Question

[_harmony]

I also don't worry about things I know are beyond my control, I think it's a waste of time. I don't worry or even think about death, as a for instance. Whatever happens, happens.

You've obviously never lost a child.

[_marg]

I also don't worry about things I know are beyond my control, I think it's a waste of time. I don't worry or even think about death, as a for instance. Whatever happens, happens.

You've obviously never lost a child.

I'm not going to get into a tit for tat over who has experienced worse things in life. You obviously feel a belief in the supernatural is necessary to cope with life's difficulties, while I don't.

[_JustMe]

Mad Viking

At the time, I was a believing Mormon. My suffering brought me to the point that I began to ask the Mormon god “why?”.

No offense MV, but that was your mistake. NEVER ask the question why. Ask WHAT can I learn from this (whatever it is that happens to you in life), and go on from there. There are no answers to why in this life. Ask WHAT can I do to improve and increase happiness in my life. It is NOT what happens to you that matters, it is what you do with it that counts. I am being very serious.

[_harmony]

I'm not going to get into a tit for tat over who has experienced worse things in life. You obviously feel a belief in the supernatural is necessary to cope with life's difficulties, while I don't.

Don't pontificate about how you've never worried, marg, when your difficulties don't even begin to compare. Yes, what happens happens, but if you've never been tested to the max then you have no way of knowing how you'd react. So looking down your nose at people who believe differently from what you believe is not only arrogant, it's stupid.

[_JonasS]

Hey, chick. You can believe whatever you want to believe. The best belief is the one that makes your life better and of greater value. We will never know for sure what is truth for fact, so why let it worry you? You are an amazing person. Trust your gut and enjoy life.

For pete's sake. My computer tells me I am running out of Disk Space and I removed most of the contents of the drive to USb and its still running out of space. I never even done anything to it.


How's life?

Pirate.

[_marg]

I'm not going to get into a tit for tat over who has experienced worse things in life. You obviously feel a belief in the supernatural is necessary to cope with life's difficulties, while I don't.

Don't pontificate about how you've never worried, marg, when your difficulties don't even begin to compare. Yes, what happens happens, but if you've never been tested to the max then you have no way of knowing how you'd react. So looking down your nose at people who believe differently from what you believe is not only arrogant, it's stupid.

I do know with virtual certainty how I would react harmony. I also know I don't spend time contemplating things like death or other issues for which I have little control. I would never in a million years worry about or contemplate an afterlife..I know that and it would be arrogant of you to presume otherwise.

Calling people idiots who believe in idiotic ideas, such as 'Jesus died for mankind's sins' or 'the Book of Mormon is a true historical book brought to earth by a dead man from centuries past..is calling a spade a spade. It's not looking down on anyone who holds those ideas...anymore than acknowledging mental or physical medical issues of others is not looking down on them.

[_harmony]

I do know with virtual certainty how I would react harmony.

Come back when you've experienced it. Until then, you don't know what you don't know.

[_marg]

I do know with virtual certainty how I would react harmony.

Come back when you've experienced it. Until then, you don't know what you don't know.

You failed to appreciate my point which is that atheists can use faith or other means to cope with life and that faith or way of looking at things doesn't invoke the supernatural of religion. When you've experienced being an atheist or a secularist, then perhaps you'll understand. Until then, you don't know what you don't know.

[_gramps]

Mad Viking

At the time, I was a believing Mormon. My suffering brought me to the point that I began to ask the Mormon god “why?”.

No offense MV, but that was your mistake. NEVER ask the question why. Ask WHAT can I learn from this (whatever it is that happens to you in life), and go on from there. There are no answers to why in this life. Ask WHAT can I do to improve and increase happiness in my life. It is NOT what happens to you that matters, it is what you do with it that counts. I am being very serious.

This is nonsense!

How old are you? You give your kids this advice?

[_krose]

Yes, what happens happens, but if you've never been tested to the max then you have no way of knowing how you'd react.

Different people who go through similar hardships do react very differently. When I look back at times in my family when we have experienced the death or near-death of a family member, I note our different reactions.

Most of my extended family members, who are extremely religious, go immediately to the 'fast and pray, name in the temple' route, and point to any positive development as a miracle or an answer to prayer, and anything negative as 'God's Will.' I see both as things that just happen. For whatever medical or other reason, some people get better and some do not.

I've spent a fair amount of time in hospitals, waiting for a loved one's life to either improve or end. Through all these incidents, including the time I watched my father die, and the time I was convinced my young son was dying in my arms on the way to the ER, I have never considered resorting to prayer. I can't explain why, and I've wondered about it afterward. I guess it's just not in my nature. It doesn't make me better or worse, just different. But it is a pretty accurate predictor of reactions to future incidents.

The survivors of the Holocaust reacted in various ways. Some had their faith strengthened, and it was what they leaned on to get through the experience. Others felt forsaken, and abandoned their faith and god-beliefs. For me, I don't know how a person who went through that type of hardship could possibly still believe in a god that helps people in need, or even cares about them.