I said there was more--this not so bad, but part and parcel of the whole evenings' confrontations.

My father suddenly asked me when I became so "anti-religious". I told him I wasn't "anti", just not personally religious. He pressed me for specifics, reminding me of my church upbringing, my Methodist and Unitarian participation, my choir singing (and directing), etc.
His demeanor was very accusatory and hateful. Instead of me backing off apologetically, accepting his verbal abuse, as I usually do, I told him I have been a "non-believer" ever since high school--never a "Christian". I went through the motions simply to look good and not out of place in society. I also did it for my kids and wife (but I hated every moment of it).

Once divorced, I came "out of the closet" (25 yrs ago), although I still attended church (UU) even as an atheist. (Many Unitarians are atheists.).

Well, father went on a tirade about the importance of "believing" and the pitfalls of not believing, and implied he was ashamed I wasn't like everybody else in the family--past and present. I couldn't reason with him, of course. Arguing religion would have gotten me nowhere. "I am what I am, dad." Case closed.