How many of you are atheists?

[chestervegasblue]

Openly theistic - Christian (don't attach myself to any particular denomination. Can totally understand the attitude many on here have toward many of those who practice - or claim to practice) - faith but are clearly embracing the bits that suit them and rejecting those who don't comply with their precise views (not to mention committing abhorrent acts in the name of God).

 

[denislawsbackheel]

I believe in some sort of god (dont like the word God) but maybe a force that exists or once existed, the big bang (if it happened) had to be 'created' somehow, there are too many things that science doesnt explain.

You've confused not currently having the technology to test the explanations we have with not having any explanations.

The Big Bang wasn't created, this is a misunderstanding in terms. The Big Bang was the first moment time existed. The flow of time is the thing that demands causality to exist. Without time there is no need for causality and it's very possible for things to exist without being created.

You've also made the mistake of saying that the Big Bang "must have being created" but following your own logic this means that whatever created that "must have being created", and this line continues on until you get a to a point where you must accept that it is possible for something to not have a creator. Once you've accepted this you can apply the same logic to the Big Bang.

Well, how do you know that time didnt exist before the BB ?

I dont know maybe something created itself, I dont think about it too deeply but I just believe there is 'something' and I dont know why I believe that, even if that seems illogical to someone else.

I look at the Universe and I just cant believe that it all came from nothing

I don't think about it too deeply eh?

Says it all really.

 

[hilts]

It's like a goldfish trying to work out the internal combustion engine.
There are many things about the physical world about us that we don't understand , and many things that we have yet to understand , but none of the discoveries and none of the great works of scientists and visionaries from Leonardo da Vinci to Einstein have even come close to demonstrating the existence of a god or a creator or any form of supernatural intervention in the world as we know it.

Science is important and we need people with that mindset to understand our surroundings but simple people like me when they see an apple fall from a tree don't think why is that apple falling down, we just accept it does, what we wonder is where the apple came from, a tree, okay where does the tree come from the earth etc.. and this goes on and on and on

Every answer just leads to another question, everything has an origin so what started it all, this is the point where your head hurts and you just decide it is better to leave it alone

 

[Damocles]

Well, how do you know that time didnt exist before the BB ?

I dont know maybe something created itself, I dont think about it too deeply but I just believe there is 'something' and I dont know why I believe that, even if that seems illogical to someone else.

I look at the Universe and I just cant believe that it all came from nothing

Time doesn't actually exist in the way that we're taught. In fact space doesn't exist in the way that we're taught. There's no easy way to write this so I'll try to be brief and accurate rather than long winded and more explanatory.

If you look at the L shape made by the fingers and thumb of your left hand, you can see two imaginary axes. One stretching across your hand which we'd call the x axis and one stretching up your finger called the y axis. These two axes are known as orthogonal to each other.

Space and time are orthogonal to each other and everything in the Universe travels at the same speed through them. You are travelling now at the speed of light. The only difference is that because you are travelling through space aswell it has to slow you down through the time axis. Think of it as a percent. If you travel 90% of the speed of light through space you can only travel 10% of the speed of light through time, which is what is referred to as time dilation. And vice versa obviously.

Now let's think about the Big Bang. The Big Bang didn't create the fabric of space itself but it is a reasonable assumption to say that it "created" spacetime which is that orthogonal relationship which forms the basis of our Universe. I use the word created very poorly there as it's better to say that spacetime is an emergent property of space at the moment of the Big Bang.

This does make logical sense. "Before" the Big Bang, there could not have being a relationship between space and time as no change occurred which affected our Universe.
What we refer to as "the Big Bang" is really what happens when time and space began that relationship rather than any idea of an explosion or expansion or whatever.

 

[southstander93]

I'd say if anything I'm agnostic. Not a believer myself, but I personally believe its a psychological thing ie if you believe in god, then god is real. Religion is a sort of guidance, people use it to help them through their lives, and if they believe in it strongly enough, god would be 100% real to them. Almost in the same way you make problems for yourself by getting ideas in your head, you start to believe them and they become a problem. Really struggled to explain myself there so hope it makes some sense.

 

[Bodicoteblue]

It's like a goldfish trying to work out the internal combustion engine.
There are many things about the physical world about us that we don't understand , and many things that we have yet to understand , but none of the discoveries and none of the great works of scientists and visionaries from Leonardo da Vinci to Einstein have even come close to demonstrating the existence of a god or a creator or any form of supernatural intervention in the world as we know it.

Science is important and we need people with that mindset to understand our surroundings but simple people like me when they see an apple fall from a tree don't think why is that apple falling down, we just accept it does, what we wonder is where the apple came from, a tree, okay where does the tree come from the earth etc.. and this goes on and on and on

Every answer just leads to another question, everything has an origin so what started it all, this is the point where your head hurts and you just decide it is better to leave it alone

You make a very valid point , but we ask the questions about where the apple or the tree came from - fair questions but again whatever question you ask , the answer will never logically lead you to a deity or creator.
Biology and genetics will give you the answers - logical and rational .
The questions to which we have not got the answers will be answered in time by the advancement and the accumulation of knowledge which will further push back the constraints of ignorance , just as has happened in the past

 

[Damocles]

You will have to be slow with me i'm afraid and you will still probably fail but time flow etc means nothing to me, the universe is there and is tangible but everything has a beginning, absolute nothing is a concept that is hard to get your head around, people think of empty space as nothing but obviously this isn't the case

Not really, that's a very human view of the Universe and quantum physics doesn't really support it.

Why do we think something has to have a beginning? Because otherwise where does it come from?

Why do we think something must come from somewhere? Because we know that cause and effect exists. For every effect (the existence), there must be a cause (the creator).

Why do we think cause and effect exists? Because otherwise it would be possible to receive a message before it was sent.

Why is this a problem? Because information cannot travel faster than the speed of light for the reasons I said earlier - it has to exist in space.

What happens if we were able to travel backwards in time, could we then receive a message before it is sent? Yes but this would just be reversing the problem. It would still need to be created in the past on your personal timeline for you to deliver it for your past self.

So you see that cause and effect, the idea that something must be created before it is received, is actually a function of time itself.

If you throw time out of the window, you throw cause and effect out of the window with it. The Big Bang didn't need a beginning cause because it wasn't an event in time, it was an event that created spacetime

 

[Balti]

I hate any religious **** that tries to tell you how you should live your life

fuck them

cunts

 

[NPBlue]

Atheism is all well and good for those that don't believe 'God' exists, but for a civilised life for all of us, there is nothing wrong with the 10 commandments.

You know, don't nick anything, don't kill anyone, that sort of thing.

It seems OK to me.

If you believe it, you believe it, and if you don't, you don't, but it would be a bit of a pisser if you got to the Pearly Gates and St Peter said 'No way, pal'.

Maybe I'm spreading my bets, but it seems easier to believe in it, and at the end of the day, no one can say the afterlife is bollocks or not.

Many in life will rebuke God and all He stands for, but will still want a white wedding in a church,

I have had a tough time over the last few years, and my belief in God has helped me cope.

It may be rubbish, it may be true, I don't know, but it has helped, and that's good enough for me.

Slag me off all you want, but I won't change my belief.

I don't care if it's irrational, maybe it is, but I have drawn a great deal of comfort from an inner belief that won't be shaken.

 

[dazdon]

Something from nothing isn't logical in our heads as that's all we know

Didn't some boff set up an experiment in a vacuum where particles just appeared out of nowhere?

<Answering the question I am an atheist, the whold religion thing is completely mad>