pmstacker said:
Now given all this i dont know why scientists dont believe in god or why believing in science is mutually exclusive from beleving in god, if anything it should reinforce gods existance cause nothing as beautiful as the rules that govern the universe and what we physically see (including the gold and silver that we keep under our beds) could just be random, understanding the how is a scientists job and how the universe began is well in the realm of science , so we shouldn't scoff at theories such as the big bang cause there is proof of the big bang in our universe right now via many phenomena. However answering the why our universe was created or why we are here is not scientists job, its the job of faith.
And no the big bang is a *theory* it isn't fact, fact would be when they say the big bang *law* , such as law of thermodynamics you never heard anyone say the big bang law cause it isnt a fact. Anyone that says its a fact "or has evolved into a fact" misunderstands the word *theory* .
If the laws that govern the universe were changed slightly any which way, then it would not be possible for us to exist. This would mean that God had no choice in the matter, which would rule out his omnipotence, and what is a god if he is not all powerful? The simple explanation of why we are lucky to live in this habitable world is because if it wasn't habitable, we wouldn't be here to witness it.
What in your mind constitutes a 'fact'? Are you saying evolution theory isn't a fact? Are you saying germ theory isn't a fact? As far as I see it, you have two options: You either say that theories are facts until they are proven wrong, or you say that a fact is a truth independant of theory. In the former, accepted theories such as the big bang theory constitute fact, whereas in the latter nothing can be known at all - anything correctly labelled as 'truth' would be a coincidence. You say the law of thermodynamics is a fact, but this can be easily disproven in the latter charge: In order to come such conclusions you must have made an observation of the world through your senses, and/or arrived at logical conclusions - but if 'facts' are truths independent to you, then they are also quite possibly inaccessible through your senses and logic. Thus you cannot say that the law of thermodynamics is fact, because to say so would require a universal understanding.
'God' fits into that same latter category. He is inaccessible through your senses and logic, and must be taken on 'faith' alone, in other words a coincidental access of the truth. He is necessarily 'universal' in knowledge (omniscient) and power (omnipotent). He cannot be understood by me or you logically:
If god is omnipotent, can god lift a rock bigger than he can lift?
If god is the totality of universality, is he also non-existent?
If god is omniscient and omnipotent, and has always been 'as is', then can god understand how it is to be lacking knowledge, foresight or power?
Etc.
These two routes can be summed up as follows: Either you try to make sense of the world, or you decide that it is not worthwhile as it is not possible. Interesting, both rule out god, for the former says that god is incompatible with logical understanding, and the latter says that god is beyond our understanding and therefore anyone who claims to know the mind of god, know the characteristics of god, know that god wanted to write a book for advanced apes and got angry over an apple, or even know the very existence of god, is either a liar or a fool.
But let's go with the former idea, that truths are knowable through observation. How then can we speak of God, something which has not and cannot be empirically observed? Though the application of logic.
The examples cited previously show that god himself is logically impossible. But what caused the universe?:
What caused the universe? God
What caused God? God was not caused, God is 'as is'
If god is 'as is', then so can the universe be 'as is'
Apply Occam's Razor and remove god from the argument, the universe is 'as is'
The burden of proof lies upon the claimnant. If someone claims that god exists, then it is they who must provide evidence to substantiate their claims. Otherwise the Tooth Fairy and unicorns may just as well exist too. Should we have faith in those? Of course not, the reason you accord 'faith' to god is because of what you have been taught or encouraged to believe in your society. If you were born in India, you'd probably have faith in Hindu gods. If you were born in ancient Egypt you might have believed in Osiris, Horus and Isis.
When you fill up the gaps of knowledge with 'faith', then it becomes more a lot more difficult to dig it out again - hence the respect which is granted by the majority of people to looney religious ideologies like when the Pope says to Africans 'AIDS is bad, but not quite as bad as condoms'. That's the kind of dangerous risk you run by assuming faith is a virtue in lieu of knowledge.
Science can answer the 'why' just as it can answer the 'how'. For instance if I starve myself I'll start getting stomach pains, and I understand why that happens through facts.
Why do natural disasters occur? Again, we understand why through facts.
Why do people suffer? Well if you put your hand near that flame, of course it might burn you.
Why is there suffering? Because we don't have all the facts yet, and instead religions are formed to explain the world and propose things like wearing a mandatory cloth bag over your head and say it's for their wellbeing.
Why are we here? It's an incomprehensible question, like how hot is blue?
Adding god does nothing to solve the 'whys' and gives god a rather repugnant personality.
Why does god exist? Don't know
Why did god create us? Because he wanted playthings to love and praise him eternally
Why does god allow suffering? He's testing us
Why does god allow people to experience hell? Because his desire to be loved and praised eternally exceeded that of his concerns for the possibility of his playthings experiencing hell
Why does god love us? Because we satisfy his jealous desire to be praised eternally
Why does god cause natural disasters which kill millions of innocent people? God works in mysterious ways
Why does god work in mysterious ways? Don't know