So, atheists and other "nonbelievers" make up, I believe, five percent of the population. And sleevers are, what, 1% of the population? Less?

So agnostic/atheist sleevers like me are literally one in a million! I KNEW my momma was right when she said I was "special!"

I'd party with Bacchus

Mormonism! They control what you wear, what you eat and drink, how you have sex, when you can date, what movies/music you can listen to, how often you go to church -- 3 days a week usually, what you can read, how much you have to pay them and much more.

Not to mention they encourage all women to be honored with the greatest gift -- giving up their dreams and hopes to become a full time stay at home wife and then mom.

Just out of curiosity, what religion requires all of this for "salvation"?

I knew there was a reason I never married Donny!

Sorry to quote out of context, but this sounds like a manic episode; a lot of people who are diagnosed with depression are actually bipolar (manic depressive) and when you put them on antidepressants it brings out the mania. And mania is characterized by grandiose actions without thought of the consequences, up to and including delusions.

I'm on antidepressants, and they do wonderful things for me -- remove my anxiety, keep me from dwelling on negative things I can't control, help get me "out of my head" in social situations. So I try to make sure that antidepressants don't get a bad name. But the flip side is that they are powerful drugs and should only be taken if you're being closely monitored for, e.g. signs of manic behavior. It makes me angry when doctors prescribe these powerful psychotropic (mind altering) drugs and then basically just turn you loose. It's our modern medical system, which is more driven by profit margin than patient care, that I blame.

Ideally, sounds like your ex should have been on some kind of stabilizer as well as the antidepressant. But I'm not a psychiatrist

I have made up my mind on her. She didn't need that ****. Period. The dumbass DR she was working with convinced her she needed the crap. It was garbage in her case. We both had good jobs, a house, nice vehicles, we did whatever she wanted to do. There was ZERO need for her to even need to offer she stuff to my ex. It was total BS and you see where that ended.

Family practice DRs should NEVER EVER be allowed to diagnose and prescribe the crap to patients. EVER. If they think a patient needs it, there should be a professional psych eval done by someone way way more qualified to make that determination than a DR that may have had a few weeks shadowing someone in a psych setting. That whole situation is bunk.

Now in your case, they may help you and that truely is great. Some people really do benefit from them but they are used way too much. I am not 100% against them but close. I just think that too many people just take the easy way out when it comes to dealing with their issues. There are too many things that can go wrong with people that start taking them. Again, some people really do OK with them but not everyone and I really think that there are better ways to work thru things besides just getting a bottle of pills from an MD that is not qualified to make that very serious judgement call.

Not judging you at all for taking them if they help you but I just feel very very strongly about this. I see what happened and how it lead to the uncontrollable destruction of my life.

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

And you've found one more in the tribe. Glad to see you all here!

Just out of curiosity, what religion requires all of this for "salvation"?

I realise there are some Christians who say that accepting Jesus is all it takes and you're in. Maybe so for some Christian denominations or groups, but for many (most?) of them there are also all sorts of social, financial, rule-following requirements and strings attached. So it's not just "salvation" per se that is expensive or not; rather, the price of being part of the community in the here and now gets a bit high.

But it's neither here nor there for me personally, as I just don't believe in Jesus Christ as a god or saviour of any sort, so the "price" of "salvation" is irrelevant.

So happy to find this thread, I am a sleeved Australian agnostic.

This thread just made my happy little sleeved athiest day!! Nice to find some like minded individuals!

I will see you all in hell. Maybe.

I will see you all in hell. Maybe.

Ha! That's funny.. ;-)Yeah, especially with that 66 lbs you 've lost!!Good one to wake up to...

However, since I'm surrounded by it all the time and I try to be positive, I've decided to find religion charming.

I'm an agnostic that married into a family of Jews and Catholics. I guess I like to party, because we Celebrate EVERY holiday

I want to believe...All my life I've been surrounded by Christians. The most judgemental ones too; hell fire & brimstone type. Once in college, the more knowledge I acquired and thought about God with reason and logic, the less I believed. Living by faith was too much like living by the wish and hope factor that gets you nowhere.

But I still can't excape my upbringing. There is something in me that Want To Believe in God. Because the unknown is pretty scary. That we just come to an end is hard to accept. But than again according to most religion I'll end up in hell anyway because I Refuse to bow to organized religion, shout and praise or other servant like behavior. Yes I have a lot of pride which I've been told plenty of times will send me to hell. While I won't say God doesn't exist, it can't be proven. You won't know until you die and than its too late. Besides No One I know live the life exactly according to the guidelines of their religion. So we all May be doomed.

All that being said I feel spiritual. I love nature and looking at the stars, planets and all things Cosmology.

Sent from my iPod touch using VST

I want to believe...All my life I've been surrounded by Christians. The most judgemental ones too; hell fire & brimstone type. Once in college' date=' the more knowledge I acquired and thought about God with reason and logic, the less I believed. Living by faith was too much like living by the wish and hope factor that gets you nowhere.

But I still can't excape my upbringing. There is something in me that Want To Believe in God. Because the unknown is pretty scary. That we just come to an end is hard to accept. But than again according to most religion I'll end up in hell anyway because I Refuse to bow to organized religion, shout and praise or other servant like behavior. Yes I have a lot of pride which I've been told plenty of times will send me to hell. While I won't say God doesn't exist, it can't be proven. You won't know until you die and than its too late. Besides No One I know live the life exactly according to the guidelines of their religion. So we all May be doomed.

All that being said I feel spiritual. I love natural and looking at the stars and planets and all things Cosmology.

Sent from my iPod touch using VST[/quote']

Oh my gosh, this is me to a tee! I just didn't know how to express it.

Sent from my iPad using VST

Oh my gosh' date=' this is me to a tee! I just didn't know how to express it.

Sent from my iPad using VST[/quote']

I understand. Sometimes it's hard to put into words our feelings. Especially when it comes to taboo topics. So happy that you can relate.

Sent from my iPod touch using VST