Please tell me I´m not the youngest person in the forum...

[MoralAkteur]

Hi!

I´m Lara, 16 y/o, from Germany. I have been vegan for about three quarters of a year, still going strong
I really want to act on my beliefs of not believing in anything, but I am also trying to refrain from saddening my grandma. I know, thisw probably sounds effing childish, but she would be so sad if I would officially leave church. I am contemplating waiting until I´m 18, because then I would have to pay church taxes - Germany is so behind on some stuff, it is still interconnected with the "normal" taxes.
My grandma is a really open, non-homophibic, non-islamophobic christian and at her age I really do not see what harm she does. It makes her happy. And I love her so much
I honestly think, I should get my sh*t together and just resign (can you say that in english?), but would it be so bad to wait till I´m 18?
I´m normally not that spineless, but...
Feel free to give me a reality check - or correct my english. please be nice

[Jebus]

Welcome to our community, Lara. No, you are not the youngest. We have quite a few teenagers here.

Do you have to go to church on a regular basis? If not, I don't think there is any reason for her to know that you are atheist.

[Insert name here]

Hi Lara, not to worry, I'm sixteen as well. How did you find the forum? How did you become an atheist? How did you become a vegan? And as a closing statement, welcome to the forum.

[2048]

Hey, I'm 16 too ^^
Your grandmother seems awesome :3 I feel you on how you don't want to come out because of someone you love. I haven't come out yet to some family member so that I won't hurt them and let them think that I'll burn forever or whatever. Nice to have you on the forum ^^

[Red]

Don't worry, I'm probably the youngest active member here. By about 6 months.
Anyway..
I can speak a little german, so I may be able to translate like .001% of the things you say.
Anyway, I heard that some places in Europe are not as religious as in the west. Is this true? What prompted you to go vegan? How does your family cope with it? Are you open about your atheism?

[brimstoneSalad]

Welcome Lara, I'm glad you joined.

It's fine to leave the church when you're 18 if that's what you want to do. Just don't give them any money.

From thee sounds of it, though, you may be underestimating your grandmother. She would probably be OK with it, and respect your decision, and not worry for your soul because she knows you're a good person. Talk to her about it.

[MoralAkteur]

@Jebus

No, I live about 100km away from her, so I´d only go to church while visiting her, but even then not every time. Thanks for welcoming me

[MoralAkteur]

@Insertnamehere
The vegan story (´m sorry for it being this long)
A bit more than a year ago, I would have never believed to even be vegetarian. I was always the person who sat at the table arguing with vegetarians/flexitarians (oh, how much I hate that word) about them being wrong. With the most stupid arguments.
One day I stumbled over one of freelees videos. I was so annoyed, but came back to her channel to be able to get angry about her being irrational and stupid - of course I was right. But I found myself struggling with finding any valid reasons for eating meat. I started reading books (there is a really great one from a german philosopher), watching other vegan channels...
I told myself I couldn´t go vegan, while still living with my parents, so I just stopped eating meat. It wasn´t a problem at all, we would have it only about 1-2 times a week.
But one day I watched this one gary yourofski speech (I may not agree with his views on speciesism and more, but he is a good speaker), which led me to watching earthlings and cowspiracy. I turned vegan this day.
Of course, sometimes I missed cheese, but overall it has been pretty easy. Most of my family is supportive and we are eating mostly vegan at home.

I never believed in god, but everyone around me did, so I adjusted. But in the last three years I started being persistent in my questions. i found out that a few of my friends thought the same way. I am still unsure about calling myself atheist, because I am neither out nor active yet...

One day I watched one of TheVeganAtheist´s vids, started watching other atheist channels, too. I just "used the link in the descriptiobox"

[MoralAkteur]

@RedAppleGP

What do you mean with west? western europe or the US?

I am talking about atheism with my friends and close family, but I wouldn´t consider myself open.

I was just worried about my english. Because many of the atheists I have met, are really good at putting their thoughts eloquently, which I am quite sure I´m not going to be able to do. And there are so many native speakers and swedes (which tend to be nearly the same) on here, which made me a bit insecure...

[Mateo3112]

Welcome to the forum, i myself am also 16, and neither am i capable as expressing my thoughts as i'd like because i'm not an english native speaker.
it may seem hard to talk openly about your opinions when you suspect people will get hurt, but sometimes it turns out much better than expected. When i told my parents that i was an atheist they said i could believe what i wanted.
When i said i was going to be a vegeterian however they almost had a heart attack
But they ended up accepting my diet. I've tried going vegan, but they won't let me, maybe when i have my own house i'll be able to go vegan, it'll be hard though, where i live there's animal products in EVERYTHING. It sucks living in South America.
Anyway, i hope you find interesting topics to debate in this forum.