Is anyone else an atheist with BC besides me?
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Yep,SoCalLisa the photoes are gorgeous, I takes my pics but mostly I am not a very good photographer. I had a few over the river here at sunset but I'd need to put them on a disc to load them. The fiance is from East L.A. for real and they are very Catholic in that area. We have been to some really fancy cathedrals with statues and candles and gold walls and such which i was raised Protestant and they dont do that so much. However, I am now going towards intelligent creation but let everyone have their views. My first husband was a Muslim what a trip! My family was appalled and looking back on it..guess I am too..lol. However,religion has brought some good health laws but on the other hand has spawned some terrible wars. Cant wait to go on vacation with fiance...we usually go to Calif in the summer to escape the humid summers here in FL. He bought an old campground on Carrisa Plain which is in the low mtns near Paso Robles but high enuff to cut off my cellphone. For those who are familiar isnt that about half way between San Fran and LA,correct me if I'm wrong SoCalisa?? Wonder if I will be able to go, I gotta get a surg date and then my TE so will be ok in July? Heard you get cards for medical devices to go thru airpt security..whats that about? Are some folks here going towards pagan or wicca? Is that 2 different belief systems? I read a lot of Zechariah Sitchkin books and wonder about that and the Sumerian writings??
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CLC – It's a place by a lake just outside Stockholm city, where I use to camp a lot in late spring/summer/early autumn, and it's about 4 o'clock in the morning ... You really have a breathtaking route to work!
So, mustn't all this be designed by an allmighty Someone ... or not
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Beautiful mandalala...
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No grand design for me...it just is what it is...
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I am grateful we have evolved to appreciate the world we evolved to live in...:)
I think it is no accident that we think it is all beautiful...we appreciate those things that allow us to live...yummy food, clean water, healthy habitats...
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SoCalLisa
so, so wonderful - where was the first one you posted taken??? WIsh I was there feeling the sunshine right now.
Where's Flannel - I miss learning more about Taoism....
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The first one is of Mammoth Lakes, CA, in the summer
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thank you
I'm going to have to google to see more of that place - really makes my heart SING...
eta: your pictures are BETTER than the ones posted on line.... ;-)))
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All your pictures are beautiful!
CLC ... I would love to drive that road everyday!
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Your pictures are all so beautiful!! You guys are good at photography! What it did for me was got me thinking about that quality of living that we all strive for. Those good feelings we have when we see the pictures and remember the events is so uplifting. I've also done some contemplating about how we all deal with BC. I read all the posts about so many problems after surgery and wonder if I'm either just plain lucky or missing something. I have not had any problems since end of treatments. It's confusing sometimes cause nothing hurts, no lymph problems, no SE's from arimidex, and no eventful trips to the doctors. Just rather normal
for my age (59). I know it sounds weird, but how is it that I got so lucky to be normal when so many of my BC sisters are having one negative thing after another happen? Don't get me wrong, I am happy that I'm not dealing with all the other "gifts" from BC, just wondering if I'm the exception or really the norm. Sometimes I feel so out of place because I don't have problems. Now I even feel weird to be whining about feeling well. What a conundrum! I do have my first mamo coming up on Feb 15 since surgery. I'm not sure what to expect, if anything. Guess I'll just keep in mind my motto since this all started, "just float and drift". Kitty
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Kittygirl: I'm so happy to hear from someone who isn't in agony with armidex. I've decided to give it a try but am not committed if I have bad side effects. I am going to have radiation, probably the 3 week version.
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Wren44,
Have you gotten a second opinion on whether you even need Arimidex? It is a very powerful drug and some of the side effects although rare are irreversible. I wish I had no need to take it. I won't try to bore you with the side effects I have been through because if you need to take it then take it. But do check.
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Does anyone else ever get bothered by the constant interjection of religious beliefs here in these forums? I swear I find myself biting my tongue, well ... guess I should say fingers, more often lately to avoid responding with something that would be controversial. Maybe I'm just becoming overly sensitive to it.
It's also getting harder to not speak up in real life too. I went by my Mom's yesterday & she usually offers a soda or a beer when I visit. When I got there I asked if she had a beer. It had been a bit of a rough day, lol, and she said "Your Aunt is here. Can you wait until she leaves?" I said, Mom, I'm legal and I don't really care if she sees me having a beer". I even told her I'd tell my Aunt I had brought it with me.
Anyway, as soon as I saw my Aunt she hugged me and when she saw my beer she gave me a look. I jokingly said, "Yes, Aunt So & So, I'm having a beer ... I'm a terrible person" and she said, "That's okay honey, I'll just pray for you." I couldn't help myself and responded "Well, I'm a heathen too so there are worse things about me that you will probably want to pray about!"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Sorry, just needed to vent!
