Beanzilla

I want to run! I want to wear cute clothes, shop at "normal" clothing stores, wear a dress or skirt, wear shorts, go to the beach, go anywhere I want and not worry about whether or not I will fit in the seating, ride a bike, and wear high heels again. I miss wearing high heels! Ooh ooh and knee high boots! I want to wear knee high boots. I also want to plant a huge, beautiful flower garden and a little vegetable garden, and do all the work myself, because I can.

You guys ROCK! How stoked was I to find the Atheists/Agnostics group! Im getting my sleeve surgery soon (hopefully) and I will not pray or bless, be blessed (BLESSED BE), etc
...My higher power is alive and well and his name is Chubbis. He's my orange cream tabby cat. I put my faith in FELINE only... <3

I'd party with Bacchus

I found this quote a couple of months back and it sums up for me how we should live.
"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal's_Wager
The idea is that if you believe in God and he doesn't exist, you've lost nothing, whereas if you DON'T believe in God and he DOES exist, you burn for all eternity. So, you should believe in God.
Problem with the argument is that the two sides are not equivalent; you don't just have to believe in God to get into heaven, you have to go to church, live by a particular moral code, dress a certain way, act a certain way, and so on. Many people are willing to pay the price, but getting into heaven is certainly not FREE.
Similarly, you have to weigh the LIKELIHOOD of God's existence vs. the cost/benefit. If -- like me -- you think it's very, very, very unlikely that God exists, then that "burn in hell for all eternity" thing is ALSO very, very very unlikely.
Finally, the ultimate rebuttal to someone who's reformulating Pascal's Wager is simply this: okay, I'll believe in God... which one? You see, there are dozens -- hundreds? -- of religions, each claiming to have the One True God, each claiming he has to be worshipped a certain way, each threatening some horrific punishment if you don't comply, and each completely incompatible with the others. It's simply impossible to believe in/worship all of these gods, who each claims to be the One True God, so no matter which one you choose, there are far more possibilities that you'll choose wrong than that you'll choose right. So, without knowing which god to choose, how can you make a choice based on logic?
No, Pascal's Wager SOUNDS good, but it's actually just nonsense. Believe or don't believe, folks, but don't try to pretend that your belief in God is logical. It ain't; it's called faith, either you have it or you don't, and in God -- I don't.

Another proud atheist checking in....
I believe in science and until someone can prove to me their is a God and this is why, I am just not having any of it.
Personally, I think most of the "believers" do so kind of like an insurance policy. They figure if it's true, I want to make sure I am paid up! Seems rather ridiculous to me.
I live a good life, I am honest and quite frankly I don't need to go to a church every 7 days to be reminded how to live and be a good person. If you have to be reminded every 7 days how to be a good person, you truly are the weakest link of the bunch!
Glad to have found this group. I personally think we need to start us a group of "Non-Believer Sleevers!" Anybody with me???

This is exactly what bothers me about religion. But I don't blame it on God, but rather on man. Religion is just another tool for a select few to control the many. They basically sell hope.
My father in law is a 78 year old fundamentalist baptist preacher. Makes for some interesting family dinners when someone asks me if I want to say grace. I start with..."Oh heavenly bunny rabbit..."

I love the humour on this page because in many places I feel outnumbered and it is so "not okay" to say that I don't believe in Santa or the Easter Bunny either but that doesn't make me a bad person.
I come from the pragmatic viewpoint that many wars are caused by two segments of people fighting over who has the better invisible friend.
Never mind that... I would prefer to be a good athiest than a bad intolerant Christian.

Religion has killed more people then any and all diseases known to man. What does that say about god.
I am happy to see others like me on this forum.
I too want to hurl when people post "its in god's hands now". Jeez

Luckily for me, almost everyone in college is an agnostic or atheist! It feels so nice to be open about it.
I too was shocked that so many bring religion into a medical procedure. Most surgeons I have met, I have met a lot trust me, are atheists. I remember some woman basing her surgeon on if he was a "good christian"! I thought that was so scary.

I'm not an atheist, but one of the scariest things I've ever heard is "Trust me. I'm a Christian". I always want to run when I hear that.

