Atheist question... atheists only?

Question

So, I too am an atheist. But something has really gathered my nerves

lately. Ive always had a clear crystallized and confident view there was

no god, but recently I've been somewhat open to the idea. I don't like

it, I know inside me that there is no god, but why do I get the lingering

feeling that he just may exist? The ONLY reason this has been

evolving inside me is because I cannot begin to figure out how the

universe began. There is no good explanation, god doesn't explain it

(where did he come from (christians say he was always there, but

then I could say so was the universe)), the big bang doesnt explain

it... it just makes so much more sense for the universe to be full of

nothing, or, not exist at all.


Please help me out of my mental funk.

Answer 1

Ok, matter and energy cannot be destroyed. Matter can become energy, and energy can become matter. For all eternity, the matter and energy in the universe has been expanding, then contracting; expanding and contracting, becoming universe after universe. Each time, the universe is different, it can't possibly expand the same way twice. And, like the saying about a million monkeys with a million typewriters typing for a million years will eventually type Hamlet, we are the universe's Hamlet. Maybe it happened before, I'm sure it did with an infinite number of universes before this one, and I'm sure it'll happen again with an infinite number of universes ahead of us.



Recently physicists discovered that Einstein's "blunder" about dark energy was in fact a reality, and that's what will make the universe one day expand exponentially or contract back to the point of infinite mass. Once it reaches that point, it doesn't explode like the term "big bang" implies, but the pressure from the mass is like a car running over a ketchup packet. I guess matter and energy squirts out to form yet another universe. Like everything else, the universe is cyclical. I hope this helps.

Answer 2

If you haven't read The God Delusion, waste no more time and go out and get it and read it. Alternatively, if you read Letter to a Christian Nation, it is shorter and says lots of the same thing. Ditto, Atheist Universe.



I know it is very confusing to wonder where all this came from and how did it get here, etc, but the fact is that simpler systems do not come from more complex systems. Evolution creates simple systems, from which more complex systems evolve.



So, you ask, if there is a god who created all this, who created that god? The clear answer is that things don't work that way, bc that argument goes on forever!



There are 3 possiblities that are outlined in Atheist Universe. First, as you know, there is mass and there is energy, and these cannot be created or destroyed, only changed from one form to another. This is sometimes called mass-energy.



The 3 possiblities are:



1. mass-energy has never existed



2. nothing existed, and mass-energy came out of that nothing ness



or



3. there has always been mass-energy



We can eliminate the 1st one immediately, since here we all are. The second one violates that pronciple of physics which states that you cannot get something from nothing. So we are left with the truth that there has always been something.



Then you may ask, if the Big Bang started the Universe, what was before the Big Bang? This one is hard to grasp sometimes, bc we tend to think linearly, that things have a biginning and an end. The Universe started with the Big Bang, at which point everything went from a very tiny amount of matter to an explosion of matter outward. What was before that? Scientists think perhaps it was the Big Crunch, in which all matter is falling back toward the center, to explode once again, to be thrust outward again, then to fall back into the tiny point again, and that this has ALWAYS been.



The idea of somethign having existed forever is hard, but think of it this way: a flea cannot understand algebra, through no fault of its own but simply bc its brain is not evolved enough to understand the information. I think that this is the way things are and have always been,. but that it is beyond the capacity of our brains to grasp that thoroughly.



Anyhow, I hope I have helped you out of your mental funk. Really, if you pick up any of these 3 books, you will be hooked, if this topic is of interest to you. It is to me, a lot!



Regards,

Lady Morgana

Answer 3

I do not know the answer to your question.



You're obviously aware that God isn't an acceptable answer for the beginning of the universe. But that doesn't mean you have to have an answer. You should learn about what has been figured out so far, and wherever there is a border on your knowledge that you can't expand, just admit ignorance. Say you don't know, because that's the truth.



Man knows more today about the origins of the universe than he ever has in all his history. Scientists learn more every day. I think this is a problem which people will eventually form a reasonable answer to, but I don't think that answer is available yet. It's okay, in fact, it's honest, to admit when you don't know. That's better than filling in the gaps with unproven entities that don't exist.

Answer 4

You can't say "so was the universe" and be correct, because the universe most likely had a definitive beginning. Matter and energy, on the other hand, could be infinite. Ongoing research on quantum vacuum fluctuations and virtual particles provides some hints as to how this matter and energy might have behaved prior to the Planck epoch. Presently, there is no need for a "god" to explain anything, as that is merely another layer to explain, not an actual answer, but you seem to know this already. It seems you're seeking a level certainty that just isn't possible at this time.

