There is No God by Penn Jillette I believe that there is no God. I'm beyond Atheism. Atheism is not believing in God. Not believing in God is easy -- you can't prove a negative, so there's no work to do. You can't prove that there isn't an elephant inside the trunk of my car. You sure? How about now? Maybe he was just hiding before. Check again. Did I mention that my personal heartfelt definition of the word "elephant" includes mystery, order, goodness, love and a spare tire? So, anyone with a love for truth outside of herself has to start with no belief in God and then look for evidence of God. She needs to search for some objective evidence of a supernatural power. All the people I write e-mails to often are still stuck at this searching stage. The Atheism part is easy. But, this "This I Believe" thing seems to demand something more personal, some leap of faith that helps one see life's big picture, some rules to live by. So, I'm saying, "This I believe: I believe there is no God." Having taken that step, it informs every moment of my life. I'm not greedy. I have love, blue skies, rainbows and Hallmark cards, and that has to be enough. It has to be enough, but it's everything in the world and everything in the world is plenty for me. It seems just rude to beg the invisible for more. Just the love of my family that raised me and the family I'm raising now is enough that I don't need heaven. I won the huge genetic lottery and I get joy every day. Believing there's no God means I can't really be forgiven except by kindness and faulty memories. That's good; it makes me want to be more thoughtful. I have to try to treat people right the first time around. Believing there's no God stops me from being solipsistic. I can read ideas from all different people from all different cultures. Without God, we can agree on reality, and I can keep learning where I'm wrong. We can all keep adjusting, so we can really communicate. I don't travel in circles where people say, "I have faith, I believe this in my heart and nothing you can say or do can shake my faith." That's just a long-winded religious way to say, "shut up," or another two words that the FCC likes less. But all obscenity is less insulting than, "How I was brought up and my imaginary friend means more to me than anything you can ever say or do." So, believing there is no God lets me be proven wrong and that's always fun. It means I'm learning something. Believing there is no God means the suffering I've seen in my family, and indeed all the suffering in the world, isn't caused by an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent force that isn't bothered to help or is just testing us, but rather something we all may be able to help others with in the future. No God means the possibility of less suffering in the future. Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-o and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have.

Congrats, Terri! You're going to be buying some new clothes, not to mention having a clear view of...things...that have been a mystery for a while

Hi Rebecca, Welcome to the board. I too was afraid of dying when I went into surgery. I kept reminding myself that I was killing myself anyway with the excess weight and resulting health problems. I look at it this way, some things are worth taking a chance for. Even if one of the consequences is death. Living a half or quarter life isn't worth it. Living a full one is. Best wishes, Barb B.

Congratulations, Terri!!! Bye-bye tummy leftovers: hello lovely tummy!!! I'm glad you got a new PC---I'd lose my mind without mine!! Take care, Jessica

I wish I had an easy answer. I made my choice for WLS knowing full well I could die. I was scared ****less. I just knew that the way I was living was a walking death in itself. I was MORE afraid of living the way I was forever than of dying on that table. I wrote a letter to my husband and told only one person where to find it in the event of my death. I never told him I wrote that letter. Death is so final. I just kept telling myself that if I died I would not even know it. It is a gamble and a risk. Whether it is worth it or not is something only you can answer. I used to be much more flippant about death back when I was a chrisitian. I take it much more seriously now. I am more careful with my life and try to take good care of my body. I drive more carefully and much more aware of my surroundings. I am the only one looking out for me. To wander through life thinking there is a super power protecting you is just not reasonable to me. You then become a victim followed by a statistic. I refuse to be either. Anyway, that is my rambling for today. Welcome to our board. Terri