Reply #135: A belated welcome to DU (and I did read your edit) [View All]

[Hekate]

I'm glad you are getting support in this thread -- you've had an interesting and challenging journey to get where you are.

Normally I advise passionate DUers to simply declare a no-politics-or-religion-zone when visiting conservative relatives, but if your parents won't allow there to be peace in the family, then just do what you can to protect yourself and your kids from toxicity. Sounds like you're doing the best you can in that regard.

I was so lucky to be raised by a religiously liberal mother. An ex-Catholic, she taught us that the core message of all the "great religions" was the same Golden Rule. When I tagged along to Sunday school with my little neighbors and then asked her about God creating the Earth in a week, she taught me that to an infinite God a billion years would be as a single day, but our finite minds could only comprehend what we had experienced -- and that the Bible is metaphor, poetry, and folk tales. She really didn't believe in God any more, I later found out, but she left plenty of room in her life for those who did, including me. We talked of many things as I grew up, and I believe the core of what she taught me about ethics and the Golden Rule are what led me to be a lifelong Democrat.

Best of luck to you always from this Boomer.

Hekate