Respect of another persons beliefs is something I hold dear. The old saying "I may not agree with what you're saying, but I'll fight to the death for your right to say it." is, to me, a basic human ideal.

I expect the same from others. To respect MY beliefs, I mean. I'm not a believer in a higher diety. I think too much of our pain and happiness has been attributed to this higher power. I'm not here to argue the existence of this power, but to discuss it as a mental illness.

I recently mentioned the book "Art of Loving" by Erick Fromm. His point of view closely coinsides with my viewpoint. There are those who need God. Who need to have a purpose in life. A reason to exist. We can't just be grass fertilizer. I mean a basic NEED. Which has to be filled. I would not think of taking away "God" from those who need a god, then I would think of taking food away from someone.

I know people who strongly believe in a god but deny this god through anger, pain, depression. God is blamed for everything bad in their lives. So they do nothing to improve their lot. Just go downhill.

This can cause a very strong mental illness, I feel.

I don't depend on "God" to make my life better, or give "God" gratitude when something good happens in my life. I depend on me and have a strong faith in the goodness of other human beings.

I'm not stupid, I know not everyone can be trusted. Some are in too much pain to be trusted. I'm talking basically.

I walk through life with a very optimistic view of life based on this faith. Maybe I'm too simple minded. So far, so good though.

If someones life is controlled by a belief, or someone needs to impose their beliefs on others, that's when it becomes a serious problem and
possibly (I'm not pretending to be a expert) might be considered mental illness.

I think for every person, there is a different idea of what our existence is all about, a different concept of existence. I told you mine. I'm the brother of a blade of grass. No more, no less.

You have to remember that I'm a child of the sixties, love, flower power 'n all that. ;-)

That's why I always add
Love, Annamill