Dona, Now you are being rude. I just told you that I would leave as you requested. I had no desire to have the "last word" and never has any such idea on my mind. I simply responded to let you know that I heard what you said and will abide by your wishes. I thought that a response was appropriate and the polite thing to do. I sincerely hope you all the best in your life. Becky

Hey Barb---Your story is a classic example of why I feel that being an atheist is actually MUCH EASIER. I can't imagine why people want to struggle with a belief that their lives are being manipulated by some temperamental deity with "mysterious ways." I feel bad for people who come up with convoluted, irrational "explanations" for why something terrible happened to them. When their prayers go unanswered, I guess they simply can't face the thought that maybe there never was a god listening to their prayers after all so they will struggle to understand and forgive him any way they can. I enjoy attending occasional meetings of the Ethical Humanist Society here in Chicago. There are congregations all over the country. Check them out in your area. http://www.aeu.org/ An awful lot of the members are European Jews who lived through the Holocaust. (Yes they're all getting up there in age!) One man was a translator at the Nuremberg trials! He is FASCINATING to talk to!! Many of them will say that their families turned away from their faiths after living through WWII. It disillusioned them against religion completely. That's understandable! Feeling forsaken by their god is probably the way many people come to abandon religion. For me, I never had any faith to abandon in the first place! I like to think I've lived in the real world my whole life!

Whatever you want.

Jan, I forgot to wish you well on your upcoming surgery!!! You'll do fine and just remember to breathe. Yes I would love a foolproof recipe for butter cream merangue! LOL. My skinny sister-in-law thinks she's the end all to be all in tasty desserts. She whips into my house every Thanksgiving with all these desserts. She knew I had no will power and out of control diabetes. She does it on purpose. I would love to make something wonderful to show her up. (And not eat any of hers or mine since I've lost my sweettooth since surgery. She also doesn't know I had surgery.)

Hey Barb, Couple of things. That's a great story. about the lotto, about your daughter surviving leukemia, about your clear vision of science vs. religion. but what i really wanted to comment on was the pic on your profile page of Phil Ochs. THAT made me smile even more than your postings. Because very few people remember Phil Ochs anymore. I always thought he was a visionary in his lyrics. Thanks for bringing a great big huge beam of sunshine to my corner of Chicago on this very dreary day. very very