Our dog died yesterday.

[Leith]

5. I'm Very Sorry for the Loss of Your Family Member

Our pets are members of our families just like humans. They have their own quirks, personalities, and idiosyncrasies. You love them and they love you.

I lost my two cats recently. One to diabetes and complications, the other to cancer. It tore my heart out each time. Best to you and your family.

It sounds like you have your beliefs figured out. I describe myself as an agnostic but, for all intents and purposes, I'm atheist. I fully understand the difficulties that religious people try to put on us. My favorite is when they question how a person who doesn't believe in their deity of choice can be a moral person. If their faith in an invisible sky daddy is the only thing keeping them from robbing, raping, and killing indiscriminately, let's hear it for their deity! People with strong internal morality don't need the fear of post death punishment to keep us from committing crimes on the world. Your son sounds wonderful.

Note to the religious & spiritual: I am not condemning your choices in life nor do I look down on them. It's wonderful that people have the freedom to arrive at the solutions that work for them. The issue that I have is when the more zealous insist that I follow their solutions. That just would not work out.

All the best to you in all things, AtheistCrusader.