As a firm believer in God, I do understand that it is very abstract and hard to believe at times. My question to you is this: whether theist or atheist, you must believe that in the beginning, something existed. Whether matter in some primitive state or God. Given the extremely delicate nature of our bodies (especially things like our emotions & creativity) and the perfect balance of all things in our universe, is it really easier to believe that everything on our planet and in our universe was created by chance and not a Creator?
2007-07-09 13:20:59 · 26 answers · asked by Bubby 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The universe did not come about by "chance". Matter and energy behave and interact with one another in specific ways. Ways that don't work, don't last long. Ways that do work continue. It's that simple.
2007-07-09 13:29:09 · answer #1 · answered by Scott M 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sorry, but there are plenty of fairly simple scientific explanations as to the beginnings of both the universe, and how life began on this planet. But it is not for that reason that I do not believe in god. I do not believe in it, because I know what it is, and I have no need for it.
Religion was invented by very primitive humans to explain the strange and misunderstood world around them. It is a man made concept.
It served it purpose to those cave dwellers, and should have died out at least 100 years ago. It has no place in a modern, enlightened society.
2007-07-09 21:24:32 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Life wasn't created just by chance. Once the Big Bang occurred the physics of the universe developed and it was favorable for what we call life to start. On this planet, and I believe on others, life developed in ways that were favorable to life. That is what we call evolution. Humans are still evolving and although we are the dominate species on this planet, that doesn't mean we will always be the dominate species. The future looks great and it should be full of surprises. Forget about your belief in a mythical creature and join in the discovery of all that the universe is. Peace to all.
2007-07-09 20:31:26 · answer #3 · answered by Lionheart ® 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Before I answer, I must say I'm not an atheist, I'm a member of an unnamed deistic religion. But from my studies of many scientific theories, it's kind of like having something that is either really hot or really cold, placed in some type of room-temperature environment. Eventually, things start to go out of the extremes, and balance is reached. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, given time and natural processes, things automatically become stable on their own.
2007-07-09 20:31:28 · answer #4 · answered by rokkon 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Personally I believe reality is ultimately mathematics (necessary logical truth) . It only looks like space and time because we see so little of it. Nothing is ever really created. The key here is a powerful selection effect (our existence ) which selects the portion of reality we find ourselves in. Only in very interesting portions of this vast infinite reality could we evolve.
Our understanding of reality is layered. You see the world in terms of large physical objects. But you are aware that those are illusions made up of atoms, and atoms in turn are made of smaller particles. Many believe that these so called "fundamental" particles are not fundamental but are built on a layer of mathematical objects called strings. My belief is that all reality is built upon mathematics and mathematics is what is truly fundamental.
The reason why we see top layers instead of lower layers is due to our inability to see all of the the details in the lower layers.
The reasons for my belief are way too involved to cover here so I will just post a link to something simple enough that you might understand it. I fear my actual reasons are likely to be well beyond your comprehension unless you have a very advanced gaduate physics background.
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0704/0704.0646v1.pdf
As mathematics ( necessary logical truth ) is fundamental and necessary it is not created. Existence simply equals necessary truth. Mathematics "just is" because it is necessary and tautologically simple ( Zero complexity ). But Mathematics does not create reality. Mathematics is reality.
The problem with the design hypothesis is your god needs to be more complex and hence more unlikely than the reality you are attempting to explain. Saying your god just is, still leaves a much bigger question than you had to begin with.
By the way I don't know too many atheists who claim anything was "created by chance". Created by Chance and gods form what is called a false dichotomy logical fallacy.
2007-07-09 20:24:19 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 0⤋
"My question to you is this: whether theist or atheist, you must believe that in the beginning, something existed."
Why? Seriously. I'm not saying it's not the case, but why do you insist that it has to be the case? Even if it's a trillion to one against life taking hold on a planet, the fact that we're debating it shows that the one is possible.
2007-07-09 20:30:55 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
And if I choose to "opt out" of this belief that something existed, how does it negatively impact my life?
What if my answer is simply, "I don't know, and I don't care." Will it make one iota of difference in what I choose to do with my life? Will it determine whether I succeed or fail in the millions of human endeavors I will try, that have nothing to do with the origin of the universe. If I don't know the rules, why do I have to play?
There is an expression... Put first things first. Not many people do this. The origin of the life is about as important in the average person's life as the color of Tonto's feathers.
2007-07-09 20:28:31 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well assumign everything came about by chance is hard to believe. But adding God into that equation complicates things 10 fold. So I choose the easier of the 2 to believe.
2007-07-09 20:27:43 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
I totally agree with this statement: "whether theist or atheist, you must believe that in the beginning, something existed. Whether matter in some primitive state or God"
It's just when I tried to explain it everyone thought I was 5.
2007-07-09 20:24:52 · answer #9 · answered by Andi 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Sorry but your question betrays a profound lack of understanding of the nature of the universe.
Most of it is extremely inhospitable to life. We are lucky enough to live on one of the few oases. Life developed here quite naturally. It's true science has not yet explained abiogenesis but that is one tiny gap. If you look at the natural world in any depth, you will find that it disproves the notion of a benevolent creator.
Most atheists, including myself, used to be believers, by the way. Many of us, including myself, studied for the ministry. The evidence simply does not support the god hypothesis.
2007-07-09 20:26:24 · answer #10 · answered by Mom 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