I don't mind being called an apostate. I did walk away from religion, and I'm proud of it. I am more ethical now than I ever was as a religionist.

I would say ' Thank You for the compliment '.

Pretty much the same way as bitch, fucking liptard or heathen. I do take exception to feckless cunt, I've really never been feckless.

Nobody has ever called me that, but I would say better a thinking logical reasonable apostate than a brainless brainwashed hypocrite.

I have never been called an apostate. What fun! My likely response?

"Forsooth, milord, wherefore dost thou use such antiquated terms? Verily, wilt thou accuse me of churlish goings-on forthwith? Balderdash!"

Once I had exhausted my supply of old words (I only know a few,) I would fall back on incoherent muttering...if I hadn't already collapsed in laughter, anyway.

I would've said, "takes one to know one!" and then stuck out my tongue and razzed him.

I could not care less what they call unless of course they call me late for dinner.

I am an apostate with pride. I did not lose my faith but replaced it with something much better - evidence based reason.

Apostasy is a term meaningful only to the religious. I don’t view it as a bad thing so it fazes me about as much as being called “sober” by a proud alcoholic.

Just remember that anyone calling you a hell-bound apostate is not someone with an open mind and therefore not someone you can have a fruitful discussion with. In such matters, I find that it's best to avoid headache-inducing back-and-forths, opting for the path of least resistance instead (especially when you have to coexist )

Now I’m thinking of my deeply religious great aunt: she would insist that a demon was talking through my (atheist) uncle whenever he would disagree with her. Good times But it did serve as a lesson as to the futility of engaging with such mindsets.

If I were to ever believe in a god, it certainly would not be one that is cruel enough to create a place of eternal punishment for the beings it intentionally created imperfect and who exist for only a brief moment in time when compared to eternity.

I don't. Reacting when being baited plays directly into the hands of the one doing the baiting. I'd rather not give them the satisfaction AND have learned that debating with the deluded is a complete waste of time.

I don't, or rather, wouldn't. Seems kind of silly.

What’s wrong with being an Apostate? Didn’t Jesus have twelve of them?

It dosn't matter how or whom you argue with sooner usually you get to the response "all you have to do is believe" then I often feel like I am going to meltdown and join all those people including children who have been obliterated in the name of a God. By the self righteous.

I had to look up the word. At the end of the day, it is way better to be described as that than delusional.

My own family is really religious in one way or another, and when they do stuff like this I have to bite down on my anger. I'll smile and act lile what they say doesnt upset me. One way to stick it in their craw.

I kind of walked into a similar conversation with one of my favorite aunts. Unfortunately, she kept prompted for a positive response about me praying and I just don't have it in me to lie and pretend that I pray. So she kept comparing me to satan because I "question God" and such. There's really no winning with people who are beyond a certain level of indoctrination. I wasn't offended because I understood.

See, the reality is that the human brain doesn't actually care what is true or false. It is our ego that cares, not the brain chemistry or actual physical biology of it all. The brain just wants consistency because that's the library system it uses to store and recall information. If there are conflicts in its "database" it will try to resolve them which is what bothers us. The more years they spend in the church, getting reinforced in their beliefs every week, the more difficult it becomes to untangle the birds nest of "wires" that have them convinced that what they believe is true.

So... keep that in mind and tell your husband that they still love you both but their brains, at this point, are addicted to Christianity the same way the Walking Dead are attracted to blood. Christians just want the blood of Jesus. And they'll hurt anyone who gets in their way without truly being 100% conscious of what they're doing or how badly they're treating people. Because as long as they believe they're doing it in the name of God and Jesus, to them, it is always going to appear to be the right thing. All you can do is tell them how it makes you feel and ask if God wants them to hurt you when, if he wanted to, he could just appear to you himself.

I usually just agree with them. As much as I sometimes enjoy picking at doctrine, it seems confident apathy works really well. Sometimes I feel bad that they can't understand how anyone could just not care about things that are so important to them.

I don't argue with the elder delusional. You won't change their minds, and belief in the afterlife gives them the comfort they might want later in life. Who cares what they call us.

"not my circus - not my monkeys" comes to mind ...

"That's Mister Apostate to you sunshine"

I don't have conversations with the religious about religion long enough to be called anything by them. Thats thier fantasy world, not mine.

Good luck living in such close proximity.

I get the dictionary out. (Not that it's ever happened.)

Probably try to come up with an impromptu song based on the Laverne and Shirley music and crack up at how poor of a job singing I have done. Thank them for giving me the good laugh and tell them I have to excuse myself as I have not fulfilled my minimum daily baby/virgin sacrifice yet today. Then wink as I walk away.

I thank them and then walk away.