Well, as I said, all opinions are welcome. You shared yours and I thank you for it. As for whether I take it onboard, consider it added to the pile. Remember, I'm a Government employee by training - I know filing.
As far as the mental illness observation goes, my own circumstances - which are the only ones I'm qualified to judge - have nothing at all to do with my atheism, if that's what you're implying. It's more like my beliefs or lack thereof coalesced as I developed from my formative years, which was the proverbial happy childhood, and have continued being added to as I progressed in life. Then I was gravely injured. The two states have nothing whatsoever to do with each other. I suspect that the apparent high instance of mental issues discussed hereabouts is more along the lines of a group of friends feeling comfortable enough to open up to each other. Considering that the term "mental illness" is used as an umbrella label, often pejorative, for a vast range of conditions, you'd like as not find equivalent proportions of such matters discussed in any similar group of close friends.
As far as the mental illness observation goes, my own circumstances - which are the only ones I'm qualified to judge - have nothing at all to do with my atheism, if that's what you're implying. It's more like my beliefs or lack thereof coalesced as I developed from my formative years, which was the proverbial happy childhood, and have continued being added to as I progressed in life. Then I was gravely injured. The two states have nothing whatsoever to do with each other. I suspect that the apparent high instance of mental issues discussed hereabouts is more along the lines of a group of friends feeling comfortable enough to open up to each other. Considering that the term "mental illness" is used as an umbrella label, often pejorative, for a vast range of conditions, you'd like as not find equivalent proportions of such matters discussed in any similar group of close friends.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
