Atheists ( and I am one) are some of the nastiest, ill informed people on the planet.
Many of them are far more bigoted than any religious zealot.
The idea that someone can obtain succour through faith annoys them so much.
Live and let live, that is the way to reach understanding and tolerance.

edwina rigby, chorley,

Terry's experience that "it will be all right" is clearly authentic. Indisputable evidence that the stoicism of Marcus Aurelius is the one true religion.

Wilf, London,

Beliefs are dangerous.

Beliefs allow the mind to stop thinking.

A non thinking mind is a non functioning mind.

A non functioning mind is clinically dead.

Believe in nothing.

Greg, Sheffield, UK

It is common for people with degenerative disease of the brain to experience hallucinations, and many physical and psychological conditions result in so-called religious experiences, e.g. schizophrenics hearing the voice of God. But the believers are immune to evidence, and retreat into faith.

Peter Curran, Kirkliston, Scotland

Kathy - the faithful are always claiming that atheists, whether on their deathbed, in trenches or (in this case) suffering from Alzheimer's, suddenly become believers.
This not so.
And that's why we atheists write in to put the record straight. I hope you understand.

alan, gemany,

You are all disbelievers. Us athiests just go one God further. Anyway, a "spiritual experience" is not beyond the bounds of possibility for any of us, mental illness or not. It doesn't require a God, although many may choose interpret it in that way.

James Lynch, London, UK

Wow...it's amazing to find that atheists can be just as judgemental and dogmatic as people of faith. What's the big deal...if any of us, whether losing our marbles or not, wants to believe there's something more, why not? Why can't we all just be and be happy with that? Believe and let believe.

KathyC, London,

Which one of the thousands of gods created in the minds of humans over our entire history does he appreciate?

Lenny, Kenner, USA

No atheists in a fox hole(or an alzheimers ward)

Andy, London,

This is a joke, right? If Christopher Hitchens' got a lobotomy and then found god would you write: "Lobotomy helps Hitchens realize there actually is a God."

Gordon Gekko, Toronto, Canada

Lose your mind and finding 'God'...one of the best yet!!! One to be trusted? I think not!

Konrad Czerepowicz, Belfast, Northern Ireland

People of all faiths (or none)have "religious" experiences.
Having one in no way supports the veracity of an individual religion's worldview. It is odd though, that when they occur, the person immediately identifies the source as that of the particular religion they happen to have been brought up in

R Brown, Guildford, England

Religious experience is easily explained in a physical universe. Our brains constantly release chemicals that tell us to flight or fight, trust or distrust, feel peace or feel hatred. Terry's experience is not that different from a kid on X at a rave. Sad to see him giving ammo to faith-heads.

jimboforreason, Virginia Water, Surrey

At an advanced stage of Alzheimer's, I might even start believing in one of the various god-concepts touted by professional believers.
But it would have to be a very, very advanced stage.

alan, germany,

I would like to suggest "Medjugorje", True and Lasting Signs of Medjugorje by Elizabeth Ficocelli...God is Present He is Awsome and sends His Mother often to remind us.....

A Friend In Christ

Alba, Faithville, Eden

Simple fact: transcendental experiences occur.

Ample historic evidence for that.

Simply put: they are ineffable.

Human "science", though valuable, is innately limited. Emotive appeals to materialism can not "rationalize" them.

What any of it "means" is for each individual to experience.

Mark Baker, Long Beach, USA

Why is that so many people who have "an experience" have to involve mysticism, or in some way attribute it to superstition in one form or another? Just accept an unusual feeling or thought for what is it - something that you can't yet explain. Or are you afraid of the unknown, or of reality?

David, Cheshire,

What is stated gratuitously, can be so denied. It's plain bonkers not to relate to God who explains it all.

Father Bryan Storey, Tintagel, Cornwall, UK

If there's no reason to believe in God, there's no reason to believe in anything. Ergo, Father Bryan, if there is a reason to believe in God, there is reason to believe in everything.

So its true there is a teapot, too small to be seen by a telescope, in an eliptical orbit between earth and Mars!

AKULA, london, UK

Father Bryan: Humans have problems accepting death and the unknown. God is a human invention which purports to answer these problems. Organized religion is a human invention which is designed to profit from these problems.

Bob Gibson, New York, USA

"GOD": The conscious reverberation of 100 billion neurons in the brain collectively sensing that they are part of a magical ONENESS beyond. They are. It's called the BODY, and of course the neurons don't have words for it! The self is an illusion! Organic illnesses and emergent drugs reveal this!

Thaddeus P. Donio, Los Angeles, USA

No, Father Bryan, if you believe in god, you can believe in anything!

