Going through life as an ExMormon, now Atheist, there are a lot of obstacles that pass by, especially when it comes to things like an old friend who is still currently active in the church approaches you for the first time after the transformation to unbelief. It can seem frustrating at some times, especially after many misconceptions. All I have to say is to Keep It ZEN, meaning to have much patience and kindness, no matter how difficult the situation. If things go out of hand with the other person, I find it important to excuse yourself and kindly leave the conversation.
As a proclaimed Atheist, I encounter many misconceptions, that and sometimes angry people, just because I don't believe anymore and have a different point of view for things. Many misconceptions I hear as an ExMormon Atheist are "You're only angry at God, because...", "Such and such things of your prayers weren't answered because you probably where living in sin", "God didn't answer your prayers when you expected them, so you decided to become a baby about it by pretending to disbelief" and of course the one that only happens for a little while when they say "Oh, you're probably just going through a phase", but that one stops a couple of months or so after you haven't returned and they realize it's not a phase after all. Again, these are many misconceptions, mainly created through assumption and conclusions. Many times I have to make myself clear, explain that I'm not angry at God, I never was, plus I can't be angry at something I don't believe to exist. Being angry at God to me only makes as much sense to be angry at Spongebob for living in a Pineapple, which wouldn't make any sense. Explain that unanswered prayers probably had nothing to do with living in sin, I did all I could to live righteously, I don't see how a loving God like the one proclaimed by the LDS church would abandon one of his children just for simply not being perfect (Even he LDS church teaches that everybody is imperfect. They believe that Christ came to pay for our sins for not being perfect), what kind of God would do that? Now people that say that "God didn't answer my prayers when I expected them" trying to make the point that God answers prayers at his own time... well those people don't even know a single thing about me and why I left the church. When I was LDS, I believed the whole thing of God answering prayers at his own time. What they don't know about me is that I felt that God did answer my prayers, I believed that when he answered me, it was usually through the Holy Ghost and/or signs that I saw that seemed so conviencing to me that they must have been some kind of sign for my faithfulness and thought came from God, I actually got to the point many times that I was 100% sure of it without a doubt that they were from God. The thing is, all those things pretty much all just went down the drain and non of it was true after all. And the whole phase thing, as I already explained, isn't a phase at all when it continues to last without any turning points and knowing that I could never return for many many reasons. That doesn't sound like a phase to me.
Anyways, to my conclusion, after all these misconceptions as well as others not mentioned, even the most frustrating ones, I find it important to just be patient and to Keep It ZEN (I think that shall be my new slogan, lol.) In the past I've only come to realize that if you argue back and continue arguing, you'll only help create more frustration and within yourself as well, which only leads to angry people and NOBODY getting their point across to the other person. So I'll just say it one last time, Keep It ZEN :)
