Atheists! What say you about all this God given potential?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

Does this mean that you have no potential? If so, from whence cometh yours?

[Arugula Latte]

1. Mine cometh from uni-celled creatures that lived in the ocean

millions upon millions of years ago ... :)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. and from whence cometh theirs?

:)

[ThomCat]

13. It's inherent in the very laws of physics and chemistry

waiting to be unleashed by the right conditions. :)

If I might ask a question in return, where did God get his potential from?

[boilerbabe]

16. String theory? n/t

[Tuesday Afternoon]

19. Please refer to post #6 in this thread. The answer lies within.

:)

[Arugula Latte]

51. Thanks, ThomCat. Took the words right out of my mouth.

[boilerbabe]

10. plankton!! My Favorite!! n/t

[Symarip]

3. It doesn't really bother me

Even though I think god is Santa Claus is for adults.

Personally, I think our potential comes from some mixture of environment and heredity. If god had anything to do with it, there'd probably be a lot less pain and suffering in the world. But that's if you believe he actually exists, which I have a hard time believing given the (lack of) evidence.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. I thought free will had something to do with all this pain and suffering.

Lack of evidence is not evidence of lacking.

[Symarip]

5. Sure.

You can't disprove god exists. I can't disprove there are lifeforms that zoom in flying saucers and stick probes in peoples bottoms, either. So there you have it.

Like I said, I don't believe and it doesn't bother me that people do. I've never ruled out god existing, but he's not doing a very effective job if he does. It seems to me, religion, or at least faith based religions (accompanied with large volumes of writings), seem to always have their bases covered when people ask questions. Even George Carlin wondered what happens when two people are praying for the opposite outcome of the same event? Guess god loves some more than others, even though we're all created equal in his image.

If there is a god, there is one. But I just don't think there is. I'd really appreciate if he feels like getting his message out, to stop putting images of his son on toast.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

6. I think he/she

likes toast...

and, maybe it is the Devil's work

Mathematically speaking I think the equation looks something like this: God = Time.

[boilerbabe]

26. God+ Square Root divided by seven X O n/t

[Tuesday Afternoon]

31. ok...if that works for you, then fine. However, I must point out

that mathematically speaking that is NOT an equation.

Actually, that is the mathematical equivalent of speaking in tongues :D

Or that is the babble that the Devil would produce to try and keep you from hearing the quiet voice of God :shrug:

[boilerbabe]

40. Alright then, give me something I can put in my scientific calculator

Or give me something that makes sense.Either way, I am open to hear what you have to say. I am not adverse to intelligent discussion. But I am agnostic for a reason. Having researched and experienced several religions, I just can't come to any conclusion is all.

I have many very good friends that are very invested in certain faiths, which is fine. I just don't really see any reason, though , why we should pander to any of these for governing purposes. Do you really think that your faith or life is going to be threatened in any way by the government if it conducts its business? No.

THere are some things that are best left to the individuals involved as in birth control, etc.

Anyways, I have a binary computer thiingy to help me remember the things I forgot! I would like to hear your views on things,so don't be afraid to send me a message.

Have you ever heard of Metanexus? It is a website that mixes religion, theology, and science all in one thing. check it out.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

49. I will check out Metanexus.

Off the top, I must say it sounds like a shampoo for Metaphysicals :D

[crimsonblue]

60. But therin lies the rub

before the Bang, there was no time, hence no god. In a black hole, time is infinite. So god can only really exist in a black hole.

[boilerbabe]

24. God is a she!

Makes as much sense and women sure are a bit more vicious, eh? I don't think we are capable of knowing really what or if what is beyond our knowledge. That is why I gave up after so many years of looking. Will just let it slide until I either find out or not. Can't recommmend it for all.

Fuck it! Have fun, don't hurt anyone, do what you can to improve life around you. That's it for the Boilerbabe Advice Column this week!!

Oh--drink lots of beer if your water supply is suspect, too. Margaritas are even better since they don't deplete the ozone layer so much.

Do what ya gotta do just to get through.

Yeah, the talking points will always seem to throw you off. I have never been prepared well enough to counteract that shit, no matter how stupid it is. I think that is one reason why the Democrats have been on the losing side. They just don't have any cut-and-dried thingy to say. SO maybe we should just say fuck off?

Anyways, the long and short of it for me is that life has gone by so fast that it doesn't seem to matter what I do or don't do, believe in or not. I am hoping that this doesn't lead to apathy.

