Is anyone else an atheist with BC besides me?
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Here is an interview with Stephen Hawking:
Guardian writer Ian Sample asked Hawking if he feared death in a story published yesterday. This was his response:
I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first. I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/may/15/stephen-hawking-interview-there-is-no-heaven
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hi all, long time no chat. Too much family craziness--DH in europe helping friend dying of lung cancer, monsters in school with many after school events, plaguish colds, buddhist family retreat and oh yes, that darned work thing.
I read the article about Hawking yesterday, found his comment brilliant and thought of everyone but was pushed over the edge to post by a different article today.
Seems there is yet another fringe Christian group proclaiming the end of the world to be proceeded by the rapture which will take place this Saturday (does god use google calender like my DH is always trying to convince me?). Anyrate, a Seattle Atheist group has launched a "Rapture Relief Fund" to provide support and comfort to all who are left behind after the Rapture. And if Armegeddon (sp) doesn't take place as scheduled, they will donate all funds collected to a camp ( www.west.camp-quest.org ) for children which teaches critical thinking. The group has a website that people might enjoy: www.rapture-relief.org
I nearly spit my coffee on the computer. To me, the lack of critical thinking ability in the United States today is the core of the problem.
on another note, it is spring here in the Northwest, well at least today.
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Hey - the very fact that we got cancer solidifies my belief, which is agnostic, leaning heavily toward atheist. The only time I wanted to believe in a personal god was during a bad winter car accident. Our car struck an elk and we plummeted down a steep dangerous ravine. As the car was tumbling, I heard myself say "God help us". No one answered, we crashed anyway. But the following day when I went back to reclaim our personal items that the firemen retreived at the accident site, I found my daytimer - the only page that survived was one in which I kept an old ratty card with some religious saying that had at one time been meaningful to me. The card read "I will never leave you or foresake you". Kinda made me think for a second, that maybe there is something more to it. but other than that moment of coincidence, I think Stephen Hawking is right. Religion is for people who are afraid of the dark. Try not to be afraid and keep moving through this. Inform yourself, know your path report, know your doctors, and question your treatment options to make sure they are right for you. You can do this.
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Oh-oh... This thread turned awfully quiet, just as the world was supposed to end. Am I the only person still here? What does that say about everybody else -- have you felt the rapture after all?
otter
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We've finally had a dry weekend, so I've been busy in the yard. That's my kind of rapture!
If I've been left behind, then so have all my firends and family!
What's amazing to me is that there are many folks who truly believed it would happen...
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No rapturizing on my end. Just scrubbing my kitchen floor. :-)
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I missed the rapture too. I forget what I was doing. Hmmm.
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I missed the rapture too. I forget what I was doing. Hmmm.
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I didn't know the world was coming to an end...thanks for letting me know.
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I feel badly for the people who invested so much of their lives into the predicted Rapture. But, from what I've read, the followers reported positive impacts in their lives overall and seem pretty matter-of-fact about it.
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another reason to feel badly for those who believed in the may 21 rapture -
heheh
Julie E
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Guilt over having sex? Isn't that what we're supposed to do?
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One of the best reasons to be an atheist from the link above, speaking of religious followers:
"It left them with intense feelings of regret after they had climaxed."0 -
Oh for FSM's sake!
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E, yep, I think FSM is fine with me having sex. I have had lots of intense feelings but thankfully regret hasn't been one of them.
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I heard the Pasta Sutra is a great manual for beginners.
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LOL
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Has anyone been following the Doonesbury comic strip about 'the rapture' - really wonderful.
In western MA, if the world does end, it will definitely be in a flood. We've had more rain than I can ever remember - the fields of the farms are almost pure puddles! Hounds of the Baskerville fog, and then thunderstorms, becoming wary of it all....
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OMG (goodness)! I was stuck in a chemo room with a woman that was very religious. I'm agnostic. She went on about how Obama was the anti-christ and thats how she knew the rapture was coming soon! WTF? She said things about the Jews and Muslims bringing on the great tribulation! All the while she's talking all sweetly and excitedly. I mean she went on for hours. I was raised a Christian, but don't believe in it now. I don't know what's out there? She about killed me when she said that not claiming the illness will make it go away because of faith; and here her husband is dying from leukemia. I wondered how he felt when she said that? I told her if you have it; YOU HAVE IT! You're not claiming it. It's just what it is!
Anyway, what would you have said to someone like this?
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I'm so bad with confrontation, but I think I'd want to just say that I don't believe the way she does and then bury my head in my book (which I always have so that I have something to do rather than talk to people like that . . .).
