very oppressive religious environments Arguably the definition of "oppressed" has shifted these days. The vast majority of these "oppressive religious" upbrin

very oppressive religious environments Arguably the definition of "oppressed" has shifted these days. The vast majority of these "oppressive religious" upbringings that supposedly turned someone atheist rarely sound like Frederick Douglass' autobiography and sound more like a lot of angsty venting over some over-protective parents. At least for Christian households, Paul writes about this to parents in Colossians -- "Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged." -- but the blame for creating a strident atheist is generally on both sides of the relationship. It's firstly on parents for being overbearing, but also on the adult children who fail to forgive and honor their parents as they mature... The ironic thing is that the atheists who are unable to forgive and are still deeply resentful/angry about their oppressive religious upbringing are the ones who are still chained to the very thing from which they wanted to be free. Not that I wish anyone would be free from truly understanding the gospel of grace, but simply a matter of fact.