[boilerbabe]

12. that's a conundrum which I do not have a brain cell

available at this time to contemplate it. Very good though, will try to get back to you!! XXXOOO

[Schema Thing]

32. You thought wrong.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

39. nothing new there --

I am wrong 100% of the time. Comes with the territory of being a left-handed female in a right handed man's world.

feel free to think for yourself, and wrongly if you choose.

[Schema Thing]

42. CS Lewis was a right handed Christian male in a

right handed Christian male world. He had some loopy notion of "free will" too.


:hide:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

46. see there...I am so wrong that I can not even have an original

thought, much less any kind of potential. God given, natural born, however one chooses to call it.

[boilerbabe]

11. Exactly! Thank you. n/t

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. Whoever said I had potential was either lying or unaware of how lazy I am.

[boilerbabe]

14. We give ya the benefit of the doubt, Ayuh!! n/t

[GreenPartyVoter]

18. LOL thanks

[boilerbabe]

28. It's time that we got religion separated from our politics!

I would love to be a Green Party person, but have not the courage to take it all the way just yet. It's going to be a long strange trip, I guess. Working on it!!
\
XXXOOO

[GreenPartyVoter]

33. Well, weirdly enough the only way you'll get to do that is to

vote Dem for a while, because I think they are more likely than the Repubs to overhaul the election system in ways like this: http://www.hostdiva.com/liberalchristians/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=116&Itemid=29&limit=1&limitstart=1

[boilerbabe]

35. I would never vote Repub, even if they severed my left eyeball n/t

[GreenPartyVoter]

36. I will confess to voting Repub once or twice in my youth for

Olympia Snowe. I'm not wild about some of her policy ideas, but she's not all bad and seniority is something to consider too.

Still , I tried to help out Chellie Pingree when she ran against her. Chellie would have been a terrific Senator who really stood up for the little guy.

[boilerbabe]

44. It's Hard, Olympia Rules

Just wished she would be a Dem. My brother gives me endless shit because I like her. But she is a good representative, we must get her to come over to our side!

[boilerbabe]

45. Just a quick reply before I call it a day!

computer is acting up but gotta get up for another 12 hour shift..... Now I forgot what the hell I was gonna say OK, then, will get back to ya latah...

XXXXOOOO
Princess Dumbass

[boilerbabe]

38. Got a long story there, too

Started out as a "Young Repug" back in 1979. Was the youngest delegate to the convention. Woke up; and got crazy and really aliented some people. Gotta go reply to some other person that is telling me my math is wrong. before I forget what in hell my math is had best address it!I remain...old,. brain-dead...etc.

anyways, you should have seen me totally embarrass my poor mom (also a delegate) when they started talking about abortion!! I walked out. When I was a Page in the State Leg? The Moose Lottery? I was there,. I walked out and caused a ruckus,. I was only a page,. but I cried all over the front steps of the State House.

Have some stories, from the old days, if you would like to hear them. I may be wrong, but werent you stopped by Homeland when you were trying to travel?>

[GreenPartyVoter]

56. No, I personally wasn't stopped by DHS but I do know some other

Greens were, and some are on the no-fly list for being members of a "terrist" group. :eyes:

[boilerbabe]

43. Thank you

I am pretty much what one would call an "agnostic", but what you gave me was very "non obtrusive" in my eyes. Which is what we need. Beliefs are ok, but I have seen so much of this being "shoved in my face", that it gets difficult to absorb.

I would be interested in a discourse here. Maybe you have something going here>

Talk to ya latah...gotta go get some rest, working shiftwork...

[Critters2]

17. I have it. Or so I've been told. My problem, apparently,

is that I'm not working up to my potential. I've come to be okay with that, though.

[GreenPartyVoter]

20. I am the consumate underachiever. :^( I'm not so much okay with it, though. Every

so often I feel bad about it.

[Critters2]

21. My brilliant PhD-laden cousin who lived up to his potential, and was the model people

would point to when letting me know what I could do "if I put my mind to it", died of testicular cancer at the age of 30. I thought it was sad because I'm not sure he enjoyed life much. And because, when I was at Andover Newton and he was MIT, we became great friends. He had real potential to be every bit the lazy, pointless slug I am. It's a real shame.

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. Sorry he died so young. :^( I should have writen 4 or 5 books by now, but I am just such

a slug. Always playing here instead of doing the hard work. And it's not like these are major tomes, here. I am talking fiction at its lightest.

