Yahoo! Answers

• Open Question: Atheists-- A Christian with kids approached me, how should I have responded?

  As I came out of the library with an armful of books, I heard an elderly man say, "Look, here comes a girl out of the library now!" It was an elderly man and two children, maybe 8 and 11 years old. They had church t-shirts and pamphlets. The man asked me if I'd heard of Jesus, and I kind of mumbled yes. He said he'd been saved by Jesus when he was 19. I said, kind of awkwardly, that I was glad he was happy. Then I politely accepted a pamphlet and we parted ways. I was unsure of whether to mention I was an atheist. The major issue was the fact there were children there. I would have entered into a full-on discussion, even a debate, with an adult, but I ran into some difficult considerations with the kids: 1. On one hand, I didn't know if I had the right to introduce doubt into the children's belief system. My own parents raised me Christian without suggesting there were other alternatives. It had the benefit of giving me a secure world to grow up in, and it turned out to not have done any damage, as I am now free of superstitious thought. Also, there are many wonderful people who are devout Christians, who may not have been able to be such good people if they followed a secular route. Shouldn't a stranger respect the right of the parents to decide what belief options are presented to their children? 2. On the other hand, I felt a social obligation to make the children aware that polite, happy, moral, educated atheists like me exist. This would give them a better shot at eventually finding a better life through atheism themselves. I worry that some people have the wrong idea about atheism-- like being an atheist means abandoning your morals and facing a cold, hopeless world-- and thus are incapable of abandoning their religion without also abandoning their morals, security, happiness, etc. This creates people who think atheism isn't an acceptable route to consider, even when they're not getting fulfillment from their own religion. Don't I have an obligation to present this option to kids so the choice is available to them? 3. No matter what I said, I would not have entered into any kind of heavy or negative debate. It would have been kept positive for the sake of the children. 4. Anyone having their children pass out pamphlets must be aware that it's likely strangers will share their own beliefs. If I were to do it again, I think I might have said something like, "I'm an atheist. I'm really glad you've found a good life through Jesus. I don't believe in God, so I find strength in myself when I need help. I don't believe in the afterlife, so I try to make the world I live in better for myself and everyone else. I don't need the reward of Heaven or the threat of Hell hanging over my head to be moral. I try to be a good person because I want to help others, and sins hurt others. There is no God to love and save mankind, so it's up to people to do it ourselves." ... Maybe not that lengthy. But I would've tried to convey that. Do you think that's okay? Or should I have said something different about atheism, or should I have gone with Consideration 1 and not mentioned atheism in front of the children at all? Was my response of quietly accepting the pamphlet the best one after all?

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• Open Question: Does this english make sense for a wedding invite?

  hey im editing invites for family, and everytime i read it, i am more and more certain that it doesn't make sense... take a look.... "Katherine and Thomas invite you to share in their love and happiness as they exchange vows of marriage and celebrate life together" What do you think? Thanks *_* Invite you to share their love and happiness as they exchange vows of marriage and celebrate life together Ahh this was off the prototype, its changed now, but still doesnt make sense to me?

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• Open Question: How long does happiness and being in a good mood last?

  I ask this cause it seems like I feel down and depressed way more than happy and upbeat. When I do feel happy it doesn't last long. It's almost like what is the point of being happy when I'm just going to feel down again. I'm taking meds for depression and they have helped a little bit but I still feel down way more than I feel happy. Do most people feel happy and content way more than down in the dumps? It seems like my mood can change on a dime too. What's the point of happiness when we will eventually feel down again?

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• Open Question: Anyone else terrified of having a miscarriage?

  My husband and I had been TTC our first child for 21 months. We just started seeing an RE in May who diagnosed me with PCOS. I was scheduled for laparoscopic surgery at the end of August to check my left tube as the HSG showed it to be abnormal and to check for endometriosis. Surprisingly I just found out a week ago that I'm pregnant. According to my LMP, I'm seven weeks tomorrow, but since I ovulate late I'm really about 5 1/2 weeks along. Anyway, I have an ultrasound at my RE's office scheduled for next week and the only thing I can think about is that something is going to go wrong. When I had my blood test on Monday it showed my hCG level at 12,135 which the nurse said was fairly high but my progesterone was 16.3 which she said was low. I'm currenlty using progesterone suppositories now to increase my progesterone level. Anyway, I'm thrilled that I'm pregnant, of course, but the excitement and happiness are overwhelmed by this fear that I'll miscarry. I'm sure the fear has something to do with the fact that it took me so long to get pregnant in the first place, but it just doesn't seem normal to me to be THIS scared of miscarrying. It's really all I can think about because when I think about having a baby, naming a baby, buying baby things and setting up a nursery, I just feel like it won't actually happen for me. Does anyone else, whether it took you a long time to conceive or not, have this constant fear of miscarrying? I really just need to feel like I'm not alone.

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• Open Question: Why am I not leveling up on moshi monsters?

  I am at level two... and i've played the daily challenge and all the games and then i made sure health and happiness was at max. so why haven't i moved??? i am still at the same spot and the bar hasn't filled any. I also added friends too.

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