NobodyYouKnow
Misanthropist
Namaste. :namaste(Warning: This may be pretty long) So today I had an "intervention" with my parents. On my Facebook I had this image of Krishna and Radha as my background.
Somehow my parents found me on Facebook, most likely through one of my sisters because I don't have them as friends. But anyways they scrolled through the images I used as my Facebook header and they were all Hindu related images. I come from what many would consider a "fundamentalist" Christian background. My parents proceeded to degenerate Hinduism claiming it was "demonic", "satanic", "evil", "idol worship" and saying I was somehow being initiated into a cult.
I sat and listened laughing to myself throughout most of their tirade. They asked me why I had them as my header. I would have loved to say it's because I'm a Hindu but I can't tell them I've changed religions until I become financially independent of them. So instead I sat and pretended like I was still a Christian which really annoyed me.
My parents and the Christian sects they belong to actively believe in the Devil, evil spirits and etc. My mom began telling me stories of how back home(She's from Africa) how people had bought Indian statues and they had transformed into human beings during the night through witchcraft.
I couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of this statement. They proceeded to warn me how these pictures could invoke "evil" powers which could harm me and my family. What killed me the most is when she pulled up a picture of Lord Shiva with multiple snakes wrapped around his neck and tried to correlate it into the Christian belief of snakes being evil. The rest of the conversation followed along those lines.
My relationship with my parents is already rocky but this made me realize that in my future I will basically have nothing to do with them. I respect their beliefs but they can't respect mine? So now I'm left with the question of what to do from here. What would you do?
First, I must say that picture of Sri Radha Krishna is very beautiful...it looks like one of those foil posters...
I am sorry to read/hear about what happened with your parents. My beliefs also started pretty much 'full-on' by the time I was 19 and my parents were Atheist back then, with a 'I don't care what religion you belong to outside this house, but while you are under our roof, there is to be none of that bulls*** here'.
That was a pretty fair compromise. I was allowed one day a week to go out and 'practice my religion' as long as I spent the rest of the time aiming for high marks in college. I was also allowed to spend school holidays in Ashrams, provided I took all my books with me and there was no 'sex, drugs, rock & roll' etc...yeah, this was ISKCON we are talking about. lol
Anyway, if your heart and soul is established in your Hindu belief, nothing anybody can say/do will ever change that...it goes way beyond that. Stage your own 'intervention' and tell them how you are not being disrespectful to them and/or their beliefs, but praying to Lord Shiva makes you happy and if you are destined for Hell for being happy, kindly ask their forgiveness.
They can see things in their limited way, but what you have is in your heart! Shiva is inside your heart and that can never be taken away!
So, even though your parents want you to do things 'their way', you can still close your eyes and feel Shiva inside there...feel your connection and post on here if you need to vent/discuss.
I wish you all the best and God bless.
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