitler youth… as a religious person, i just wanted to say that not all people who practice religion are as hateful and closeminded as all these comments make them out to be. fundamentalism exists everywhere, but that doesn’t make it the epitome of what a community is, it just might happen to be the loudest section… i hope this didn’t sound rude… i originally just intended to say, cool, we have the same name, then i got pulled in to reading all these comments…
March 1st, 2006 @ 5:53 am
I graduated from a catholic high school and I think they are the spookiest of the lot . There ritualized services flush with incense,wine and divine garb designed to ward off evil spirits give you the feeling you are floating over Oz on a magic carpet . Talk about over the top, but they do throw one heck of a party for the money. ( 10% ) of your gross and it’s one hour per week.The fees for weddings , baptism’s , funerals, and communion can get costly though.Doesn’t leave you to much to spend on immoral pleasure does it
Oh well , everybody’s got a gig. That’s why I love america!!!!
March 1st, 2006 @ 6:51 am
As I mentioned, I find the catholic mass rather bland and generally unemotional to the point of being perfunctory.
While I am not a drinker, as catholics are not generally abstinent when it comes to alcohol, they do throw better parties than most protestants. My wife and I attended a gathering of a group of about a hundred nuns some years ago for which my son was invited to sing. After the entertainment was over the nuns broke out the beer and wine. They were a roudy lot.
I am always a little surprised to hear people of a religious bent exclaim how “hateful” we all seem to be.
Perhaps my “Hitler Youth” reference was an extreme analogy, but there remain certain parallels. Religious organizations labor to, in effect, brainwash their children to the extent that they often aren’t even aware that other choices are available to them. They are made to fear and loathe anyone not of their faith, as did the Nazis.
Oh, and I can spell the name Mendelssohn. I just decided not to above.
TLS
March 1st, 2006 @ 7:12 am
Terry S said:
I thought it interesting that Cassandra stated she would draw the line at catholic churches.
This is where I would draw the line only because I have personal experience in the Catholic church. I come from a Catholic family and was baptized into the Catholic religion. While my family isn’t extreme in their beliefs, I agree with what Fran said:
I graduated from a catholic high school and I think they are the spookiest of the lot .
I honestly see the Catholic church as one of the worst when it comes to sects of xianity. In my opinion, and experience, they instill the most guilt, and are the most hypocritical of them all (again, just my opinion).
March 1st, 2006 @ 2:29 pm
I won’t dispute your experience. The fact that both of you (Fran & Cassandra) grew up in the catholic church trumps my “outsider” experience. I’m certainly not an apologist for the catholic church. It is the catholic church which almost single handedly brought on the Dark Ages in Europe. I am aware of the guilt factor that catholics seem to love groveling in.
While much of Dan Brown’s “THE DA VINCI CODE” has been debunked (Note though, that Mr. Brown has repeatedly stated he wasn’t writing a history. He was writing a novel,) I believe there is some truth to the way in which he informs regarding the way in which biblical history was manipulated by the church – for instance, the process of choosing what books were and were not to be included in the bible, deliberate and often erroneous translations of text, and many other instances of ruthless and self serving machinations. In the end catholics may well be counted as the most dastardly of them all.
Again, I was relating my own experience. Perhaps I just couldn’t see the whole picture.
TLS
March 1st, 2006 @ 10:15 pm
I read an article today that I thought was really relevant to this post. It can be found at: http://www.atheistfoundation.org.au/parenting.htm
Basically, it compared safeguarding our children from religion to safeguarding them from viruses…we have to vaccinate them. I thought this was a nice way to put it. My husband and I plan to teach our children about the different religions of the world….without the magic injected by a church. Our kids are still young, though, so at this point we just tell them that god stories were made up to explain things people didn’t understand.
I think the author of this article makes a very valid point that if our children are never exposed to these religions, it will be easier for them to be sucked in. At this point, we do not allow our children to go to church because they are too young. The only church they have been in was for a wedding and we were with them. I think as they get older, we will have to make our decisions based on each situation. If they ever ask to attend a church, we will have to consider: what kind of church they want to attend; the friend whom they want to attend with as well as the friend’s parents; and the maturity level of our child. If we were to decide now that we will never let our children go to church, I think that would be irresponsible.