[Critters2]

25. Every time I have an idea for a book, I go to Borders and see MY BOOK in the theology section,

or go to some conference and strike up a conversation with the author of MY BOOK. Bastids.

[GreenPartyVoter]

27. :^P Yeah, I hear that, only mine would be

in the teen fiction or romance sections.

[boilerbabe]

34. You are doing what you can..

I never thought I would be working for a paper mill after growing up in a paper mill town. I was going to be an artist! Hahha. well things happen and here I am working to supply power to a paper mill in CT.

I had so much potential, but here I am. Gotta make the best of it and that is what I will do! I was an Art major, and am now running a power plant! Strange, but it all works out somehow. I like what I do, and am on an renewable energy committee for the NAPE (National Assoc. of Power Engineers), which I hope will go somewhere.

It's like "start here and wind up there" for me. It's all good, going to take all my experience and just do the best I can.

Forgot to tell ya this? I am from Millinocket, Maine. Paper Mill country. I would have died if I thought I would wind up working in a paper mill after all those years! Tooo funny.

[boilerbabe]

30. Don't feel bad, I am totally not doing what I could!! n/t

[Tuesday Afternoon]

66. Hillary and Chelsea both used this term the other night in their

speeches to the Convention.

[boilerbabe]

8. Separation of Church and State

What happened to it?? I am sickened by the fact that even the candidate of the hour has to pander to religion. Sorry everyone. But the thing is, you are all welcome to have faith in whatever you believe in, but the governing of this country should be kept neutral.

I am probably going off "half-cocked" and will have to look into it, though.

As far as potential? God or Godess given or not., I have certainly not lived up to it, and don't have the energy to do so. Oh well. Still kicking ass in my given area, though. I cannnot emphasise the importance of the SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE enough.

[elshiva]

9. Everyone has potential.

If we didn't have the potential to thrive, our kind would have been extinct a long time ago. I see it as having to do with evolution.

[boilerbabe]

15. we are gonna probably evolute ourselves right offa the planet! n/t

[elshiva]

22. Truth.

buffy

[LostInAnomie]

29. I'm a huge mass of potential...

... energy.

All someone has to do is get me rolling or set me on fire and I'll finally be useful.

[pokerfan]

37. Coffee

[Dr. Strange]

53. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed,
The hands acquire shakes, the shakes become a warning.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

[Whoa_Nelly]

41. I like to think of it as...

Natural Born Talent! :woohoo:

Hi, TA! :hi: :loveya: :hug:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

48. hello WN...Yes. Some of us have this gift --

[Whoa_Nelly]

58. ROFLMAO!

You are so good at nailing it! :rofl:

[EstimatedProphet]

47. Mine comes from being at a great height

[La Lioness Priyanka]

50. it comes from my understanding that i dont need a fear of consequence to lead an

ethical and moral life.

[jakefrep]

52. How do we know that this potential came from God?

What if it were given to us by say, the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

[pokerfan]

57. Yeah, at least we can see the FSM

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=228x43087">

[Louis Cyphre]

62. Suppose you could see the Devil?

Then what would you say?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

67. Just like most people do not recognize God when they see him/her/it

most people do not recognize the devil in all his many disgusises.

You are back again, I see.

I wonder if your first name would be Bill by any chance.

[pokerfan]

79. There are demons everywhere!

I rest my case.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

81. good lord, that is only

a minor imp in the scheme of things :rofl:

[pokerfan]

78. The I guess I would believe in the devil as well

Actually being able to see something really helps in the credibility department. :)

[snooper2]

54. :)

One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the evil that was going on. He decided to send an angel down to Earth to check it out. So He called one of His best angels and sent the angel to Earth for a while. When she returned she told God, yes it is bad on Earth, 95% is bad and 5% is good.

Well, He thought for a moment and thought maybe He'd better send down a second angel to get another point of view. So God called another angel and sent him to Earth for a time too. When the angel returned he went to God and told him "Yes, the Earth is in decline. 95% is bad and 5% is good." God said this was not good.

So He decided to send an e-mail to the 5% that were good. He wanted to encourage them, give them a little something to help them keep going.

Do you know what that e-mail said?

---

---

---

---

Oh, you didn't get one either, huh? Bummer.

[snooper2]

55. :)

Jesus and Moses were strolling by the Red Sea, when Moses nudged Jesus and said, "Psst. Hey, Jesus, I've still got it."

