This is my first post. I grew up a Hindu and turned to Atheism a couple of years ago. I'm enjoying the clarity in thoughts and not having to be perpetually skeptical about the absurdities in one's beliefs.

While I'm an Atheist, no one in my family is. I haven't made my Atheism open to them mainly because I feel it might hurt their feelings. I'm sure they will continue to love me just as much and practically it won't affect my life much, but I've tried not to cause them in distress.

You might know that Hindu festival celebrations usually involve rituals of some sort or the other. I try not to get involved in them as much as possible. But there are some cultural things that are not overtly religious that I enjoy. E.g. playing with colors on Holi or lighting up your house with lights on Diwali makes me happy. I also look forward to fun things like decorating Christmas tree, holiday dinner, gift exchanges. So far, I think I have managed to keep a good balance between exercising my critical thinking and enjoying the festivities w/o the religious aspects of it.

Your thoughts on this? Do you do anything differently?