I do know that if our children ever attend a church service, we will have discussions following it to help them think about it. I think churches really rely on the emotional aspect of their services and we are more irrational when we are emotional about something. If we can help our children think, we can hopefully prevent this from happening.
March 2nd, 2006 @ 7:28 am
Tell your children they can get baptised at 29, just like Jesus.
March 2nd, 2006 @ 8:18 am
I think one problem that will add to the difficulty is that religion is so pervasive in our society. Such a huge majority of people in this country either profess a belief in god and/or attend church regularly, it will be difficult to convince young ones that being non-believers does not make them freaks of some kind. Kids hate to be “different.” They want to blend in, be a part of the larger group. Additionally, so much is currently being made of religious belief today. Some issue regarding religion is often a part of the daily news. When I was young, people generally went about their respective religious lives in relative quiet. There was, I think, more a sense that one’s beliefs were a private affair, not something you brandished about like flag waving patriotism.
TLS
March 2nd, 2006 @ 8:40 am
Great subject.
I like the comment above mine a lot – Stephanie’s. Mythology is a broad subject and one as worthy of study as any other. Its a shame that people have a negative association with the word ‘myth’ – and think of it as meaning ‘lie and misconception’ more than its other meaning – stories people tell to describe their relationship to god(s).
The author Joseph Campbell is the best place to start with this subject.
Here is a link to his foundation:
http://www.jcf.org/
Once you learn more you see that myth is amazingly similar in nature – despite growing out of populations that had no contact with one another.
This is human experience distilled.
The most interesting angle for me is in learning why this should be so – its a reason some people give as evidence of God(s) – I think it more clearly indicates biologically common elements to our thinking. How our brains are wired.
A child who learns where the Bible comes from – and how it got that way – will never mistake it for a historical document that describes objective reality. This is only a difficult truth for people who have been told over and over that it is not so – - everyone else can learn it in an hour.
Placing Bible stories alongside other stories from mythology is not only appropriate – but truly the only way to gain a well rounded understanding of its meaning.
The same stuff can be learned from listening to a bunch of people talking at a train station if you listen for long enough – but to be able to spot the archetypes and recognize the similarities, it helps to start from what has come before.
The labeling of religious teaching a virus (a less emotionally charged term that is on the rise is “Meme”) is accurate. Many of these organizations are specifically designed to trap people in circular logic that they have no experience with, which winds tighter the longer they are in it. I have some very intelligent friends who believe very strongly in their faiths – because they have lost the perspective to question its foundations and basic precepts.
Studying myth can show you these foundations in black and white – in a hundred different cultures, all of them certain that they are unique.
March 4th, 2006 @ 6:27 pm
Just found this site (through the Apathetic Agnostic Church forum), and wanted to add my experience.
When my now 21 yr. old daughter was 15, she fell in with a bad crowd: Christians *heh*. Actually, I didn’t mind too much, figuring it was better than falling in with the druggies. She asked me about it, and I told her that as long as she didn’t start telling me I was going to hell, she was free to look into it, but that if she had any questions, she could feel free to ask me (I was a devout Christian for many years – I even read the Bible a few times!). She lasted about one month. The turning point came when she asked about something in the Bible, leaving me all kinds of room to show her some things. I knew a few verses that would push her feminist buttons, mainly Leviticus 15:19-30, which not only showed a menstruating woman to be a very dirty thing, but had a woman sacrificing a dove (my daughter’s name happens to mean “White Dove”) in order to atone for her uncleanliness! I read the verse to her with a very objective tone in my voice (very difficult to do). That was all it took. She went to the pastor and found that he did not have suitable answers to her new questions, and she decided she no longer wanted to be a Christian. These days, she’s been investigating Buddhism.
My son is almost 17, and he is a proud agnostic. He has handed out copies of “Kissing Hank’s Ass” around school. http://www.jhuger.com/kisshank.php . I don’t see him EVER attending a church.
