Now that I have your attention - Lol.

Where did we come from? Why are we hear? Where are we going?

Sound familiar?

I have been a regular member and Poster on this site for the past month. I have enjoyed it a great deal - although it can be distracting from ones professional work obligations. :) (Not Retired)

Who am I?

Raised LDS, served mission, BA, JD, LLM, temple marriage, divorced, 2 awesome grown boys, remarried to a liberal Mormon. Haven't been to church for 15 plus years, except to attend some
ceremonial ordinances.

Where did we come from?

I do not know what caused the Big Bang, but science tells us that the universe has been expanding and accelerating, since the time of singularity. The expansion and acceleration is easily measured, there is no argument about that. We know there was a singularity, because the cosmic radiation is equally dispersed throughout the observable universe. There are arguments that 'nothing' is inherently unstable, thus necessitating the Big Bang. I do not know what, why, or how this occurred, but there is little dispute about when it occurred. Perhaps the universe is part of an infinite cycle of expansion and contraction.

I do not know how or why life began, but we know that it began as a single cell organism, and has been evolving since that time. We do not know whether that single cell organism arose from lightning, a sea vent, an asteroid, or some other source. I do not believe it came from God for one simple compelling reason. God could not have come from nowhere and he/she could not create him or her self. This naturally raises the question as to where matter, elements, energy, etc., came from? The best answer I can give is that it seems much more plausible to me that these materials always existed as part of nature, rather than the leap that God always existed.

Why are we here?

As much as it pains me, I do not believe there is any reason why we are here, other than we are an accident of nature. It pains me to believe that, because I thoroughly enjoy being in the company of family and friends, and would never want those relationships to end. It is impossible for us to fathom nothingness or oblivion, because we have never experienced it, and if we had, we can't remember it.

But, we are here now. Each of us has the choice to assign whatever meaning and value we choose, with this one life that we have. This has been a personal challenge for me. But, we are all inextricably linked to each other. We are all made up of stardust. There is incredible beauty in nature and people and experiences.

Where are we going?

It is somewhat fitting that I am writing this Post on Easter Sunday, the day set aside to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and eternal life. I do not believe there was a Jesus Christ, who was the Son of God, for the same reason I do not believe in God. But, there are other reasons as well.

There are many parallels to the Joseph Smith story and the Jesus Christ story. Joseph Smith claimed to have seen Moroni, God, Jesus, Peter, James, John, Elias and numerous other heavenly visitors. The 11 witnesses to the Book of Mormon have all been debunked. These were contemporary eyewitnesses, first person accounts, journals, diaries, etc.

There are no eyewitnesses or contemporary accounts of Jesus. It is irrelevant whether he was an actual historical figure if he wasn't the Son of God. Assume for a minute that you were raised by very educated parents who were atheists, and you had never been exposed to Christianity until your 18th birthday. You are then told the Joseph Smith story, followed by the Jesus Christ story.

Would you believe either of them? The Joseph Smith story has you believing in angels and visits from God and Jesus, but they will never let you see the Golden Plates.

The Jesus Christ story has you believing in virgin births and rising from the dead.

Which of these stories is more fantastic? Both - it is a dead tie. Would you really believe either story had you not been taught from an early age?

I don't believe we are going anywhere except back into the universe from whence we came.

With that being said, I welcome all responses.

I am an agtheist - somewhere between an agnostic and an atheist.

If existence is infinite, infinite copies of our finite selves have existed/do exist/will exist throughout. But to me that's more "interesting" than comforting ... and maybe a little creepy, too.

I am glad tomorrow is Monday and I will be back at work.

Thinking about these things too much will make you crazy mad.

I’ll take a swing at this one.

It seems logical the first life in the universe evolved from the simplest form conceivable to ever increasingly complex forms. It may have begun on some distant planet billions or even trillions of years ago. Time, like space is infinite even though they say the universe is only about 13 billion years old.

Evolution makes more sense than creation as the original source of life in the universe for the reason you stated: God (the first god) had to evolve.

For me the only logical position is “undecided”, “agnostic” or”open minded skeptic." We just don’t know where, how or when life originated. Anything is possible, even the possibility that there may be some life form in the universe that has evolved to the point of achieving mastery over the laws of the universe. God possible? Until we have more evidence there is no way to know.

We as humans are making scientific break troughs at warp speed. If able to continue advancing, barring some great destruction or return to the dark ages, it is difficult to imagine where we might be in a thousand or ten thousand years in the future. Is it possible that we may be the product of both evolution and DNA experimentation (intelligent design)?

I have not ruled out the possibility that the mind is separate from the brain. The research is fascinating. Consciousness might be eternal.

You trip me out. We need to figure out a way to do a group hug.

"I don't believe in God, because I don't beleive in Mother Goose."

You don't believe in Mother Goose? Horrors.

You are here for personal reasons, same as everyone else. In other words, you meant to be here. That's hardly an accident.

The world isn't going to plunge into a new dark age. There's a natural cycle to things, a 26 thousand year cycle of the ages. The Kali Yuga is on its way out and we're headed into a bright future.

The world is on the verge of real breakthroughs in science. It's all coming together because we are here. All of us having our own little part in a planetary awakening. You wouldn't have missed it for the universe.

Why am I here? My parents had sex.

Where did I come from? See above.

Where am I going? To ground or maybe a nice urn. Haven't decided.

And for those Bible thumpers planning on going to the big party in Heaven I would ask to clarify this:


Genesis 3:19 (King James Version): In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Beware of the big dust bin in the sky, kids. And run like hell if you see a Celestial Vacuum cleaner. That's what Black Holes are . . . :)


On Friday as we were leaving work I wished everyone that they would get resurrected. They loved it, laughed. I like working with non-Mormons.

The root of it all happened a couple billion years back it's pure shithouse luck we exist. On a personal level I am here because a 14 year old school girl fell in love with a man 5 years her senior and got knocked up...and then I got adopted by a couple wonderful people and grew up not being forced to give shit about a soul sucking construct masquerading as a church.

The reason that I'm here is that I'm not all there.

I'd categorize myself as an existential Christian. Why do you think you're here? What do you think about the possibility of an after life? Why are you an Agathiest? What the fuck do you think Mother (the Gooser) was really teaching?

Seriously, life became better for me what I accepted that different folks would have different versions and interpretations of reality. It was also liberating to know that I never had to be worried about being right. I've been wrong many times--just ask Mrs. Boner. Could I be wrong about Christianity--possibly. Do I worry about it, no. Do I think God cares about my bad language, no. Should I treat my neighbor with dignity and respect, yes!

So, Rebel, welcome to the board, Wanker! Great to have you here. And, keep your head UP high as you post! The Boner.

I haven't been right that many times in my life - so I certainly don't expect to be right on these matters.

It is nice knowing that others torture themselves the same way that I do.

I assume I will get bored Posting sooner or later, like most of us do with new toys.

For now, it is still interesting.

1970s--bachelors and masters...me an old fart. Well, you might get board posting, but there are some amazing people and posts here. And, just when you thing the Morg isn't going to step in it, surprise! Da Bone.

1985