i haven't been to a dinner like this in years. when i moved out, i made it a point to avoid going home for christmas, thanksgiving, etc. for the last few years that i was at home, i'd avoid the family by sitting in my room and then wait for leftovers; a part of the problem was that holidays were the only really free time i had, and i didn't want to waste it with family. my parents would have preferred me to eat with the family and stuff, but they were sympathetic to my introversion, my preference to avoid children and the inevitability of every family get together devolving into a political argument due to the vast levels of divergence in basic thought. it doesn't really make sense to take people that are polar opposites and more or less hate each other 360 days of the year and expect them to get along for a few hours out of the sake of some stale convention.
but there was a brief period when i was about twelve-fifteen when this kind of thing was relevant. that's the most unrealistic part of this: the fact that this guy is in his 20s. by his age, his character and religious beliefs should be well understood and the family should have already made the decision to quietly accept or quietly condemn. if he was fourteen or something, but this should have been dealt with years ago...
that being said, i don't think he's really overreacting. i wasn't pushed very hard on the point. in fact, i believe my parents simply matter of factly explained it to people in order to prevent it from being a conflict; "she's an atheist, so don't expect her to take part in the prayers.". for my part, i just sat quietly and waited for it to be done. well, i may have eaten through a few prayers but it would have been out of honestly forgetting the convention, rather than an act of rebellion...
if my dad were to push me like this? i could see myself reacting similarly, and justifying it. overturning the second table was a bit much, but i think dad deserved a bit of pie in his face on this.
Molineux88
Why post something that long, this isn't war and peace volume 2.
deathtokoalas
i want you to paste that into a word document, note how long it actually is and then laugh at yourself.