Oh, and Kitty ... I just love to float, btw. It's so peaceful!
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PlantLover – It's a bit strange to me, all this praying, but I think: OK, they're American ;-) They probably mean something like "Hope you will feel better soon" but they handle it within their religion. Your aunt, though ... passive aggressive trying to come off as nice!
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PlantLover,
I too have had a problem lately staying in the closet about my feelings. I'm on the verge of screaming to all that offer me religious advise and their prayers. If i thought they would accept my offerings of advice on issues in a non-religious way we could get along much better.
Last week my DD and her friends posted on FB that they were going to see a psycic. they are in their mid twenties. My good, hypocritical, cristian friend posted back to them "follow the lord and he will show you the way". I posted back" OH L---a, its just entertainment". she cameback with "You do your thing and I'll do HIS. I ended that confrontation w " I don't have a thing just respect for all paths. I bit my tounge, and I de-friended her on FB.................. WTF. My DD and her friends mother were insulted.
She didn't question me about it but if she does I must let her know what I really think of her MOMBO-JUMBO. I can't take her anymore. Now, more than ever. She is creating alot of negative energy. I'm ready to explode.
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Ha ha, Mandalala - Yeah, Americans probably do "talk the talk" a lot more than folks in your country. I must admit to not having much knowledge of the religious behaviors of the area where you live. Unfortunately, I don't think we have completely cornered the market on zealots. My Aunt is a "Born again Christian". I love her very much. However, I just can't understand how even the belief in Christianity requires one to be "prayed for" because he/she drinks a beer.
As far as the constant interjections of religious beliefs on these forum, I have no problem with the "Keeping you in my prayers" comments ... they just roll right on by. It just seems recently almost every thread I start following has so many comments that focus on God taking care of everything, Angels looking after us, etc ... I won't do it because I shouldn't do it but part of me what's to yell my beliefs right back. Part of me feels really guilty for feeling that way and part of me feels ... Why is it okay for those who "believe" to be so in your face with it, yet it would be so bad for those of us that don't to say so. Know what I mean?
Like I said, I'm sure I'm just becoming overly sensitive with old age. ;-)
Chef ... Yeah, I think we are both getting fed up with some of the same things. I would have been really upset by the comment "You do your thing and I'll do HIS". How judgemental & condescending! I have blocked a few of my friends statuses on FB because about 80% of the time there was so much religious content I was afraid I was going to say something.
Guess I have to keep trying to find some way to deal with all of it and keep my mouth shut.
Thanks for letting me vent!
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I have been telling everyone that I am not religious for fifty years now...I waited until I graduated from college...luckily soone seems to give me a hard time about it...
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That's the phrase I use as well. People ask me what church I belong to and I say that I am not religious but my whole family is very devout. This combination seems to confuse the person asking so much that they change the subject.
I had an interesting experience yesterday. My DS and her husband and my DH and I went to see "The Grey". It's a movie about wolves tracking plane crash survivors in the Alaskan wilderness. There is a short discussion about religion and two of the survivors state they are non-believers. One of the atheists is the hero. I won't spoil the ending. I live in a very religious town and the ending appeared to upset them greatly. They left the theater with looks of anger and bewilderment on their faces. I wonder if the movie caused any of them to think about their beliefs.
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SoCallLisa,
When it comes to the born again christians, many of them feel they know and you don't. their right and your wrong. they are going to heaven your your staying here on earth to suffer the ravages of god. and suffer ever after (HELL).......................But, but..............I thought you said "god is good"? I just don't understand that knd of thinking.
I have alot of friends. My closest friends are BAC's who I've Known since childhood. How did I end up here? I guess fantasy does not sit well in my life. They had to overcome drugs, abortion, infiedelity, ETC. Maybe I haven't had enough hurdles to over come. (I'VE HAD MANY)
I'm venting too. It feels better already.
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PlantLover, I am sorry about the conclusion about your aunt's personality ... it was just such a provoking remark.
About Swedes and religion – most people are secular, some have a belief but they don't really talk about it much. I have heard Christian people saying that they feel discriminated. It's rather common to have children baptized and marry in church even as a non-believer. Many young people – at least my sons and their friends – are pronounced atheists. With a wicca believer here and there.
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With my initial dx in 2009, I got a lot of "I know you don't believe, but I'm praying for you." Okay, fine, if you want to think good thoughts on my behalf, knock yourself out. For the most part I was spared the proselytizing. Now that I've been diagnosed with mets, it's a whole different ball game. It started with an internet chum who descided to lambast me with her reasons why I had to believe in her god, to the point that I had to ask her to stop emailing me. Then, I got a holiday card from some students in my mailbox at work full of bible quotes. Most recently, I was putting together my binder for tenure evaluation and found that one of my student evaluations was nothing but pleas for me to find god with promises that "all infirmities will be healed."