Answer 5

I can't. When you don't have the answer, you don't have the answer - that's all there is to it. But as you said yourself, "God doesn't explain it." So why the temptation to believe? Isn't it more perplexing to picture an existence wherein the first existent being was the most complicated being of all? I'm sure that there's a good, rational, and satisfactory answer to how the universe began. Unfortunately, we don't know it. Keep your fingers crossed, and maybe they'll figure it out in your lifetime. But if not, why resort to an even more unlikely explanation - one that involves adding a being (god) to the universe for whom there is no evidence?

Answer 6

"Ive always had a clear crystallized and confident view there was



no god, but recently I've been somewhat open to the idea. I don't like



it, I know inside me that there is no god, but why do I get the lingering



feeling that he just may exist?"



Because you CANNOT *know* that some kind of God doesn't exist unless you are omniscient. We are all agnostic. Suck it up, dude.



What's with the double spacing? You handing this in for us to grade or something? I give you 6/10.

Answer 7

Well National Geographic would be your friend buddy. There is a documentary called "Birth of the Earth" that explains how everything began; it's rather interesting. The creation of Earth alone is very complex. Even after I watched the video, I saw how the universe required an intelligent design, due to the fact the Earth went through several processes for man to maintain life here. For example: The large Molecular cloud had a small rotation; when it shrank, the rotation speed up. The cloud contracted and the energy from the material flying from space caused the center to heat up. This formed a spinning ball which became our sun. The rest of the cloud was spinning so fast that that it spread out into a vast disk of dusty gas. This was the crater of life; this is the material that would form the Earth and the other planets. How the dust turned into a planet is still unknown.



"Just some facts how the Earth was created..." Several small planets colliding into Earth literally from gravitational pull; the Earth being burned literally, after impinging with other planets; tempestuous violent winds impinging the Earth; high pressure explosions which left trillions of particles floating around space, which later compressed into one great mass over billions of years, which is called the moon; asteroids hitting the Earth a plethora of times which is allegedly responsible for our oceans, and so on... At first, life on Earth was perishable for mankind; After 500 million years of creation, the Earth was no longer horrendous for human life.



By the way, that feeling you have in you is called your conscience. Believe it or not but it's our evidence of God's existence. Accept or reject, but the truth will always be around.

Answer 8

I think its pretty idiotic how some people think they're being some sort of "messenger of god" by telling you to believe on a question where you asked "atheists only" to answer.



Personally, I think it's in human nature to want to believe there is a higher power out there. It's hard to not feel an inkling of self doubt when others believe so absolutely sure that there is a God. I"m not exactly atheist, but I definitely don't believe in a God. It really helps to decide what you believe in every aspect and then stick to it.



Some reasons why I think the majority of hard core Christians are hypocrites:

1. Their God is supposed to be all forgiving, but they're often judgmental and close minded towards those with different beliefs.



2.They quote the Bible, but don't follow half the **** that's in there.



3.Often they mix up their facts, but won't ever admit they're wrong



4.They won't work for what they want because "God will provide for them".



5.The Bible's story basically says the following: A cosmic Jewish Zombie that was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul, that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree . .. . . yeah that makes perfect sense. . .



I'm glad if any of this helped!!!

Answer 9

The bliss of ignorance is knowledge of what to be ignorant of.

No matter how much you know your ignorance will still be far greater.

We all are in the same boat here.

Be honest with yourself and cut your self some slack. We don't know these things and it is ok not to know. Ask your self how necessary is it to know such things. If it is that important to you then buy someone Else's answer. "like God made it all" or make up your own like it all came about because of the sock vortex in the dryer.

A friend of mine died last year and told me " it is interesting dying the things you though were so important are not and the things you though trivial become the most important things in what life you have left". live like you are dying. YOU ARE!

Answer 10

The latest theory is that the universe was originally really hot (the Planck temperature is 10^33 deg K, I think) and then part of it froze and became our universe where temperatures are almost at absolute zero. It's the Big Freeze rather than the Big Bang. Hope that helps.

Answer 11

I don't understand why you're considering God to be an answer to why the universe began when you've acknowledged that doesn't solve the problem. Why not wait until we actually have some evidence, and just acknowledge you don't know until then? Evidence is coming along. Here's an article that just came out yesterday: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081216131106.htm And here's a pretty interesting study from a couple years ago: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060515232747.htm

Answer 12

You're right, science does not have any reasonable explanation of how the universe began. And there ceratinly MIGHT be a God. There is nothing wrong with following your gut and exploring that possibility.



