Welcome, darlings. Gather around because today, we’re diving into a tale tighter than your grandma’s grip on the remote control during Wheel of Fortune. This juicy slice of life is brought to you courtesy of a real Reddit post from a real, live person. It’s filled with graduating drama, a sprinkle of religious trauma, and one sassy rejection of a graduation gift. Buckle up and grab your popcorn.
The Holy Backstory
Our protagonist – let’s call her Taylor – has navigated the stormy seas of compulsory church attendance since birth. Imagine being dragged to church services tighter than Spandex on sumo wrestlers, from baby booties to jaded teenager. That’s Taylor’s reality.
Fast forward to Taylor hitting 18 – the age where you’re legally old enough to eat your weight in pizza rolls and, more importantly, decide where you plant your tush on a Sunday morning. She decided her mother’s church wasn’t it. And it wasn’t about religion itself – Taylor even has a bestie who’s Christian; their beliefs line up like peaches and cream. But Mother Dearest’s church? It felt more like vinegar on a paper cut.
The Present Predicament
So here we are, Taylor has long since fled the pews of her mother’s church, but good old mom hasn’t quite gotten the memo. Recently, the church decided to extend an olive branch – or rather, a graduation gift. And that’s when things start to get spicy.
Mamma bear sends Taylor a golden ticket: “The church will have your graduation gift for you today. Could you come to church at 11:00 to receive it? It would make us all happy.” Taylor, standing firm on her decision not to attend, delivers a swift reply: “I told you I will not go.” Mic drop.
Tick-tock. Who’s the A-hole here? Taylor, who’s sticking to her convictions, or mom, who’s playing the world’s most persistent Jehovah’s Witness?
Joan’s Two Cents
Now, darlings, you didn’t ask but you’re getting it. Taylor is not the A-hole here. Repeat after me: NO means NO. It doesn’t mean maybe, it doesn’t mean only on Sundays, it doesn’t mean ‘I’m looking for a better offer.’ It. Means. No. Trying to weasel a “yes” out of a “no” given multiple times is like trying to squeeze lemon juice from a potato. Ain’t gonna happen, honey.
Now, I get it. Mom might be thinking this is her way to reconnect Taylor to the spiritual circle she’s so lovingly polished with her own devotion. But let’s face it: hounding your recently emancipated adult child into a church they’ve long outgrown for the sake of a graduation gift is like offering a vegan a double cheeseburger. Thoughtful? Maybe. Appropriate? Absolutely not.
And another thing – trauma is real, and it doesn’t fit neatly into a Christmas stocking or a graduation present. If Taylor says the idea of stepping back into that church gives her the psychological heebie-jeebies, you better believe it’d take less of an effort to fill the Grand Canyon with Jell-O than to make her feel “happy” with this gift.
And consider this: Wouldn’t it be infinitely more supportive for mom to say, “Hey, I respect your choices. How about we meet at our favorite coffee shop and toast to your graduation over some non-ambiguously loving lattes?” That would show genuine love and understanding, rather than the spiritual equivalent of dragging Taylor back to the guillotine.
Conclusion
So, is Taylor the A-hole? Not a chance in heaven or hell, sweeties. Sometimes standing up for yourself means standing against pressure, no matter how gift-wrapped the pressure might be. Kudos to her for sticking to her convictions and for choosing personal peace over performing for the sake of others’ happiness.
Let’s raise a metaphorical glass to Taylor’s future free from guilt-trips disguised as gifts, where
Original story
Fair warning: I have nothing against religion or having a relationship with God. I have a best friend who is Christian and we get along super great but the difference between what her and my mother believe is huge.
Long story short: My mother dragged me to church from the time I was born until around when i turned 18 and decided that I wasn’t going to go there. I have a bit of religious trauma from my mother and have talked to her about the multiple reasons I don’t want to attend church at her church.
Jumping to recently now: she told me about a week ago the church wanted to get me a gift for graduation. I told her something along the lines of “well thats nice of them but I don’t need anything and I won’t be going to that church” she acted like she has no recollection of me telling her all the reasons through the years of why I won’t go to that church.
She texted me this morning and is trying to convince me to come even though I have told her multiple times I won’t come back.
She texted me “The church will have your graduation gift for you today. Could you come to church at 11:00 to receive it?
It would make us all happy.” And I told her “I told you I will not go” she hasn’t responded yet but I’ll update if something more comes from this.
So am I the asshole? What do you think?
🤔 of course there is way more that I could have prefaced this story with but then the post would be a novel so I’m just trying to stick with a little context and the basics of what happened recently. I definitely don’t fit in at her church and haven’t felt safe or welcomed in a decade.
So yea, am I the asshole for refusing to go to receive a college graduation gift from the old church I haven’t been to for a service in around 5 years?