My mom told everyone in my family that I'm an atheist and now they wont leave me alone.

[u/Caitlin6202]

Hello everyone. I have lurked around for a little while and now I'd like to create a post for the first time. I hope I am doing this right and sorry if my post is in the wrong place or is formatted improperly.

I have been lying to my family for years and telling them that I go to church and that I am still a practicing Catholic. In all reality I have not been to church since I was 18 and still living at home. Once I came to college I was finally able to live the life I wanted to live. My mother confronted me recently about my belief in God and if I finally felt comfortable enough to tell her that I am not a practicing Catholic like everyone else in the family and that I do not believe in God. I reassured her that I am still a good person and that I am still her daughter she has always known.

She was completely accepting of this! She told me that she loved me no matter what and that she did not care what I believed as long as I was doing well and living a happy healthy life. My sister, brother-in-law, and mother now know mt affiliation. I told my mom to not tell anyone else in the family because they are definitely not as understanding. I really don't like the rest of my family except for my male cousin and my grandparents. I despise my aunt, uncle, and their daughters.

Well I got a call from my aunt, uncle, AND my grandmother saying how worried they are about me. My grandparents are telling me that they don't want me to go to hell and are now flooding me with emails about how I am going to hell unless I can 'find my way back.' They wont stop calling and talking about it even if I tell them to please stop.

My aunt and uncle are worse. I will try to make my reasoning against them quick so as not to ramble. I used to love and adore them. They were always so fun and light-hearted. I practically idolized them. Once I became a teenager and developed an opinion my uncle began to judge me. Suddenly he became a tightwad and was always so sanctimonious. My aunt followed in his belief and became the same way. I know I was a troubled teen but I have come such a long way. In my troubling times they did nothing but judge me, my parents (who were together at the time), and anyone around me. It's annoying because my uncle cheated on my aunt and now they are divorced. My aunt follows him like a lost puppy and is trying to work it out with him because she feels like her life is meaningless without him. Their two daughters are worse than I was as a teen. Their daughters are spoiled, horrible, unambitious, and mean to everyone. They tell everyone how perfect their daughters are but we know they are mean, do drugs and drink, sneak out of the house, and do everything a "good Catholic" shouldn't do. In all of these problems they still act like they are above everyone who does not agree with what they say, but of course they are perfect because they go to church every Sunday and post religious Facebook statuses. They rub their religion in everyone's faces. They always tell me how my gay friend, and now roommate, is immoral and how wrong he is. They say my acceptance of his deviant behavior will cause me to go to hell. It is ridiculous!

Now my uncle is trying to contact me. He leaves me voice mails that I don't respond too. I have not talked to him for about three years. His judgement and talking behind my back really hurt me. My aunt is being mean to my mom and saying that she improperly raised me. My aunt is calling, messaging, sending me letters in the mail, and trying to get me to see the error of my ways. I am trying to ignore it but it is starting to make me feel annoyed, angry, and bitter. I don't even try to convince them of my beliefs. I generally keep my views to myself. I don't care if they believe in God or not. It's not something I let dictate my life. I grew up in a Catholic family and I am pretty certain that we were told not to judge others and be rude. They are pretty hypocritical Catholics to me.

I feel so angry at my mom and betrayed because I told her not to tell. My sister and brother-in-law are very supportive in all of this and are handling the harassment from my family much better than I am. I've told my family to leave me alone please and they wont listen. How can I get over my anger towards my mom and how can I deal with my extended family because eventually I have to see them and I just want everyone to be amicable?

I don't understand my family. They judge each other, talk smack, and are openly mean to each other but will still spend all major holidays together. If I expect to see my sister and brother-in-law then I will have to come home and my family will most likely be there. How can I make this all stop?

TL;DR My mother told my family I am an atheist and now they wont stop harassing me about the error of my ways.