How it makes a person feel when you use their loss to discuss your views on the afterlife

Bad.  Awkward.  Annoyed.  Frustrated.

I wrote yesterday about the death of my son.  I prefer not to talk about "where I think he is now", because I don't KNOW.  As far as I know, when people die, nothing happens.  Some people think that spirits are roaming around on Earth and talking to people who are living.  I respect that.  I'm sure it's a possibility.  I have no idea if Weslee is hanging around with me.  His memory's with me, and to me that's enough.  Some people think that when people die they go to a place where we can't reach them and can't talk to them and they can't reach us and can't talk to us.  For some people that's comforting, but not to me.  To me that just seems cruel.  But if it floats your boat, then fine.

But don't assume that it's going to be comforting to me to say that.  It's not comforting.  If you haven't picked up that I don't, strictly speaking, believe in an afterlife filled with angels and a deity who's idea of a good time is keeping children from their parents... maybe I need to talk more about.  I don't believe in God.  Not the Christian God, at any rate.  If you would like to know why, feel free to ask.  If you want an explanation of my ideas and thoughts and beliefs, I can talk about that... but anytime I talk about it people decide to start battles and debates about it and try to push me into believing in the same thing that they do because they're convinced that the whole world should believe what they do because they believe in and love a God who is petty and jealous and angry and is willing to send people to a burning fiery afterlife but NOT willing to give concrete evidence of his existence.  And no, that's NOT the only reason I don't believe in him.  And I'm not MAD at him, because I don't think that he exists.

And I don't capitalize pronouns unless they're at the beginnings of sentences.

AND I shouldn't have to have this discussion the day after the five year anniversary of my only child's death.

So please don't use my son's death to proselytize.  Think of it as a respect thing.  BECAUSE IT IS.

Thanks.

--Crystal