So I came out of Fundie Christianity about 10 years ago with the help of genuine questioning, an atheist boyfriend, and exposure to a larger community of varying beliefs. My parents were obviously not happy about this, but over time, we all came to an agreement to pretty much not talk about religion or politics. (Most of the time).
The problem I'm having now is that my sister (who is 15) is pretty much exactly where I was when I was her age. She's wrapped up in the fundamentalist world with plenty of encouragement by my parents. My mother always talks about how proud she is of my sister and even though it shouldn't, it grates on me to no end. I am an AWESOME human being. I am currently working toward a degree in physics, with the hope of getting a Ph.D. in Astrophysics someday. I have two amazing children. I am kind and loving and giving and just generally good. But it's not good enough for her. She thinks I'm a bad example for my sister just by virtue of not holding their beliefs. I really think even if I had held on to Christianity in a less fundie form, I would be seen as damned by them.
I can leave well enough alone with my parents, but I want to question a lot of her premises and ideas. But my parents obviously are not happy about that. They don't want me "leading her astray." As it is, she's not allowed to spend any time with me alone, and when conversations DO arise, I'm always seen by my parents as bullying her.
My family and I are all connected on facebook. I hide my mother so I don't have to hear all of her fundie BS (pretty much ALL she ever posts), but my sister and I are pretty close. I like to know what's going on in her life. Every now and again she'll post religious stuff, which I don't comment on unless it's hateful (she posted something linking gays to pedophiles once and I went on a 60-comment rampage against her and her cohorts).
Here's the thing. I don't necessarily want to take away her faith. I have no problem with people believing what they want, for the most part. But I want to take away her fundamentalism. I want to question her assumptions, convince her to be Christlike, not a sheep of the power-hungry Church.
I wouldn't have much of a problem cutting off contact with the family entirely except that I want to spend time with my sisters and I have two young children who love their grandparents. They are forbidden to talk religion with my kids, and I feel kind of hypocritical discussing my sister's beliefs with her. To be fair, though, I think there's a world of difference between 5 and 15.
Anyway, I apologize for the rant. I really have nowhere to discuss this with anyone. Facebook isn't safe, nor is my personal blog, which is read by the family. I don't like to discuss it with my hardcore atheist husband because mostly he just doesn't like my family and I think he'd be perfectly happy if we never saw them again. So this is fairly an unburdening. :)