Definition: Given a real-life anecdote of a complex ethical situation, generate a suitable title that describes the main event/root cause of the situation. Imagine that the given text is a social media post, and you have to write the title of the post, so the users can decide to read the main text or not.
Input: So I was brought up in a pretty conservative Pakistani household and had Islam burnt into my mind throughout my childhood and teenage years (praying five times a day, reading the quran, going to the mosque every week, fasting during ramadan). I was utterly devoted to the religion to the point where I voluntarily memorized about half the quran (it’s a pretty huge book). 

After starting college 3 years ago and learning more about evolution and scientific theory in general, I stopped being able to reconcile science with religion. I chose to believe in science because it actually offered evidence for the ideas it promoted. I haven’t prayed or read the quran for almost 3 years but I’ve been pretending to still be Muslim in front of my parents and relatives. Most of my friends know I’m an atheist and they’re pretty chill about it. 

I recently went on a trip with my dad for a few days and he asked me if I still prayed. Because he’s always been the more open-minded of my parents, I decided to take a chance and tell him part of the truth (that I had doubts about religion and that I didn’t really pray anymore). He promised not to tell my mother and seemed to be have taken it well during the trip. 

Well, imagine my surprise when I found both my parents crying after I got back from work the next week. He’d not only told my mom what I confided in him, but was now demanding that I go talk with a mufti to “clear my doubts”. My mom kept saying “you’re gonna lose your entire family if you don’t come back to Islam”. I told them I have nothing against other Muslims but I personally just can’t believe in religion anymore. When they realized I was being serious about this, they told me if they died, it would be my fault. My dad said “if Islam didn’t prohibit it, I might’ve already killed myself because of this”. 

My parents have always supported me, financially and emotionally. They brought me up with love and made sure I never wanted for anything. I’ve always loved and respected them and tried to be a good son. Now they say that I’ve destroyed my life and theirs by not believing in God anymore and made their lives meaningless. They think that I should follow the religion if only to repay their kindness and love. 

I feel very guilty about my part in all this. Obviously, I should never have told them about my beliefs and just kept pretending. But now the cat’s out of the bag and I’ve messed everything up. If I’m the asshole in this scenario, I’ll try to go back to praying daily and reading the quran, but is it really that bad of me to wish my parents loved me unconditionally?

telling my parents I'm an atheist