anonemouse

It seems like YOU are the one with some things to learn, actually, if you believe someone would treat you with respect when you all but called her an uneducated heathen.

I am bowing to your wisdom! You have no idea how relieving it is to hear (see?) someone say that. A lot of people see Atheists protesting someone's remarks and are all, "Look, the Atheists are attacking the Christians! You're anti-Christian!" They don't seem to realize that most Atheists don't go around verbally attacking Christians willy-nilly for thrills. There is usually a valid reason we are protesting something.

All I can think about is the edges of the pumkin. Ouch!

Well, that's damn obvious. I know attending church does not make you a Christian, since I am obviously NOT A CHRISTIAN! But it does blow holes in your statement that Atheists are uneducated about the Bible. It is not up to you to demand a command performance of my interpretation of my beliefs. Not all questions asked deserve an answer.

Ron, I will explain this to you one more time. I don't want to discuss my beliefs, because THEY ARE MY BELIEFS. They are very personal to me and I don't like discussing them with people who are only interested in converting me to some religion. You don't want a discussion, you want to tell people that they are wrong and lecture and cow them into becoming Christians. If you want to discuss beliefs so much, why don't you tell us why YOU believe the way you do. Why should be bother to explain why we believe, if you aren't volunteering to do the same?

Ron, I became an Atheist after attending church services every single Sunday for 18 years. Don't you dare tell me what I believe or how I came to believe it.

The title of "Token Atheist" is no more an open invitation for interrogation of someone's personal beliefs than is the title of "Proud Christian". If someone had that title under their name, I would be immediately jumped on by you and Leatha_g and a lot of other people if I implied that all Christians were stupid, uneducated, and obviously "had not done their homework". Try to spread your beliefs all you want. I am not going to stop you. I don't WANT to try to stop you, because I feel that everyone should have the right to have their own personal beliefs respected. My only problem with you is the way you speak to the people with whom you are wanting to discuss their personal beliefs. Now, I admit I probably got a little too hot under the collar last night, but I stand by everything I said. Having certain personal beliefs does not give you the right to denigrate the beliefs of others or insult their intelligence and education. In fact, it is contrary to your belief that you must share the "love of God" with as many people as possible and attract them to Christianity. Because, to be honest, if experiencing "the love of God" makes me into the type of person who thinks it's fine and dandy to insult other people's beliefs in the way that you did, I don't want to ever experience it.

Once I get approved by insurance, I am going to get one from www.americanmedical-id.com. This is what I plan on getting on mine: Front: Name Surgeon Surgeon's Emergency # See Back Back: Gastric Lap-Band With Abdominal Mediport No NG w/o Scope No NSAIDS

I was just thinking about this. Would a band set off a metal detector? I know it is mostly silicone, but there is a small amount of stainless steel in the connector, I believe. Anyone know?

Excuse me?! Shame on me?! Like I said earlier, if you had actually read it, I don't give a damn whether he believes in Christ, the Devil, or a bright purple alien. "Luring them in for the kill"? Are you kidding me? No one asked him what his beliefs were. HE was the one who started the entire damn thing by implying that Atheists were somehow "uneducated" and not "doing their homework". He could be a Muslim, a Jew, or a Satanist for all I care. I never said one word about him not being a "good Christian" or anything to that effect. I know absolutely nothing about his beliefs, other than the fact that he obviously thinks Atheists are uneducated people who jump on the bandwagon of Atheism. Again, I never EVER criticized his love of God. I DID criticize his methods of trying to convert people. If that's "anti-Christian," then go ahead and ban me. :cool: ETA: You may think I am a bitch and constantly harping on religion, but I am just sick and tired of people thinking that their religion gives them a right to harass other people about their personal beliefs, whether that harassment is openly given or in the form of subtle jabs. Growing up in the Bible Belt has made me very sensitive to this harassment. I feel that everyone should be allowed to openly believe in whatever they want to, whether it is Allah, God, Buddha, the Hindu gods, or nothing at all. I have seen all too many times where someone makes a not-so-veiled insult about Atheism or Atheists or another religion, and when someone speaks up about it, they are accused of being "anti-Christian." Newsflash: Being a Christian does not give someone the right to call someone names or imply that they are uneducated just because they don't believe in God. And when called on something, you should damn well own up to it.

I know it should be against my liberal beliefs, but I am fully supportive of people carrying guns. Heck, I took a gun safety course as a PE elective in college. My only feeling is that every person that owns a gun and everyone who will be around that gun should be required to take a safety course and follow certain requirements, such as keeping the gun in a locked gun cabinet or have a trigger lock on it and keep it unloaded and separate from bullets.

We aren't attacking him because of what he does or doesn't believe. If you had read the entire thread, you would know that. Don't sit there and tell me that you would sit idly by and let someone denigrate your beliefs. Yet, because we are Atheists, we are supposed to do just that? Hell, no! If someone implied that the only reason you were a Christian was because you haven't , as Ron says, "done your homework," you would be pissed off, too. Leatha_g, why is asking people to truly respect someone's religion (or lack thereof) considered to be "anti-Christianity" and "public persecution"?