Moses turned towards the Red Sea and lifted his staff on high. The angels began to sing, the gentle sea breeze turned into a raging gale, and the waters of the Red Sea were parted. Moses lowered his arms and, with a smug grin on his face, turned back to face Jesus.

Jesus scoffed. "Moses, my boy," said the Messiah, "I have still got it." And with a flourish of his robes, Jesus stepped onto the waters of the Red Sea and began to stride across without so much as a ripple.

But to Moses' amazement, halfway across the water, Jesus suddenly began to sink. He splashed into the water and began to choke and flounder as the waves tossed him around. Moses grumbled at Jesus' sillyness and parted the water once more. Moses helped Jesus back to shore, as the Saviour hacked up salt water.

When they had finally reached shore, Moses slapped a consoling hand on Jesus' shoulder and said, "Don't worry about it, Lord. Last time you tried it, you didn't have holes in your feet."

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:


How much does Jesus love you?




*Spread arms and look mopey*



This much.


:evilgrin:


Why do girls love Jesus?

They know he'll come again.


And the best bumpersticker ever :rofl:

"Jesus is coming...
...get a towel"

[crimsonblue]

59. potential existed since before the big bang

in fact everything was pure potential (energy) before the bang. Now, every piece of matter is in a slow march of entropy, which will ultimately result in absolute death of all life (when 0 K is across the universe). That a good answer for ya?

[crimsonblue]

61. but that's billions and billions of years away

so no worries. So alas, the IPU created potential.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

64. what is O K ?

I am agreeing with you til you got there and then I got lost...

[crimsonblue]

68. O degrees Kelvin

or absolute zero. The temperature at which matter stops moving and all life must end.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

69. if you add...

"life as we know it" I will agree.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

71. Everything would stop.

Period. Basic definitions.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

73. am I misunderstang?

It would be frozen. Don't "things" have different freezing temps just like they have different boiling temps?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

74. Yes, you're misunderstanding.

Different substances become solid at different temperatures.

At absolute zero, all motion would stop. Atoms. Electrons. Everything.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

75. ok.

Motion is one thing. It is possible to "melt" it all again. Or either "life as we don't understand it at this time" will evolve from the frozen.

[crimsonblue]

76. It is not known if reaching absolute zero is reversable

Upon reaching 0 K, it is as if the pause button on everything is set (but it may be a STOP button). The quarks that make up subatomic particles cannot even spin, and strings cannot vibrate. It is mathematically impossible for anything to live at 0 K.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

80. ok...

I need to ponder on this and study up a little. I must admit that I have not been able to find anything scientific or mathematical can either prove or disprove God. The closest and simplest way I have been able to explain it is to say:

God is all.
All is God.

or else,

God = Time.

Another hypothesis about God that is the statement: All is an illusion.
Of course there is a whole study about this, a book called: A Course In Miracles.

I really think that this statement:

" It is mathematically impossible for anything to live at 0 K. "

is probably still being studied in order to find a breakthrough even as I type this.

[pokerfan]

83. It's called heat death

It's a likely theory for the end of the universe.

The universe keeps on expanding and expanding and reaches a state of maximum entropy, cooling and eventually becoming too cool to support life or any biological process, or any chemical process for that matter. No more stars. Everything scattered too far away for light to even have the time to reach.

Either Astronomy or Sky&Tel had a really cool article on this a few years ago.

[Kutjara]

63. "Potential" is an illusion caused by short time scales.

Given a sufficiently long period of time, all potentials cancel out. Every intention, every action, every event (whether consciously caused or randomly occurring) will ultimately amount to nothing. Only in the short term, on the scale of a single life or a single civilization, does the illusion of "potential" arise. Of course, even on those short, human, scales, the end result is the same. People die and are forgotten. Civilizations likewise.

Potential is like the "virtual particles" constantly emerging from the quantum foam, only to be annihilated an instant later. The net sum of all this "potential," all these strivings, wantings and needings...is zero.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

65. yes...

all is an illusion.

[buddhamama]

70. all my potential

is Kinetic. :)

[Tikki]

72. A roll in the mud, a hike up a hill, a walk on the beach...

petrified wood.

Geology Rules


Tikki

[montanto]

77. False Dichotomy.

"No potential" is not the opposite of "God given potential."

[otherlander]

82. Potential is just the possibility for things to happen

due to biology/physics/whatever.

[dropkickpa]

84. No such thing.

I have plenty of potential, it's the result of my genetics, upbringing, and self motivation.