How do I tell my family I am an Atheist?

Question

Forgive me for the length of my question. I know there are many questions like mine but, given my situation, I feel as though I need a more specific answer from someone who maybe is more experienced in their atheism and telling people. 

I was raised in a very strict Pentecostal family as the granddaughter of pastors and music leaders on both sides of my family. As a child I fully believed in god, as I was brainwashed to do so, and kept my faith throughout my childhood. Despite the fact that I was abused by my father figure, I remained a Christian, simply because I was sort of brainwashed into believing from birth. When my mother divorced my father and the abuse stopped, I started to look back and try to figure out why god would have allowed that to happen to me and many others. This led to me studying the Christian religion as a whole and, the more I studied, the more I questioned, the less I believed. 

Now, as a 16 year old, I have been studying all religions trying to figure out what the truth was. About a year ago I came to the realization that there is no god; or at least, not one that an organized religion believes in. A couple months later, I realized that my belief had a term: atheism. Ever since, I have been a very devout atheist, but am still studying religions and science to validate my ideas. I try not to discuss my childhood when talking about why I am an atheist. Many people believe that my experience has caused me to be angry at god and defy him, while the reality is that my experience only led to me questioning Christianity and then studying it. 

Last month I decided to tell my mother that I was an atheist, who later told my grandmother. The sight wasn't pretty. They both ganged up on me and told me how I was "going to hell" and that it is "just a phase" and that I'm just "being rebellious." Ever since, the two have forced their religion down my throat and force me to attend church services regularly, where I must still pretend to be the "perfect pastor's granddaughter" even though they know it is not my belief. 

I want to tell my whole family that I am an atheist, so that they will not force religion down my throat. How should I tell them? Should I even tell them?

Answer

well the best i can figure alot of people believe the same way you do and thats your right to believe in how you want  thats everybodys right but as long as you want to share that information with your mom and so on tell your family be up front about your feelings face it straight on and be honest about how you feel you already told grandma and mom basically your just saying that your feelings have not changed

Answer

First I would like to say that I'm very sorry that you had to experience the childhood that you described. I know how hard it can be to recover from such an experience. I also had a very dysfunctional upbringing. Both my patents were heroin addicts, my father spent most my life in prison, and my mother was so deep in her addiction that most of my childhood was spent homeless, living with people, in motels, and on the streets. The things that I seen and experienced no child or anyone for that matter should have to experience. 
At the age of 22 I began to question the purpose of my life and why God would allow such suffering if he is so loving. The religious leaders that I talked to said that suffering is part of God's plan. If that was true than he is actually to blame, yet I couldn't accept that. At that point in my life the easiest thing for me to have done would have been to conclude that there is no God, yet after all I went through as a child I was not going to give up that easy.
What I did then was by far the simplest thing a person in my situation could do, I prayed, not just a formal prayer that religious leaders say in front of people, but i mean i said a real prayer, I poured out my heart, I asked Him for the truth. I knew that prayer alone was not enough, so along with prayer I started searching. I searched the bible, searched bible-based publications. I asked questions and listened to answers. 
A publication that really helped me develop a deeper understanding is entitled " what does the bible really teach ". Chapter 11 of that book " why does God allow suffering " explains simply and logically the reason why he has allowed so much suffering, it's only 9 pages. I recommend that you at least read that chapter. You can read It online or download it at JW.org. Don't give up! Keep searching for the truth and you will find it. Matthew 7:7

Answer

Why should you tell your family you are an atheist? If you are an atheist, you are an atheist. You have the  free will to do what you like to do. But instead of remaining an atheist, why not turn to be an agnostic? An atheist blindly disbelieves in God, but an agnostic is not sure. An agnostic asks questions, tries to understand that God does not belong to a religion, that God is not a statue or saint but God is a power, the power that you see in the sun, the moon, the stars, in the wind that blows, in the water that flows, in the heart that beats within - there is a power. Why don't you go in quest to understand what is that power within you, what is the power of life, where does it come from, what happens at death, where does the power go? Instead of declaring yourself  to be an atheist, why not, for a change, ask these questions before you make that resolution?

How do I tell my family I am an Atheist?

Answers (4)