Probably not the best way to handle it; but I also don't think that telling her I think she's full of it would be a good idea, which would be my second impulse . . .
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I think I would have asked her to shut the 'f' up. Well .. okay .. I wouldn't have said that, but I would have been screaming it in my mind.
That kind of talk gives me a headache .. and you can't shut those kind of people up no matter what you say!
Hope everyone is having a good day,
Bren
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I would mostly REMEMBER to bring those soundproof head phones folks wear when they do noisy work! Seriously - I can not imagine anything hassling while having an infusion. Mine were so peaceful, each chair in a little "private" area, and I always had a book, also a friend who drove me.
But seriously - you should NOT NOT NOT have to be "infected" with that kind of behavior while you are getting chemotherapy . If it happens again, ask nurse to ask her to be quiet? Is about the only thing I can think of - unless you just tell her to "please stop speaking to me. Thank you."
But I'm betting on the earphones. You can get them at Home Depot. Not expensive. You see anyone hammerjacking in a road wearing them...
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JulieH
I LOVE LOVE LOVE your "tag line." It's going into my book of inspiring quotes. thank you
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What was she doing having chemo if 'faith' would make her illness go away??
Agnostic here ... glad encounters with such people have been few and far between in my life. Why do they think everybody wants to listen to them go on and on?
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Oh - so glad there's activity here - I glance very day & see this thread going lower & lower & have been ready to give it a bump.
A cultural difference - I don't we experience this kind of thing much - it seems to belong more s of the border - but then, you are the land of every extreme - not a judgement, just how it is.
Invading your space - and an especially personal space, given chemo and your emotional reactions to it and to bc - was a transgression, and unthinkingly rude. Though she maight have thought she was cheering you up, or hoping to make you strong.
I think it would have been fine to listen for a bit, then say something like -you know - this is a very sensitive time for me, I need my quiet personal space to go into what's happening right now (like your right to, say, visualize the chemo going in and doing its job or whatever you feel) . All the while thinking "shut the feck up!" and if she kept on - would have told the nurse you feel sick and need quiet. Can't imagine having to deal with HER as well as chemo!
Caerus-Sunflowers - ok, you made it till June. Is the frost possibility over already??? my irises are unfurling and I'm hoping I find a black one and an apricot, among the various bits & pieces I dragged out of the grass and woods last year. I thnk I see a chrome yellow bud - yay!
ps all -that's not me in the pic LOL -
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Flannel:
Yup - tomatoes in the ground, along with sugar snap peas - and on a serious note - there were fierce tornados just about 30 miles south of us in Springfield MA, and east of there - Gov. has declared a state of emergency for this part of the state. Very strange - we just had horrendous thunder & lightening, so I did what any sensible person might do - took a nap. Others were't as fortunate - seems to be a strange year for weather....
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Too many cocktails--I would have had to say something to such a woman. Perhaps "Oh, I disagree with you. In fact some of my best friends are jews and Muslims. They are really lovely people." And I would have to tell her that I voted for Obama but am really disappointed that he has turned into such a conservative. I really think that people should speak up otherwise such persons go through life thinking the rest of us agree with their nonsense. Chemo is miserable enough. I am sorry that you had to endure such a person. Sure hope that it doesn't happen again.
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i'm not an atheist, but one of my chemos, a lady next to me wanted me to pray with her, and i just was not comfortable with that. and then she went on and on and on about god this and god that.
then she found out how old i was (29 at the time), and then it was "there's a plan for you this that and the other"
lady, i am a christian, but not devout, and i just want my damn chemo and get the hell out of here so i can feel like shit in my own bed instead of here....
just a rant!!!
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Thanks everyone for your ideas and replies. Really, I hope that I don't get put in a room with her again. I just might tell the nurse this next time. Sometimes, I am just too timid.
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I just attended a meeting on spiritual support for my local hospice. Many evangelicals get spiritual and physical security through proselytizing. They sincerely feel they are doing the work of their god. It has taken some time to get used to such loud voicing of spirituality but now I am getting comfortable with it. I consider it part of the local culture. The only time I find it hard to take is when they are intolerant towards the practices of other forms of mythology.
When anyone expresses ill will towards Muslims, I take the opportunity to tell them my oncologist is a Muslim from Syria. That tends to back them up a bit.
By the way, my struggling oak tree is doing much better after some light fertilizer. I will give it another round of my "special blend" at the end of the month. With luck it will live another 500 years or so.
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