Redditor Refuses To Attend Atheist Brother’s Funeral Over Family’s Plans To Disregard His Death Wish And Hold A Catholic Funeral For Him

Twice bitten, not one bit shy.

Jesse

• Published in Interesting
• July 28, 2023

Religion is a vital part of people’s lives. It's a safe space that people run to in search of peace and has also been known to positively impact mental health in ways you can't even imagine.

For some, the belief in the presence of a higher power keeps them going, while others practice religion because it’s something they were taught to do from birth.

Whatever the reason, religion keeps many people going in their day-to-day activities, so they incorporate it into all the special moments of their lives, whether good or bad. For example, people incorporate religion into things like funerals as well as celebrations. 

However, it's important to note that not everyone believes in an omnipotent being. Don't be surprised to see some people opt out of religious activities or argue that "God" does not exist.

One Redditor’s brother was one such person. This is why OP decided to opt out of attending his funeral when their family decided to disregard his atheist beliefs and give him a Catholic burial.

OP shared that despite their brother specifying on his deathbed that he didn’t want a priest at his funeral, their family organized a catholic funeral when he passed. 

This upset OP and their late brother’s twin, but what could they do? Unfortunately, this twin fell sick as well and passed away shortly after his brother was buried.

To OP’s dismay, their family decided to also make his funeral a Catholic one, despite him being an atheist like his late twin. At this point, OP decided they couldn't take it anymore—they decided to stay back from the funeral and grieve in their own way.

This decision wasn't received well by the family, who saw it as an a**hole move. However, OP is going to let the Reddit community decide who the real AH is in this story.

Check out the final verdict below.

The story in detail

OP's atheist brother made it clear that he didn't want a priest at his funeral. However, their father decided to plan a Catholic funeral

Unfortunately, OP's second atheist brother passed away shortly after. And their dad is planning a Catholic funeral again

OP has decided that they won't be attending the funeral

Here's how the Reddit community reacted to the story:

This Redditor would have done the same if they were in OP's shoes

"Don't feel guilty. If you believe theres an afterlife, you know he wouldn't be upset."

"Honor your brother in your own way, whatever that looks like."

"You’ve got the right to grieve how you see fit."

"You’re completely justified here, you’re most likely doing what he’d want"

"It is unacceptable to give a person a funeral in a religion they themselves did not follow"

"You’re not required to attend the funeral. You grieve how you want to"

"NTA, but I just wonder if this is the kind of thing you may regret doing later."

The commenters wasted no time assigning OP the NTA tag; yet, they couldn’t say the same for their family members.

They also sympathized with them and shared similar experiences to further assure OP that they were justified in staying back.

We'd love to get your thoughts on this story. Join the conversation in the comments below.

Jesse