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I know of no law that requires me to "Either you believe something came from nothing or you believe what exists was created."
I say, I don't know, and that the science on these questions is in a state of flux.
So call the cops on me. You are making yourself look silly by insisting that your "either - or" is real. It's just a choice you have imposed on yourself. Fine, but don't expect me to be motivated by *your* need for binary existential choices.
Are you saying that a middle ground exists between created and not created?
Are you saying that a middle ground exists between created and not created?
If you believe that everything in existence was created, then it's easy to understand why you insist that there must be a creator. The truth is: not everything in the universe was created. I suspect that you don't understand what it means to create something.
Theists just move the question from one level to another. Atheists can't explain where the universe came from. Theists postulate that it came from God, but then that provokes the obvious question of where did God come from? Theists cannot answer that one either, can they?
That time and space have not always existed but now do requires a creator independent of time and space to have created them, otherwise they never come to be.
[quote=nvxplorer;37768968]There was a time when lightning was believed to be God's wrath. As it turns out, those who just knew it wasn't god were correct.[/q
If you see a piece of paper under your vehicle`s wiper blade that someone says is a parking ticket but it turns out to be a flier for a local nail salon, does that mean police don`t exist?
There was a time when lightning was believed to be God's wrath. As it turns out, those who just knew it wasn't god were correct.[/q
If you see a piece of paper under your vehicle`s wiper blade that someone says is a parking ticket but it turns out to be a flier for a local nail salon, does that mean police don`t exist?
There was a time when lightning was believed to be God's wrath. As it turns out, those who just knew it wasn't god were correct.[/q
If you see a piece of paper under your vehicle`s wiper blade that someone says is a parking ticket but it turns out to be a flier for a local nail salon, does that mean police don`t exist?
lol
Was that supposed to be a good analogy?
We already know the police exist. Their existence is not in doubt. Your analogy only points out the fact that eyes can only tell the brain size, shape and color and it's up to the brain to interpret the information, place it in its context and make a call, in the case of your analogy, a simple mistake. A science teacher of mine in high school demonstrated this by holding up an object and asking a student what it was. The student said it was an apple. The teacher tossed it to him and it was a fake apple, wax fruit.
On the surface, a theological explanation for lightning might seem similar, but in fact it's far different. People of olden times weren't being misled by their brains, they were simply assigning a theological explanation to something that actually had a rational, scientific cause, but one they weren't advanced enough to discover.
Science is an ongoing process of education and discovery. There is no doubt in my mind that as humans progress, at some point, how something came from nothing will be fully explained scientifically. Religiously, the same explanation has been put forth for centuries. Religious believers today use the same explanation as humans did centuries ago, despite the fact that we have learned and discovered a huge amount of information since then.
On the other hand, scientists throughout the ages have continuously made new discoveries through research and experimentation. We can scientifically explain things now that could not be explained years and centuries ago and will continue to do so. The best theologians can come up with is that "you must have faith and simply believe (in magic)". I prefer proof and hard evidence. Religion gives you the illusion of control over the universe and your life. Science actually gives you real control. Also religion seems to provoke wars and science does not.
For the record, I do not care if people celebrate Christmas or nothing or put the Nativity in the yard or a snowman. There will always be extremists and activists on both sides who are offended or who force their beliefs on others. I am confident in my belief in science so the religious believers really don't bother me (unless of course, it is someone pushing religious materials on me at my door or on the street).
"But the question of why there was a Big Bang or any quantum particles at all was presumed to lie safely out of scientific bounds, in the realms of philosophy or religion. Now even that assumption is no longer safe, as exemplified by a new book by the cosmologist Lawrence M. Krauss."
Wisconsin inmate James Kaufman filed this suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming as relevant here that prison officials violated his First Amendment rights. He raises three unrelated issues. Of the three, the one that has prompted the issuance of this opinion is his claim that the defendants infringed on his right to practice his religion when they refused to allow him to create an inmate group to study and discuss atheism.
The Supreme Court has recognized atheism as equivalent to a "religion" for purposes of the First Amendment, but that does not make it a religion.
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