How Can I Talk With My Mother About Her Beliefs When I don’t Believe in Them?
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I’m religious, I believe in god, but only because I don’t think random chance could ever, in a million years, make such a complicated and unique ecosystem.
My mother however is very faithful in her belief and has a lot of differing opinions from me, for example I am an Old World Creationist ,kinda (I believe in the earth is 4 billion years old but I put a bit more science in it.), and my mom is a New World Creationist (I asked and she thinks earth is 10,000 years old.), but if i try to ask her why, or talk to her about it, it devolves into an argument. How can i talk to my mom about her beliefs without fighting.
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Please briefly explain why you feel this answer should be reported.
Hi Lulu,
I saw your question quite a while ago and I should have answered but it skipped my mind. My sincere apologies for that.
I quite understand your challenge. I know the scenario you have painted vividly because I have had to deal with something similar in my life. I’ll share my experience with you and I hope it will help answer your question.
I have an older brother who I love very much but sometimes we have very different opinions on some topics. This can lead very quickly into an argument or a fight. The first thing I realized was that we fight because we both have a desire to be in sync with each other because we care about one another. With people I’m not close to, I really don’t care if we agree or not
Now the second thing that I realized is I had to accept the fact that as close as we are, we are different and separate individuals and from time to time our differences will come up. When this happens I must choose to be open, and quiet and listen to his opinion and try to understand why he believes that way and make a sincere effort to see it from his eyes. Who knows I might be wrong and I could learn from him. But if after I have done this I still disagree I simply say I disagree and ask if he would like to hear me out. Simple.
At the end of the day, for me, the goal is not about who is right but what is right and also it’s okay if we don’t agree. I still love my brother. Disagreements should never be allowed to have so much power that they take away from the relationship.
I hope this helps. God bless you