Noatak

I'm an atheists myself, probably started when I was about ten or whatever, but I have to honestly ask. Even though we state there is no God, do you feel, and be honest, any sort of spiritual connection?

Let me explain. Back when I was around eight I lost my little brother to Leukemia, it was terrible and none of my family really felt the same after it. Now my parents are far from the sterotypical Christians, (my even dad openly dislikes religion) and they only go to church for specific occasions (funerals, funeral masses, weddings, communions, confirmations etc.) But they still maintain a firm belief in heaven, because it gives them comfort in the thought that my brother may be there watching over them and they can see him again someday.

Now I know I'm going to get a lot of typical answers from both sides. Some of you may say stuff like "there is no heaven, deal with it" while the other half will say "there is but you'll never get to see him because you're atheist". I want to know from the people who are Atheist and lost someone they cared about. Despite not wanting to be Christian (I blamed God for his death originally, since he has his so-called "master plan") it IS hard to be an atheist sometimes, because that small part of me in the back of my mind tells me if that's true I have to accept the fact my brother is just gone, and even though it's been about 11 years it's not something I can do.

So I'm asking you, even if you don't believe in a God, do you feel some sort of connection to someone you loved who passed away?

(I'm ready for all the retarded answers as well, so don't expect any "HURR stoopid christians/Atheists not believing my opinions for no reason" reactions)

As someone from the outside looking in, pretty much all I see is people whining and going on and on and on about how he's doing bad things to the country, how what he does isn't american and how Ron Paul would be a million times better. Now I'm not a fortune teller, but I'm willing to bet that if Ron Paul does win and become the president, about a year or two down the line it'll become "Ron Paul is ruining our country it's not american blahdie blahdie blah"

Obama isn't one man running the show, he's the head of state, but not even the head of state has unquestioned access to everything. (This is where my understanding of American politics fails so forgive me for any errors) There's the congress, literally everything Obama plans and wants to do has to go through Congress. Say for example Obama proposes a bill that is actually a brilliant idea, had no downsides and would benefit everyone in the country only to have Congress reject it. There's very little reaction to the whole thing, but when a bill gets passed and it turns out it was a bad idea, the president gets thrown into the lions den.

I'm not saying it's just Obama, but I suppose he's the best to mention since he's the current president, all the other presidents had to deal with it too. I mean you voted for the guy right? Yes I know most of you probably didn't vote for him but a lot of people did otherwise he wouldn't be sitting in the white house at this very moment.

Shouldn't he at least get a little slack, running an entire country while having millions of people breathing down your neck, ready to strike at the slightest slip up is bound to be difficult.

I'd just like to see your opinion on how different they are. For me it's that Europeans have dealt with it way longer than America has, and we've gotten over the whole "God is law" phase and have accepted that religion is mostly a bit of advice that suggests the right direction to go, rather than being unquestionable law.

Atheists can join in too, though some serious answers would be appreciated. None of the "HERP DERP DESTROY EURUP CUZ THEY DONT LOVE GAWD" crap.