Hello Shawn,

I don't have anything new to add, but would also like to lend sympathy as your story touched me, reminding me of my own similar situation.

My mother is Catholic, and dragged me to church every Sunday for the first 14 years of my life. When I was 15 I caused a massive stink by refusing to go any more, citing (fairly) that the time it took out of Sunday morning could be better spent on my studies.

It proved, however, a wound that has never healed, though both parties have learned to live with the pain. Religion truly poisons everything. But at least my adult relationship with my mother is honest; and I prefer this to the situation my brother-in-law has ended up in. He is a chemist, but to please his mother attends church every Sunday and even participates in the services in some capacity. How awful it must be for a man with a BSc in chemistry to sit through the rotten pretence of transubstantiation each week.

Sure, my rejection of my mother's cherished beliefs caused and still causes problems, but I wouldn't swap my honest relationship for my brother-in-law's capitulation to filial expectation.

Good luck, anyway. Would like to hear an update if there are any fresh developments. Sorry, I'm very nosey!