There's nothing wrong with beleiving in God. Most people on earth do. You may identify with athiests because you see the hypocrisy and inconsistancies in religion. But being religious is entirely different than beleiving in, or even knowing and worshiping God. Jesus himself did not like religion and was upset at the way God people's acted because it made God look bad.

Answer 13

You struggle with the origins of time and space is a search for truth and understanding. Did you think that a final answer would be found, let alone that any waits? It is OK to say, I do not know.



Be happy. Happiness needs no cause. The joy of living is a simple pleasure, confused with the joys we want for. I is like fretting why the day is so beautiful, or losing your contentment by wondering at is source to distraction.

Answer 14

Listen:

The most honest answer in the universe is "I don't know."





It is okay to have unanswered questions.

"Not knowing" is better than "believing" in falsehoods.



Perhaps that's meta-agnosticism?



Considering that "God" is defined as "undefinable," in order to believe in it, you'd have to twist yourself into "not knowing what to believe in, BUT believing nonetheless."



...and if "God" does exist, hopefully it will understand-- at a time of "judgment" or whatever-- that you didn't have enough evidence to work with.

Fat chance, of course.



...

I'd say look at the progress of science... it takes work and time to progress. Lots of each.

So then the "be all, end all" answer, "God"-- sometimes even referred to as "alpha and omega," take note-- seems lazy, doesn't it?

...



If I haven't stabilized your instability and left you comfortable there, though:

I guess you might as well go with what I_love_the_bible_and_Jesus said:

Have sex with that Jesus guy.

They say he's good.

Answer 15

That has always been the scientific dilemma. Should we sail over the edge of the earth. Looking through telescope or microscope creates more questions then answers. I also don’t like the big bang theory, and prefer the continuous creation theory. Otherwise just live your life as you see fit.

Answer 16

The field of quantum physics is very difficult to understand, and goes against our intuition.



Just accept that sometimes things just pop into existence - that's how physics work. Either that, or study quantum physics yourself.



Of course, if it was a god, which one was it? Why would anybody think it's one of the thousands that humans made up? And how did he start existing?

Answer 17

Which god?



All because we don't know now, doesn't mean we won't know in the future. Physicists are working right now to find out what started the big bang



If everyone said "goddidit" when they didn't know something, we wouldn't get anywhere now would we?



EDIT:

String theory, Big Bounce theory, Quantum Fluctuations, etc



These are all leading theories of how the Universe [as we know it] began

Answer 18

all reasonable thoughts.... but "god did it all pass the taters" still does not satisy the question..... there are obviously natural laws of the universe but what created them is unknown and will remain that way most likely



I would love to believe in god, but just because i want something does not make it so

Answer 19

Ah, grasshopper, you ask difficult questions! However, if you look at your double-spacing, you will see that your question is chiefly made of nothing. Therefore, grasshopper, I would say that unless you have a substantial question, a substantial answer will not come. If you have a substantial question, you will get substantial answer from...within...

Answer 20

If you can't understand something why would it automatically have to default to the illogical belief that there must be a god?

Answer 21

It's good that you don't have 100% certainty in your beliefs. That's where you start getting into arrogance and fundamentalism. We atheists criticize theists for possessing these characteristics so we don't want to have them too.

Answer 22

It's OK to say I don't the answer, maybe science will find more maybe not, and if god doesn't explain it. Is that a good reason to believe?

Answer 23

Maybe you are not really an atheist as you proclaim but an agnostic

Answer 24

Its possible. I dont think any amound of pondering is going to get you an answer, though, so why go through the exercise?

Answer 25

Keep researching and soul searching(whether you believe in one or not. I wish you happiness.

Answer 26

The big bang theory and evolution does explain it, you need to educate yourself further.

Answer 27

Learn particle physics, quantum mechanics, and understand string theory.

Answer 28

The path of understanding shall begin when you start using single spacing... the universe did not intend us to use double spacing.

Answer 29

I don't know how the Universe works, but then, I don't know how my refrigerator works either...



We don't have to know everything.

Answer 30

Who cares?

Answer 31

I'm sorry, I peaked.



Your feeling God's love. He is The Most Merciful and Oft-Forgiving. Please open up more....God is there. This is his message. Something internal, inside of you, only you can feel.



Peace.

Answer 32

Love Jesus. Let him into your home and under your bed coverlets. Only then will you be saved.