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Cristiano
Guest
String theory is a form of belief or conjecture if you want. You need to prove it to show a true lack of need or involvement in the real world.
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ribozyme
Guest
Because the number determines the rate that galaxies migrate away from each other. It also determines the rate of the expansion of the universe, which is accelerating. Well, I am not a cosmologist.
The number is the energy density of the vacuum, and quantum field theory predicts this number to be 120 orders of magnitude too large. If it were that large, even the formation of protons, neutrons would be precluded as it would tear them part. The cosmological constant can be viewed as antigravity.
Well, if you want to learn more, I would recommend reading Chapter 2 of Lenny Susskind’s book The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design.
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Eden
Guest
Thanks for sharing. I don’t think you’ve followed the question, however. To whom or what are they “giving thanks”? Or do they view Thanksgiving as just a holiday for getting together with family and eating turkey and not really a day to pause and give thanks?
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ALLFORHIM
Guest
OOPS SORRY
Probably like you said above. They are probably thankful for all the stuff they have and for family. They just dont realize that God gace them all they have.
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Cristiano
Guest
Your answer is a red herring and you keep quoting theories that you are not familiar with like they were the absolute truth. I did not ask what is the use of the constant. I ask simply to prove that it is a constant and that it is not local.
If you keep quoting books, please use fundamental books.
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Eden
Guest
That’s O.K.OOPS SORRY
I think your friend will have to be careful in using the term “thankful” though. Being full of thanks requires an object or person to be on the receiving end, as thanking is an action.
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Syele
Guest
Athiests celebrate holidays not because they think it means something but because it’s fun.
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nucatholic
Guest
Syele, and obviously you are an expert on why atheists celebrate holidays? What an ignorant statement that was.
I will celebrate Thanksgiving, not for the historical meaning of the holiday, but to appreciate and spend time with my family. After all, without my family I wouldn’t be here today. Plus, my grandma’s pumpkin pie is amazing.
I AM a bit torn about celebrating Thanksgiving at all. I mean, it was the beginning of a mass genocide of Native Americans wasn’t it? Yes, lets thank God that we were able to kill off the natives so that we could settle their land. What a lovely idea huh?
I will celebrate Thanksgiving, not for the historical meaning of the holiday, but to appreciate and spend time with my family. After all, without my family I wouldn’t be here today. Plus, my grandma’s pumpkin pie is amazing.
I AM a bit torn about celebrating Thanksgiving at all. I mean, it was the beginning of a mass genocide of Native Americans wasn’t it? Yes, lets thank God that we were able to kill off the natives so that we could settle their land. What a lovely idea huh?
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Eden
Guest
Especially having been born in a time when deciding to not have us was a legal choice.But is it really meaningful to skip Thanksgiving in protest to the foundation of this country, but then continue to take advantage of what this land offers, such as state universities and government financial aid? I would respect someone who moves abroad due to moral objections, but continuing to live here and just skipping Thanksgiving would be silly. So, my vote is if you’re going to stay in America, don’t skip Thanksgiving.
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SteakNPotatoes
Guest
Coming late to this discussion, and responding only to the OP (not having read through the responses), I can only speak to the fact that I am thankful to be alive; thankful to have such a great life; thankful for my physical condition and my intellect; thankful for my family and friends, etc.
Do I need an object of my thankfulness (God perhaps?)? Heck no. Whether God exists or not is irrelevent to my ability to feel fortunate for the way things happen to be.
Thankfulness is not solely the province of believers.
Do I need an object of my thankfulness (God perhaps?)? Heck no. Whether God exists or not is irrelevent to my ability to feel fortunate for the way things happen to be.
Thankfulness is not solely the province of believers.
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SteakNPotatoes
Guest
Thank you for that penetrating insight into my mind. I’ll remember that the next time I’m planting flags at graveyards on Memorial Day.
And it’s atheist, by the way.
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Eden
Guest
I agree with your last statement. Atheists can thank people. I’m just curious about what atheists are thankful for and whom they are thanking. You have answered the first part. You stated that you are thankful for your life, health and intellect. But do you need an object of your thanks? Yes, you do. Thanking is an action and requires a recipient. You are “giving” it. Likewise, you can’t *give *a gift without having a recipient. Otherwise, you haven’t completed the action of giving. So, yes, you do need a recipient when giving thanks. Being full of thanks or giving thanks is an action outward. But if you want to say you feel lucky for having your family, health and intellect, that would work.
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SteakNPotatoes
Guest
I suppose the distinction is largely one of semantics here, because I can be “thankful” in the sense of being “pleased and/or relieved” at my good fortune; and in that context no receiving entity is required. Understood that way, “to be thankful” does not have to mean “giving” thanks.
I completely understand that most people think of Thanksgiving as a time to give thanks to God, and when I was Catholic that’s what I did. But since I no longer believe there is an entity out there to receive my gratitude, I choose to be thankful in the alternative sense expressed above, as well as in the sense of giving thanks to those around me and those who came before me.
