Funny story: So, his mom sends out an email with the date of the mass and the party. I’m “out” to my family and I rsvp for the party and jokingly point out that that’s the great thing about being an atheist, you don’t have to go to mass but you still get to go to the party ha ha.
Now, his parents are only, shall we say, Catholic for grandma. They don’t go to weekly mass or anything.
Sis tells me that she thought my rsvp was funny and was telling my BIL about it. Nephew overhears and asked what an atheist is.
She explained atheism to him and he says, “that sounds like us, mom.”
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with giving a gift that someone will like. I think the real mistake is bringing your personal beliefs into it (in this case). If you hated apples but your Aunt Susie wanted a subscription to the Apple Of The Month Club; would you have a problem giving her that as a gift?
Or to put it another way, I would have no problem buying a gift for a Jewish person even though I’m catholic. If I could go to an appropriate store and ask a sales person to help me find a suitable gift for my Jewish friend, I wouldn’t worry at all that my beliefs about Jesus were no in line with his.
This cracked me up, because, obviously, dollar coins aren’t exactly rare in Canada. I couldn’t help but think of the kid opening up the bag and thinking "You gave me laundry money?!" Naturally, it would be a cooler gift in the US, though! And hey, money is money!
The first communion is today; I haven’t been to the bank yet but I’ve pretty much decided on cash. And now that nephew’s mom knows I’m not going to the mass, I’ve been called into service to pick up the cake and be first at the party to start setting up. So it’s handy for the Catholics to have an atheist in the family. It’s all good.
Atheists should treat other people’s religions the same as if they were hobbies.
What if he was into soccer and you weren’t? Would you still be asking what to give for a soccer occasion? Money, something generic, or some soccer stuff.
When he gets confirmed and has perhaps discovered a spiritual side you can give him a religious gift without being hypocritical of your own beliefs. The gift is for him.