F.S.Summers, London,

If there's no reason to believe in God, there's no reason to believe in anything.

Father Bryan Storey, Tintagel, Cornwall, UK

What Mr Owen describes is known among believers as "Faith".
As for what Mr Pratchett has experienced, if he can find any way to accommodate the changes taking place in his life without descending to mind numbing terror, then good for him

Jackie, Mossley, Lancashire

Well, I think that it's fair to say that none of this is definitive evidence that Mr. Pratchett is now a theist. But it certainly sets him apart from people like Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett. And as an agnostic, I think that any belief that helps someone stay hopeful is useful. Good for Terry.

Richard R., Montville, USA

I think this headline is pretty misleading. It sounds to me like Terry is saying that he knows there's no good reason to believe in God, but it gives him comfort to think that there is some kind of meaning or purpose to the world. That hardly makes him a theist.

Greg, Glen Burnie, MD, USA

Terry Pratchett was an atheist for years. That was his choice and I respect him for it. If he now decides he might be a theist it's his choice and I respect him for it.

I don't understand some of the less pleasant comments here. His beliefs are are his own choice and not for any of us to judge!

Robert, York, England

hello - I'm a christian, no problem for me that God exists. But aren't atheists odd? The original party poopers! Lots of people have experiences of the re-assuring -all-will-be-well kind that are seriously tangible. What is the atheist beef with that?

michael, harrogate, uk

Well, I'm not sure that there is a God but I hope there is. Had the pleasure of meeting Terry Pratchett at a book signing in the late 90's. I really hope we get a couple more books from this great author. All the very best Terry, as you go through this most difficult of journeys. To your family too.

Jackie, Robigana, Australia

I don't think Terry being as positive and honest as ever should be confused with the idea that he's gone superstitious.
All his books have warm portraits of folk who are all too human but muddle through and find it in themselves to be heroic when they have to.
Nothing supernatural about that.

Stuart Hartill, Ramsey, Isle of Man,

Reminds me a Woody Allen's movie, when, in a family of democrats, one boy was strangely republican. They discovered he had a brain tumor and after being operated for this tumor, he became democrats again. lol.

Daniel R, Paris, France

Sir, I would be suspicious of odd, unexpected thoughts that you may experience as you struggle with a degenerative brain disorder. I certainly would advise against making a large metaphysical shift based upon them.

Nevyn, Chicago,

That just proves that our minds can play tricks on even the most rational and cynical amongst us. Analyse what most believers say and they are all acting on what is just a feeling. That's all that belief is. Still, whatever gives you comfort. I applaud Terry for his honesty and wish him well.

Paul Owen, Birmingham, UK

Why is mankind so arrogant and so narrow in thinking? We have brains which only sense three dimensions, which on a very basic level should suggest that our understanding of the universe is extremely limited. Atheists may take the new Physics more seriously - try David Bohm's theories.

Marlene Spiers, East grinstead, West Sussex

There is nothing unusual in believing in an imaginary super-being - lots of people do. What would be very wrong is for the rational or the non-rational to take advantage of the vulnerabilities of Mr Pratchett. If, as he says, he can still write he still has considerable mental abilities.

John Sutton, Gravesend, UK

Mr Pratchett,
Please realize that you need to give into account the bodily changes you are going through. At this cross road in your life it would be easy to turn to one of the Gods available at your disposal.
A need for medications?, yes. A need for an imaginary friend? No

Neecie in Orlando

Neecie, Orlando, USA

I was sppeaking to a Sally Army chap yesyerday who was an atheist and eventually heard the voice of God. It happens to us all eventually.

Good luck Terry !!!

ian payne, walsall,

Perhaps it was the Devil who created Alzheimer's disease, and we should ask why God didn't invent an affordable cure.

Charles Bockett-Pugh, Sandhurst,

Mr :Pratchett, as a person who has come to enjoy your writing late in life, in audio book form specifically, I confess to surprise that you simply fail to relate your new "religious" experience to the progress of your condition.
The "answer" hides in plain sight, the law of conservation of energy.

Quinbus Flestrin, Hartlepool, UK

So why did God create Alzheimer’s in the first place?

tony freeman, tampa, usa

Second thoughts on theism is not an unusual reaction when faced with personal mortality - come on now TP, stick to your guns!
What's the big deal if there's nothing after the end! Why is that unsatisfactory, unsettling, unpalatable? Just a question of settling your mind in to acceptance.

ROHAN, Solihull, UK

Well they do say there are no athiests in a trench.
Good on him.

Phill, The Wirral, England