I find this so freaking offensive and at the same time I feel like I can't tell them so. These students believe that their messages come from a place of absoloute good, such that they find it inconcieveable that anyone would be angered or offended by their actions.
The only reason I outed myself as an athiest at work was so that when I taught about christian art, students would understand that I was coming from an outside perspective and hopefully not be offended if I sounded a tad irreverent. I've always tried to be respectful of other people's beliefs (in spite of believing that they are delusinal) and I'm very hurt and angry that I am not being given that same respect.
What makes it worse is that I'm still struggling emotionally with my dx and am looking for a way to make peace with my mortality as a person of reason.
Acacia
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Mystifying, why it's okay for someone to try to foist their beliefs on other people. Never could get a handle on it. Don't bother anymore. Just remember having the BEST laugh, when walking with a friend years ago, and being stopped by somebody handing out pamphlets, and she asked my friend:"Have you been born again?" and my friend said: "Nope, once was enough for me, I'm claustrophobic."
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SunflowersMA - Great line! I'll have to remember that one.
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Someone gave me a book called 365 Tao - Daily Meditations and here is one I like very much as it describe my own thoughts on why are we here? and what are we doing, anyway?
Evolution
There is strong evidence that human beings evolved from basic early moleules. Thse molecules were formed from the gases and birth processes of the stars and planets. Those stars and planets were in turn formed by the first movement of the universe. That first moment of the universe came from nothingness. So we are on the crest of a certain wave of evolution.
Narrowing it down to the human situation from the cosmic, our minds represent the ultimate expression of who we are. Further, spirituality is the ultimate expression of the mind. One might say, therefore, that spirituality is not a belief, mental construct, or opinion. Rather, it can be considered a function or outgrowth of evolution.
If spirituality is simply a function of life, the edge of a cosmic ripple, then where is it going? We don't know. Like the universe, it is still expanding into unknown territory. we can decide to cooperate and go with that wave, or we can ignore our spirituality and thereby ignore one of the basic meanings of being human. If we choose to engage in the full process of being human, then we will truly fulfill our part in the universe's evolution.
Deng Ming-Dao
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flannelette,
Love the interpretation. I had similar thoughts since childhood but I was never able to get my mind around it. That clearifys it in a real way. It is complicated yet simple.. Thank You.
Makes me think. WE are destroying the process of the earth but not the universe. Life will go on.
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chef,..somewhere life will go on...maybe on a solar system not yet discovered or one quite close in cosmic terms...
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Hello - back from Venice and logging in I saw your great photos of Venice, SoCalLisa, as well as your and others' most beautiful nature photos....amazing countryside so many of you live near, so lush and untouched compared to my over-populated little rock of an island!
Anyway, great to catch up on all your chitchat, as well as 'meeting' some new people who I hadn't met before on this thread. I feel very much at home here as you're all tolerant human beings, except perhaps when it comes to wanting to shoot people (perfectly understandable in my opinion!) who are patronising because of our beliefs, or lack of, and you all have a great sense of humour too. We don't have so many born-again Christians here in Malta, but several so-called 'Charismatics"..any of you know any Charismatics? A bit too touchy feelie/full of love and joy for my liking I'm afraid....
Venice is an enchanting, magical place and I'm sure I'll return. Wherever you look you see beautiful buildings, churches, lovely wrought iron railings on dainty bridges, twisting canals..truly a feast for the eyes. On the day we arrived it was very misty and looked incredibly mysterious and rather eerie -any of you ever watched a film by Nicholas Roeg, circa 1976 or thereabouts called Don't Look Now?- well, I kept thinking of the film...strange silhouettes of gondolas gliding smoothly on the water surrounded by whirls of mist..highly atmospheric, you can see I'm getting carried away! The other days were freezing cold, temperatures around 0/1centigrade, but with clear blue skies and sunshine. It is truly a unique place and it was perfect for my first expedition after treatment and surgery back to (new) normal. You must all go there, if you haven't done so!
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My Dad had been very ill and he died last week, so I was surrounded by born-again Christians through the entire visitation and funeral, etc. I dealt with everything fairly well, but I had one moment at the graveside where I had to bite the inside of my lip and talk very sternly to myself to avoid laughing hysterically.
The preacher was shouting about how the dead Christians will rise from their graves when Jesus comes back and all I could think of was: "OMG, it will be a zombie apocalypse!"
--Cindy
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OM"G".
Well, a good laugh at a funeral is always good for the mind and soul. The image of you bitting your lip is with me now for the day. I hope you don't mind but it made me laugh too. THANX
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Chumfry
My thoughts are with you, I hope you find comfort..............................................I'm still laughing and smiling.
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