I told my parents that they could choose their religion or to be a part of my life. You can already guess that is why I no longer speak to my parents.

They use their religion as a crutch to keep them from having to emotionally grow. If I even tried to sit down and have a realistic discussion, it would simply devolve into thought-ending clichés (e.g. it will all work out in the end).

When I see my parents next year at my brothers wedding, I’m going to tell them that we can work on our relationship in the “next life.” And I will likely add that I don’t believe that will happen, but it’s up to them to decide to do anything different. I expect nothing to change.