I completely understand that most people think of Thanksgiving as a time to give thanks to God, and when I was Catholic that’s what I did. But since I no longer believe there is an entity out there to receive my gratitude, I choose to be thankful in the alternative sense expressed above, as well as in the sense of giving thanks to those around me and those who came before me.
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ALLFORHIM
Guest
Hi,
I just received this through e-mails I get called God’s Daily Promises:
Saturday, November 18
This week’s promise: God blesses those who seek after him
What Thanksgiving should be
"How wonderful it is, how pleasant when brothers live together in harmony!
Psalm 133:1 NLT
Fighting historical vandalism
" In an article in Focus on the Family’s Citizen magazine, Douglas Phillips describes how he took his family to Plymouth, Massachusetts, a few years ago and was shocked at what he found. Atop Cole’s Hill, the burial ground for Pilgrims who died that first hard winter, Phillips was startled to see a city truck pull up and men pile out carrying shovels. They told Phillips the city was placing a new monument.
“Most revolutions are staged at night,” Phillips wrote, so he wasn’t surprised the next day to find stone markers all over Plymouth designating Thanksgiving as a day of mourning—a day to recall how the Pilgrims murdered and stole from their Indian neighbors. That afternoon, demonstrators—mostly white college kids—celebrated their victory by defacing the traditional monuments. Plymouth had transformed a tale of religious freedom into a story of genocide.
The historical reality is totally different. While it’s true that later settlers abused the Native Americans, the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians lived together in peace for 50 years. They signed covenants, bought and sold property, and fought against mutual enemies.
The modern obsession with group identity and victimhood encourages us to see those assigned to other groups as our enemies. When we interact with them, we ought to recall the relationship between the Pilgrims and the Indians and model not hostility and hatred but brotherly love. As the psalmist notes, a willingness to get along with others makes for a pleasant and peaceful life.
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Syele
Guest
Sorry you found it offensive, my atheist ex-fieance once toldme that… Came right from an athiest. shrugs He said it was fun to have a party with friends and family and fun to eat desserts etc. etc. And likewise you say you are celebrating it to be with family (fun) and eat pie (yummy) and not for historical meaning.
I missed the part where you personally find deeper meaning in Thanksgiving? Did you mean the part where the one deeper meaning you did find makes you consier not celebrating?
I’m sorry I was not more specific. Memorial day was not a day I consider a Holy Day (holiday) but yet still important. I was thinking Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.
Oh, and don’t worry, I have never claimed to know how to spell or type.
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Micki
Guest
Why should it have just happened?
Why is there something when there could be nothing?
Micki
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kellie
Guest
Hi Eden,
I am from Australia, so don’t celebrate Thanksgiving but it is an interesting question you pose.
I think it is the same for most religious holidays such as Christmas.
Many people, atheists and agnostics and lapsed Christians, all celebrate the day, by being with family, exchanging presents, eating heaps of food, drinking, and generally celebrating life.
I know many people who don’t actually think of Jesus at all when it comes to Christmas, though in the back of their mind they know it is why Christmas exists.
One question for you Americans about Thanksgiving, can you not be thankful for the pilgrims making it to your shores, and founding your country on this day?
Is it a holy day? I always thought it was a day of celebrating the Mayflower arrival. If so, couldn’t this be what the atheists are thankful for?
Oops maybe I need to learn more
I am from Australia, so don’t celebrate Thanksgiving but it is an interesting question you pose.
I think it is the same for most religious holidays such as Christmas.
Many people, atheists and agnostics and lapsed Christians, all celebrate the day, by being with family, exchanging presents, eating heaps of food, drinking, and generally celebrating life.
I know many people who don’t actually think of Jesus at all when it comes to Christmas, though in the back of their mind they know it is why Christmas exists.
One question for you Americans about Thanksgiving, can you not be thankful for the pilgrims making it to your shores, and founding your country on this day?
Is it a holy day? I always thought it was a day of celebrating the Mayflower arrival. If so, couldn’t this be what the atheists are thankful for?
Oops maybe I need to learn more
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Gilbert_Keith
Guest
Thanksgiving?
About every Catholic church in the world celebrates thanksgiving every day of the year. The Catholic daily Mass celebrates the Eucharist (a Greek word for Thanksgiving). That we should have a national day of Thanksgiving makes it the one day of the year that Protestants, Muslims, atheists, etc. get aboard the Catholic train in North America.
About every Catholic church in the world celebrates thanksgiving every day of the year. The Catholic daily Mass celebrates the Eucharist (a Greek word for Thanksgiving). That we should have a national day of Thanksgiving makes it the one day of the year that Protestants, Muslims, atheists, etc. get aboard the Catholic train in North America.
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lizaanne
Guest
Yes - this is much the way my atheist Mom celebrates Christmas. She decks the halls like nobody’s business, and the whole house is to totally festive and beautiful with multiple decorated trees. But she is not a Christian. It’s just a time for her to have fun, celebrate family and friends, and decorate with pretty things.
Christ has nothing to do with it for her. Sadly.
~Liza
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lizaanne
Guest
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