Actually, Wheetsin, it might have been me that he was directing the "hostile" remark at. And I admit, I am hostile to him, if only because I perceive either hostility or passive aggressiveness from him. And Ron, if that remark was directed at me, this is what I have to say to you: I am not threatened or offended by anyone truly interested in discussing their faith with me. I am offended by people who attack my beliefs, whether it is openly or by snide and condescending remarks. You are obviously not interested in discussing faith, you are interested in conversion. Anyone who was truly interested in discussing faith knows that most people are a lot more likely to listen or discuss things if the person doing the asking doesn't put down their beliefs in the process. Like I said before, honey attracts more flies than vinegar.

Yet you are all, "Why am I being attacked? I'm such a martyr!!!" (Yes, I am being sarcastic, by the way.) Somehow?! You freaking brought it up! Or don't you remember that your first post was about religion and that you made this statement: Don't blame us for something you started in the first place, damn it! This is what a lot of us are getting at! You (and a lot of people like you) start things and then become offended when it is turned around on you. For your information, I don't give a flying you-know-what if someone is a Christian or not. I couldn't care less, really. But it REALLY works me up when people either denigrate Atheism to my face or imply it in the way they speak. My basic creed is, "You keep your mouth shut and I'll do the same."

Ron, faith or lack of faith can be an extremely personal thing for many people. I know I personally take no issue with people asking me why I believe the way I do, IF I perceive that they truly want to know. The way you and many other people come across is that you are asking people to DEFEND what they believe. No one should have to defend their beliefs. The reason people are rather unaccepting of you is that you are LOUD about your beliefs, and you state them in a way that denigrates people of other beliefs. You are not truly curious about other people's beliefs, you just want to convert them. Nothing is wrong with sharing your love of God, as long as the person you are sharing with is willing. And unfortunately, speaking from experience, many people who supposedly want to "share" the "love of God" don't realize that the person they are talking to is anything but willing. You may not mean it, but statements like the onesI have quoted below come across as vaguely hateful. If you haven't noticed, people usually don't react well to being talked to like they are jumping on a bandwagon or the implication that they are uneducated just because they don't believe the same way you do. THAT is why I call your tactics "bullying.":

I feel the same way. No offense, Ron, but while you may just be eager to "help" people experience God's love, you come across as being aggressive and bullying about it. I like to say that people attract more flies with honey than with vinegar, and you are without a doubt vinegar, if you get my drift. If people want to "get to know" God, they will ask others about it. The fact that people are tolerant enough to sit or stand next to you while you repeatedly extoll the virtues of being a Christian does not necessarily mean they are interested in what you have to say. Whenever someone does that to me, I just kind of go into my head and start planning my next grocery trip. The good ol' "smile 'n nod," as I like to call it.

It sounds to me like he is getting insecure. I have heard several people with lap-bands say that their spouses changed once they started losing weight, thinking that they might leave them.

Does your insurance even require a referral? Mine didn't, so I think you should check your policy to be sure. Of course, you will need him to write a letter for you if you decide to try to have insurance pay for it, so I would sit down with him and tell him that you are going through with this with or without his approval, but it would make things a lot easier if he would write you an approval letter.

I think it should be just like owning a gun. That is, only after the the owner has been trained and licensed. They can easily kill someone.

I feel the same way, Sunta. I am very much against the death penalty, for the same reason you are. As a family member of a murder victim (my cousin was killed by his wife, who then forced their daughters to help her hide the body), I understand that the victim's family wants revenge and vengeance, but I feel our society should take the higher road. I like the saying "an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind."

Most insurance companies require you to have a BMI of at least 35, even if you have co-morbidities. Still, it all depends on your past health and your insurance company.

My surgeon requires all patients to attend a support group meeting and an aftercare (basically group therapy) meeting before having surgery. I went to both last week, and I was surprised by the bias against the band. All of the people there had had RNY, not the band, but even the therapist that led the aftercare program was talking about how RNY patients had "the full surgery" and how RNY surgery was for people who were "really committed." To be honest, I was highly disappointed in both. As a pre-op lab-band, I didn't see much support for lap-band patients or much aftercare. On the other hand, one of the people at the aftercare program said something to me that I haven't heard in years. She said, "But you're so SMALL!" And I guess I am, compared to the people that were there. But I think that is because I am short. It doesn't take a lot to raise my BMI. Right now, I am 220 pounds and have a BMI of 39. But still, comments like that make me feel like I am not as deserving of having surgery, when I think that anyone who qualifies for the surgery should be able to have it.

We didn't mean that you were wrong for posting sources. We just want you to be able to look at your sources carefully and realize that they may or may not be biased. When someone introduces that fact into a conversation, it isn't an attack on your intelligence or an attack on your age or implying that you are naive. The simple fact is that all sources are not created equal and being published does not automatically mean that everything said in an article is the complete truth. Every article has bits and pieced of the truth in it, but sometimes you have to read between the lines to get to it and sometimes you have to look carefully to see what the author isn't saying.

Here's a novel idea: Find another doctor! You should have considered this before you got banded. You'll be lucky if ANY doctor will treat you or if insurance will cover it, if they do. Medical school exists for a reason. If it wasn't needed, everyone would be their own doctor.

It sounds like you were too tight in general, to start with. I would think you should have been able to eat more than what you have. That said, I have heard other people say that pressure can affect the band, also. I would try to find a doctor in the area that can do a slight unfill, or go to the ER if you can't. If you were too tight before you got to Colorado, the atmospheric pressure probably tightened you even further.