Non-Religious Man Refuses to Lead a Prayer at His Girlfriend's Parents' House. Now, Things Are Strained
A Reddit user described a tense situation at his 29-year-old girlfriend's family dinner involving a pre-meal prayer
The 30-year-old man recalled his reaction after being asked by his girlfriend's dad to lead the prayer at their house
He replied to the dad, ' 'I appreciate the sentiment and I thank you for it, but I believe it is disingenuous of me to lead a prayer in a faith I don't genuinely hold. And I'd hate to disrespect your beliefs 'All hell has seemingly broken loose after a man declined his girlfriend's dad's request to lead a pre-dinner prayer at their house.
The 30-year-old boyfriend detailed the moment — and his reasoning for refusing to lead the prayer — on Reddit's 'Am I the A------' forum.
'[My 29-year-old girlfriend and I] went to our first out of state visit to her parents' house,' the man recalled. 'This is America, we live in Chicago, and they live in a smaller town in the Midwest.'
'We both definitely came from different backgrounds. My parents were academics and religion was just never a thing we participated in,' he continued. 'We discussed it obviously, but we were all some form of atheist or agnostic, but I was raised to be very respectful of others' beliefs.'
The man said that his girlfriend's parents are Christians.
'Everything was going great honestly. I had a great rapport with both of her parents, lots of laughs and good storytelling,' he recalled.
'But her dad (and I completely understand that he was trying to be nice and offer me what he understood to be a show of respect) asked me to lead prayer before dinner,' he continued. 'I kind of just stuttered in place.'
After regaining his composure, the man replied to the father, ' 'I appreciate the sentiment and I thank you for it, but I believe it is disingenuous of me to lead a prayer in a faith I don't genuinely hold. And I'd hate to disrespect your beliefs. Again, thank you and I mean no disrespect.' '
The reaction from his girlfriend's parents surprised him.
'Disrespect was definitely taken by both her parents, and the night basically derailed spectacularly from that point on,' the boyfriend said. 'They were polite, but totally shut down and the mood shift was palpable.'
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The man said his girlfriend's siblings have made comments about the moment on social media saying he should have just 'faked it and done it.'
Wondering if he made the wrong decision, he asked, 'Am I the a------ for politely declining to lead a prayer at the request of my new GF's father?'
'Not the a------,' many people replied, with many Reddit users reassuring him that he handled the situation well, all things considered.
However, others said he needs to confront his girlfriend about the way her siblings are publicly shaming him on social media.
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