Honoring our parents

[alexiarose]

OBKB. So here is the issue. Suppose our parents (or parent) is atheist. Are we still mandated by scripture to honor them cause it seems to me that we cant do that without really hitting some major contractions.

[AB]

OBKB. So here is the issue. Suppose our parents (or parent) is atheist. Are we still mandated by scripture to honor them cause it seems to me that we cant do that without really hitting some major contractions.

I don't know if this helps. But I got this out of a booked called "The Pentateuch and Haftorahs" edited by J.H Hertz. It details out the first 5 books of the OT from a Judaism perspective. It includes the scripture in Hebrew and English translation with commentary by JH Hertz. He is Late Chief Rabbi for the British Empire.

Anyway, regarding the honoring your parent commandment - and I copy from the book: Respect to parents is among the primary human duties;and no excellence can atone for the lack of such respect. Only in cases of extreme rarity (e.g. where godless parents would guide children towards crime) can disobedience be justified.

So, there is some occasion where there is wiggle room. Also look at it this way. Nothing melts a parents heart more when their child demonstrates respect to them. So maybe, just maybe, following that commandment(to the proper level as noted above) is what draws the atheist parent to the Lord.

[otseng]

OBKB. So here is the issue. Suppose our parents (or parent) is atheist. Are we still mandated by scripture to honor them cause it seems to me that we cant do that without really hitting some major contractions.

Short answer, yes, we are to honor our parents, even if they are atheists. There is nothing in the Bible that I can find that says to only honor them if they are Christians.

[Joonwoo]

The answer is YES... It is said that you must honor God. God also said that you must honor your parents. So... to honor God's commandments, we must abide by them and honor our parents. Here is the thing; If we cannot honor even our own parents on Earth, then there is no way that we can truly honor our supernatural Father.


Honor can be a tricky world...
To honor your parents doesn't mean to follow their every beliefs. It means that you should acknowledge them, respect them, listen to them as long as it does not conflict with God's words. If they force their ideas on you, do not give in or make a compromise. You must remember, nothing your parents can take away from you is as great as what God can offer you; which is ETERNITY with HIM!

Don't get into an argument about religion either; nobody can forcibly change a person's view of religion themselves. Only God is capable of doing this miracle by blessing them with the holy spirit.
However, there is one thing that you can do... preach the world of God. I don't mean argue a story in the bible. Tell your parents, your siblings a scripture from the bible occasionally. What this does is it gives your parents an idea about who God is and that is a great first step into conversion. Just tell them of God and God will do the rest.

Hope this helps, it helped me when I was struggling with my parents...

[Salve Adore]

I've noticed that a person can follow almost all the commandments of the Bible without being a Christian. Many of my friends who are Atheists agree. They say that the Bible is a good book, and that most of the commandments aren't exclusive codes of behavior. You can be a good person without being a Christian. If my parents were to become Atheists, I would still love them in the same way. I didn't love them before because they were Christians, and vice versa. We love each other because we are family. Love for family is unconditional, regardless of belief.

[Vanguard]

OBKB. So here is the issue. Suppose our parents (or parent) is atheist. Are we still mandated by scripture to honor them cause it seems to me that we cant do that without really hitting some major contractions.

Of course, you honor them. Why wouldn't you? What are the [contradictions]? A difficult scenario would include being raised by parents who were abusive. Do we honor them too?