The Original Post
My wife and I are of different faiths, think evangelical and Catholic, but neither of us was really devout about it all. MIL was a different animal – total zealot in the literal meaning of the word.
MIL was the self-appointed matriarch of the family and an over-the-top religious zealot in a hard core evangelical Protestant faith. I went ONCE with my then fiancee and they had folks in the congregation stand up and “confess their sins” to the whole congregation and one guy’s sins were that his wife liked sex and “the elders” told him she was “wanton” and so he decided to divorce her over it … that was enough for me that I swore never to go back.
When we would visit for Sunday dinner, they would have a church service in the morning and a second service in the evening (and one on Wednesday evening as well.) The first time we stayed the weekend it was “when are you going to get ready for church?” and I said “No thank you, I am not of your faith but have a good service yourselves.” She basically took the stance that since I was in her house under her roof I was basically required to attend “with the family.” Some back and forth and she would not budge. I was getting pressure from my now wife as well with the usual “just keep the peace” BS.
I then was hit with the perfect solution (inspired from on high, perhaps?) – I basically told MIL that I absolutely agreed with her position and it was entirely correct and proper to insist on my being subject to her demands when staying in her home. BUT, because it was so correct and proper now in the future when SHE came to visit us in MY home, ALL OF US would attend MY church of MY faith – which to this hyper-evangelical Protestant zealot probably made her knickers crawl up her ample derriere even at the mere thought. She sputtered and deflected and I said “NO – I demand you agree in front of your family and God that you will be attending MY church when you come visit us.” As we had the only grandkids, she couldn’t just refuse to ever come over.
After some deliberation she resignedly agreed I did not have to attend their services – or ANY services for that matter. (Years later I got a grudging kudos from the FIL that I had been the only SIL to EVER stand up to her. Her own kids would have to hide their booze and weed at the neighbor’s house when she came over. Nuts.)
Edit: I can’t believe the comments are going that way but I was a SON IN LAW. Thought that was obvious.
What Reddit Said
Redditors absolutely loved OP’s tactical brilliance in this religious standoff. Most praised his quick thinking and perfect execution of turning MIL’s own rules against her. However, some commenters couldn’t resist suggesting even more petty responses, like publicly “confessing” his wife’s enjoyment of sex or quoting biblical verses about women remaining quiet.
The consensus was clear: OP handled this perfectly. Moreover, many users related to dealing with overbearing in-laws who impose their beliefs. In fact, several pointed out how satisfying it must have been to finally put this zealot in her place.
The Verdict
Reddit unanimously declared this a masterclass in handling a mother in law forced church attendance situation. OP’s logical trap was both respectful and devastatingly effective. This represents perfect petty revenge – using someone’s own unreasonable demands against them. The fact that he was the only family member to ever successfully stand up to her makes this victory even sweeter.
Original post from r/pettyrevenge (2,393 upvotes, 192 comments)