**May I please be anonymous if printed anywhere but the internet? Or entirely anonymous is fine as well.**

Have you ever felt like nobody understands you? Do you ever fee like that your feelings aren't worth as much as someone else's?

Me too.

Well, your right. People probably don't understand you, and a lot of people won't even try because they believe what's happening to them is so much more important than what's happening to you. Parents, friends, teachers, they all have their own problems to deal with and nobody cares about you, right?

Right.

I experienced this myself. I was paying attention in class one time - probably the only time I ever payed attention in class - and my teacher was talking about religions. That's how I found out about Deism. I never understood why I never REALLY believed in God and such, whereas my mother did. I studied up on Deism some and found out that almost everything they spoke about was what I believed in already, and the rest made sense.

I'm not one for pushing my religion onto others, but one day my mother asked why I never said "Amen" at dinner and I replied and told her about Deism. She told me to stop talking to her, that if I continued to speak to her, she'd go to hell for my blasphemy.

She ended up ignoring me for several hours, and the next day, she spoke to me, but very lightly, tip toeing around all the subjects.

I never again brought it up, but one time after this happened, we were at a friend's house who said "It was some religion, I don't remember the word." and Mother instantly snapped "DEISM?" which, of course, was not the word he was looking for.

This was coming from a Mom who said she was open to everything, that I could believe whatever I felt like, I could be whoever I wanted to be. In honesty, I think many people are open minded, until it comes to them, their families, or their friends. And there's no way around it, perhaps you can talk to your parents some, get your feelings out in the open, but al ot of the time they just won't understand because they grew not to understand.

We have to accept this, I have, and yes it hurts, it hurts so much to be outcast from my family because I'm not religious like they are.

I just wanted everyone out there who feels this to know they're not alone.