My mothers more 'casual' belief in things

[Munch]

To start off, I love my mum loads. She has always been a strong woman, who once had to deal with the death of her own child to cancer, before she had me and my brother. And after I was diagnosed with diabetes at age 2, she had to then raise a child with a condition that could be fetal if not monitored right. She even remained married to my father until the day he died, despite hating her marriage to him, but she did it for the sake of stability and not shaking things up for her family.

She's always been kind, strong willed and loves her family, now being the matriarch of our lot.

However, just based on my own beliefs (or lack there of) now, I'm kinda confronted with an awkward problem with my mum, and wondered if anyone else has had a similar experience. My mum isn't to start of theistic, she doesn't believe in god or the devil or any organised religion. She was once classed as church of england, since in those days back in the 70s-80s you couldn't put down you didn't have a religion, so she had to choose one, but it never meant anything to her.

She's always been a rationality minded woman, whos fully embraced me when I came out as gay, and accepting when I told her I was an atheist years after. Yet despite me telling her I'm an atheist, and we can have great conversations about the ridiculous nature of religion and faith followers... mum does still have belief that there are such things as angels, and the afterlife, and even keeps a glass table stand with a figure of an angel inside it.

She told me its because when she was young, she would often pray for someone to come save her from her parents, to which she meet dad and married him a year later to escape life with her parents, or how she prayed for a way to have children again, at which time A.I.D treatment began in the UK, leading to mine and my brothers birth.

Anyway, despite mum not being religious and acknowledging all organised religions are ridiculous and lead by the worst kinds of people, she still believes she has an angel watching over her, and when I bring up subjects about people talking about the afterlife, mums whole full stop to the conversation is simply 'well we just don't know what will happen, we're see when we all die'.

I love my mum so much, and I admire the strength she's always shown. And honestly, she has never forced anything she personally believes in on anyone else. So apart from the awkward scenario of talking down all theism with someone who believes in having an angel, I can't say much else about it with her, and wouldn't want to either.

[Solitary]

My wife does too, she's Catholic, but doesn't go to Church. It's her security blanket that makes her strong. Some times I pull it off and she doesn't talk to me for weeks. 

[stromboli]

I don't honestly see that it is a huge problem she chooses to believe in something that gives her stability. I agree it is kind of silly, but based on her rough life and what she has had to deal with, having a crutch, even a silly one, is not at all uncommon. My mother believed the house we lived in was haunted, but that the ghosts were friendly, and even comforted her a few times. She was a very strong, stable woman otherwise. And she dealt with some serious hardships. And she really had no one else to turn to, so having that sense of spiritual support was an aid to her.

[Mr.Obvious]

My girlfriend doesn't believe in a God and tends to agree that organised religion is on the whole more of a bad thing than a good thing. Yet she believes in ghosts, the afterlife and even plain 100%-clear-give-me-your-money-bullshittery like the reading of tarrot-cards, fortune telling, horoscopes (though not the ones you read in a newspaper), ...

When it comes to the afterlife and even ghosts, I think it's because she's afraid of the concept of death and thus doesn't want to / can't acknowledge it as true. Its been a topic of conversation before, and probably will be again, but not that we deliberatly make it our goal to change the other ones mind. I can accept her believing that because it's not something she's vigilant about and it's not something that makes her preach or convert or ... I'm not especially thrilled that she believes it. Nor is she, I feel, about me not believing it because I think she thinks I've got a very cynical and depressed look on life because of it. When the subject's raised, we'll talk about it, but for the most part it doesn't matter.

As for the clear-moneydraining-bullshittery, that I'll accept her believing in it, but I've made clear that we're not going to be spending money on it. That shit ain't harmless.

[aitm]

I think we as humans tend to be very sympathetic to others and to our own needs, desires and wants. To that I think we tend to also be hopeful, optimistic and caring. Toss in a cruel and unforgiving world full of disapppointment and misery and you have people talking to the sky and funny shaped rocks or patting the dashboard of your car saying, "c'mon honey you can do another week without an oil change". People extend their lives to  things that cannot hurt them.  I cherish my older brothers recon hat from Vietnam despite him being a religious looney, and whenever I wore it hunting I was convinced I had the stalker and great hunter in that hat. I still have my lucky bat.

One can easily understand and recognize superstition and its silliness, removing it completely from your life is a little bit harder.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

I'm typing this with my lucky keyboard.. I sure hope nothing bad hap......oh shit..

[Solitary]

Your problem is this:

[Drummer Guy]

mum does still have belief that there are such things as angels, and the afterlife, and even keeps a glass table stand with a figure of an angel inside it.

If it's therapeutic for her, why not let her roll with it?  When it comes to human interactions, being right and making sure other people know it isn't always the most important thing.

[Berati]

There are very few people who apply rational thinking to every subject. Even atheists.

I wouldn't worry one bit about these beliefs unless they start to intrude on the real world. For instance, if she refused to take medication because she believed the angels would help her instead... then you  would need to have a conversation with her. This doesn't seem to be the case so she sounds like a great mom.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Your problem is this:

I solemnly swear to tell the tooth and nothing but the tooth..

[Mermaid]

A very good friend of mine believes in all kinds of shit--God, angels, ghosts, astrology, the works. She also thinks her horses talk to her. She is what she is. It makes her happy. Who am I to try to talk her out of it?