My first call from my mother was more of a scream. ‘Atheist? ATHEIST?!?!’
My dad called and said, ‘You have betrayed your family, your school, your city.’ It was like I had sold secrets to the Russians. They both said they weren’t going to talk to me any more. My dad said, ‘I don’t even want you to come to my funeral.’ After I hung up, I thought, ‘Just try and stop me.’