I will never be able to reveal to her that my father (a Lutheran Minister) told me that he was an atheist. There are certain lines that I think you can't cross.

*nod* I can definitely understand that.

I really wish I knew more about where my Dad stands, on a deep personal level. I know he's surprised the hell out of me with some of his views about where the church is going. It'd be very hard to learn he's an atheist, though, because many of the worst experiences my family has had have been a result of him being called to broken churches with vicious politics (and I'm not talking "a little nasty", I'm talking "Mom on suicide watch") -- I don't know whether I'd wish on him the idea that we went through all of that for no "higher purpose". That idea is part of why I struggled against atheism for so long.