Sometimes I am so amazed at the fact that he doesn’t have all the guilt and fear that most of his peers have (we live in the buckle of the Bible belt). He doesn’t even know the story of Noah’s Ark! I DO get annoyed at some of his teachers, who just assume that all the kids know the Bible. He recently failed a test question because he didn’t know how to compare Simon in The Lord of the Flies with Jesus’ trek into the desert. I haven’t decided whether to make a stink or not, since he didn’t let me know about it for a few months.
Anyway, more power to us Agnostic parents!!!!! We do a great thing, raising people free of fear!!
-Barbara
March 6th, 2006 @ 9:39 pm
One concept that may be considered when dealing with teenage peer pressure is to provide your teenager with a clear sense of his or her own identity. If the others can say they are Christians or Jews or Muslims or even subsets like Mormons, Catholics, Baptists etc., what does your child identify with? Do you teach them they are Agnostics or Humanists or Atheists or Secularists or any one of a number of other labels?
Once you have chosen one, that teenager has at least a position they may care to defend if need be. However, they do need some idea of what it means to be whatever label you may have chosen. Since this blog is entitled Agnostic Mom, I’m assuming that Noell may plan to teach her children to operate with the label “Agnostics” and that she may plan to teach them her interpretation of just what that means with the hope and intent that they grow up convinced that is the wisest choice of life strategies or philosophies.
Obviously one alternative is to avoid labels and raise children telling them what they are not and what they alternatively do or don’t believe in and the rationale behind that position. I can see how either approach could work and it then becomes a matter of being most comfortable with one approach or the other.
Labels do tend to create problems if there is already some associated negative connotation and in the current conservative environment in the country that is a real consideration. It was our current president’s father that claimed that atheists “are not quite citizens”.
May 1st, 2006 @ 6:38 pm
I went to Wednesday classes at my Catholic church as a teenager for the very reason of acceptance and to be with my friends. Eventually one of the girls there became my girlfriend which continued my desire to attend. Fortunately for me they weren’t pushing an indoctrination that was irresistible. It was an odd group actually because the class leaders (or whatever they were called) and all of us “kids” were more about the fun and friendship and only really dealt with the instructional part of it all because we were supposed to. Nobody there defended the faith as a life or death matter and just sort of took it for granted as it all being true.
I learned a great deal from the class even though what I learned was the opposite of what they taught. Since they delved more into specifics of the bible, I started realizing the flaws of the whole idea and the obvious similarity to any other form of mythology I’d studied. I think people should be exposed as much as possible to their religion. It’s the people that haven’t truly read the book that believe the most in it.
When it finally came time for our Confirmation ceremony, I had to stop attending class because I couldn’t and wouldn’t go through with it. My mother brought me into the Catholic church but she knew I had the free will to walk away… and I did. I think I owe it to my children to make up their minds in the same way as long as they are the ones truly making the decision.
We let them go with people we trust and talk about it with them afterwards. If they begin to get lured into a cultish environment (Christianity does qualify as a cult in my viewpoint) then I would combat it with reason and exposure to even more conflicting varieties of religion. The most important lesson I can give them is that no human has a monopoly on the “one right path” in life and nobody has the big answers for life, not even their parents.
It wouldn’t bother me if either of my children gained a spirituality and belief in a god, as long as they do it with an open mind and the belief is truly of their own mind. If I ever thought a religious group was trying to control the mind of my children I would definitely have to counter that any way that I could. However, I do know that just forbidding certain things usually backfires with children, so outlawing religion won’t happen in my household.
December 2nd, 2007 @ 12:20 pm
i just don’t have the power to trust in my peers .at school and even atCHURCH..what should i do?
December 5th, 2007 @ 7:19 am
I need advice. My name is Alex and well lets just say my girl friend has a messed up home life. Her brother is dating a Mormon girl and he is in the religion for her he was recently babtised as a Mormon. Although his younger sister “my gf” didn’t care for religion or church at all he made her feel shunned while her parents turned a blind eye. Her grand parents love her and are proud of her but had NO idea as to any of this. Her brother had her taken to the Mormon church and babtised. He makes her go to every function and i have seen allot of Ex Mormons talk about the seriously disturbing things that Occur in the Mormon church. I need advice on how to approach this.
April 4th, 2010 @ 9:52 pm
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