My dad didn't want to go, anyway.
My parents, however, were not athiests. There was a bible in the house, along with a few theology books. My mother attended a Baptist Sunday school as a child. Even a few astrology books were around. Remember Linda Goodman, the astrologer? We had her Sun Signs and Love Signs books.
Trance channeling started receiving attention in the 1980s. I found Shirley MacLaine's memoir, Out On A Limb, at this time. I read it at thirteen years old, then my mother read it, and we would talk about reincarnation and out of body experiences. I liked Leo Buscaglia. Edgar Cayce and Jane Roberts. Ramtha. Jess Stearn. Ruth Montgomery. The idea of the soul surviving death to live again in another human incarnation was not shocking to me. My grandmother was being treated for breast cancer, and seeing her struggle, her pain along with her ease with prayer, was teaching me something. Through it all, including diabetes and a near death experience, she chose to believe in a loving God. But conventional religion felt cold and rigid to me even then, the eastern beliefs seemed more flexible and tolerant. Also, my imagination and sense of adventure was sparked by Edgar Cayce's descriptions of Atlantis and the Sphinx. Ancient spirits could inhabit a human's body and give advice. Truth? Hoax? I don't know, but it was interesting.