Atheists are curious types. Let's take the strong view of athiests, those asserting that no deity exists. (The link also discusses the weak form - more-or-less agnosticism.) How do these folks come to this conclusion? There are a couple of reasons: (1) Having no deity anywhere is rather convenient to one's life style. It gives an excuse or ability to do whatever one wants without regard to primal causes or consequences. (2) There appears to be a wide body of scientific evidence that the traditional views of creation have no credible place in their thinking and beliefs.
Note, we are well beyond any religion, another topic completely, and are moving toward the existence of all that is. Various views of the universe range widely, though mostly these days the "big-bang" theory is the lingua franca of views. This means the universe has been created through a terrific explosion of all matter. It created galaxies and everything else we regard as the material universe. There are serious models giving credence to this idea. These are models. Models are nothing more than devices or structures through which mankind understands phenomena. Since the time of Issac Newton, logical and mathematical models have had extraordinary success explaining the physical world.
Nonetheless, there are foundational questions such as: How did our universe begin? How old is our universe? How did matter come to exist? The big-bang theory addresses the first two of these. The third remains problematic. However, in recent days, i.e. last few decades, cosmologists have produced a theory of everything called M-theory, which asserts that matter must be generated spontaneously from nothingness. Yet, there does seem to be a hypothesis in there of the existence of forces.
But how did matter come to exist? The atheist, strong form, avoids this question completely. I think. Rather they take on faith that matter simply does exist and that science resolves all the other questions. The key word here is "faith." Just as the deist or theist make their stand on faith, so does the atheist. The point is that the atheists have a strong faith in their beliefs just like any Lutheran, Catholic, or Islamist have in theirs. Indeed, atheists have much in common with traditional religions. Maybe that's why they show similar intolerance toward what they regard as "non-believers."
Again... But how did matter come to exist? I don't know. This question is difficult.
Note, we are well beyond any religion, another topic completely, and are moving toward the existence of all that is. Various views of the universe range widely, though mostly these days the "big-bang" theory is the lingua franca of views. This means the universe has been created through a terrific explosion of all matter. It created galaxies and everything else we regard as the material universe. There are serious models giving credence to this idea. These are models. Models are nothing more than devices or structures through which mankind understands phenomena. Since the time of Issac Newton, logical and mathematical models have had extraordinary success explaining the physical world.
Nonetheless, there are foundational questions such as: How did our universe begin? How old is our universe? How did matter come to exist? The big-bang theory addresses the first two of these. The third remains problematic. However, in recent days, i.e. last few decades, cosmologists have produced a theory of everything called M-theory, which asserts that matter must be generated spontaneously from nothingness. Yet, there does seem to be a hypothesis in there of the existence of forces.
But how did matter come to exist? The atheist, strong form, avoids this question completely. I think. Rather they take on faith that matter simply does exist and that science resolves all the other questions. The key word here is "faith." Just as the deist or theist make their stand on faith, so does the atheist. The point is that the atheists have a strong faith in their beliefs just like any Lutheran, Catholic, or Islamist have in theirs. Indeed, atheists have much in common with traditional religions. Maybe that's why they show similar intolerance toward what they regard as "non-believers."
Again... But how did matter come to exist? I don't know. This question is difficult.
Comments
Post a Comment
Please Comment.