Who is the blackest sheep?

Who is the black sheep of the family???

When we usually refer to the pariah of a family it normally has something to do with a long-standing disagreement, moral failing or extended douchery.

But I wonder, when one member of a family has a different spiritual position to everyone else, who suffers most?

Is it the believer or the atheist?

Is it harder to be an atheist in a Christian household or a lone believer in a family of atheists or agnostics?

Who is treated more like the black sheep?

Who misses out more?

I suspect, frankly, it may be the atheist amongst believers.

They are, or could be, excluded from major religious gatherings, which happen to also coincide with the secular holiday periods.

They, potentially, will feel judged - Especially if they publicly left the faith.

For those who are children of ministers, their actions will, by some, be a reflection upon the parent as a family leader and spiritual guide.

It doesn’t really happen in the reverse way. This was my experience.

Families aren’t really judged if their child, cults aside, become religious.

Holidays look and feel much the same if these’s only one religious observant person.

In a time when we may be too quick to play the “persecution card,” I wonder if a “persecuted” believer considers what it may look like being in the opposite position?