I also don't understand the anger, animosity, and would it be accurate to say personal insult - that I have seen from Christians. And I so say Christians specifically. I know a lot of people from a lot of religious paths and Christian faiths are (so far) the only ones I personally see these reactions from.
I can't imagine being so venomous toward someone just because they happened to believe something different than me. I mean, who doesn't?
On a lighter note, a friend of mine (also an atheist) is an ER physician. We had a good chuckle over this a few weeks ago, but it's so true.

Just joined this forum and noticed the neatly laid out categories of sleevers. Then I saw a group "Christian Sleevers" and immediately smacked my forehead and thought.... "really?? They even found a way to bring being christian into weight loss surgery?!?"
SO I was happy to see that there is a place for those of us who don't believe. Safe place to talk about our medical, nutritional and emotional issues around our sleeves, because those are the thing that are relevant, and not worry about what God thinks.

Agnostic atheist here. I'm actually surprised to see so many nonbelievers here. I seriously thought everyone on this forum was religious.

Ok, this is going to sound weird, but it's perfectly honest. I believe in God, but Christians drive me crazy. Most of my friends are atheists or pagans/wiccans. Can I hang out with you guys? :-)

Indeed. I sometimes hesitate to call myself an atheist for the same reasons that someone who believes in equality for women might hesitate to call themselves a feminist: the actions of an outspoken, militant portion of the population have really cast all of us in a bad light.
I don't believe in God and never have, but I also have no real desire to "preach the gospel" of non-belief to anyone (because, what good would that do?) As I said, I just tend to live and let live and don't usually bring the subject up (because that always leads into long, pointless "why don't you believe in God? Are you angry at him? What's wrong with you?!" discussions). Of course, this subforum is FOR us, so we can be ourselves here

All of those things are so true!
I will add that it will be nice to be stared at because I'm a hot chick with a bunch of tattoos, instead of because I'm a huge chick with a bunch of tattoos. It would also feel nice not feeling trapped in my body.
I'm afraid my boobs won't shrink though. Several years ago I went through a divorce and lost 150 pounds from the stress (I gained it back, and more), and my boobs did not shrink. Band size went down, but cup size remained the same

In the building I work in, it's all tiny women that use the handicap stall. I've never been a fan of them, unless the regular stalls are super small. They kind of freak me out, though I'm not sure why. They don't feel as private (which is dumb, I know). Oh, and I'm short, whith short little legs, so the height of the toilet is uncomfortable.

Hey August sleevers we should have a reunion sept 12013

That taking up space thing has become a really big issue for me. I am so aware everywhere I go that I am bigger than everyone else. I can't stand sitting in a chair and feeling like I'm so squished. More than anything, I want to be able to snuggle with my DH on the couch, not take up the whole couch. And while this may all seem like we are being shallow or vain, really, all these things; not fitting, not feeling like we belong, not being able to buy clothes, all affect our emotional health. That is just as important as our physical health, which is driving this whole process. Absolutely no apologies owed or needed from everyone. We've spent our lives on that, and it gets us nowhere.

It's mostly vanity for me. I want to be tiny! I want to feel good about how I look, like what I'm wearing, and not worry that I'm taking up too much space. Yes, my health is important, but wearing clothes sized in the single digits would be so exciting!

This has nothing what-so-ever to do with the surgery, but I had to share.
I love my kitty trying to play with me under the bathroom door. Everytime I get up to go to the bathroom, she runs like the dickens to get in there. She love to try and get me under the door! This is my first kitty ever and I love her so much!

It's mostly vanity for me. I want to be tiny! I want to feel good about how I look, like what I'm wearing, and not worry that I'm taking up too much space. Yes, my health is important, but wearing clothes sized in the single digits would be so exciting!

I want to go zip lining in the Smokey Mountains. And hike in Big Bend or the Grand Canyon and be able to keep up with my hubby and daughter. And I want to ride a horse without feeling sorry because it has to carry so much weight. And I never want to shop at Lane Bryant again.

Lmao! That Is a great thing to look forward to! Lights on, covers off! The shower, wherever! Lol