Trash Talking Faith

**warning. the following is a response I made to my cousin's blog about the existence of God; therefore, if you have high blood pressure or heart disease and have difficulty breathing when exposed to others arguing over such topics as God and Politics, please stop reading now.**

--Isn't that like Bush saying that its up to Iraq to prove that it DOESN'T have WMDs? When Iraq couldn't prove that it had nothing, Bush acted on the faith that it did. Look at the harm that has come from it. Look at the injustice that has come from it. I hope no harm or injustice comes to you as a result of faith based on the absence of proof that nothing exists. I have no doubt Vern that you could live the rest of your life having faith in God while really living a fulfilling life. I, on the other hand, would rather live a fulfilling life free of assumptions about anything. I'd argue that this is a more hopeful approach to life.

I don't think that the existence of God could ever be disproved. There will always be "the unknown". The faithful can point to it and say, "See, the only explanation must be god." As if a single word like "God" is ever enough to explain something as vast as that which is not known.

Just because we have a hard time conceptualizing something existing without a creator doesn't mean that it had one. The only conclusion we can come to is that our intelligence is limited. We can see only so much. The question "what caused the big bang" is a presumptious question. It assumes that there was something which caused it, that we just don't know what it is. In the short term, science might explain, in some limited way, what process preceeded the big bang or "caused" it; but in the longer term, we might ask, what was the cause of that?? And then we would ask what caused the thing that caused the thing that caused the big bang?? There is no end to the questions. Even if god existed, wouldn't we ask where he came from? Who made him? We are never satisfied not knowing everything. I think that its the biggest lie science fosters--that we can really know things. Yes we can know facts about things; like where a comet is headed, how bright it is, what it is made of, etc-- but these are souless facts. Since we cannot really experience a comet by entering into it, feeling it, hearing it, seeing all of the properties of its elements, and they ways those elements are dynamic, we cannot really say that we know anything about it.

I took an astronomy class and learned that the most up to date scientific understanding of the big bang is that it was followed by an expanding universe, which might eventually slow down and start contracting. Sooner or later something called a "big crunch" could occur, which would either mean the end of everything; or, as most agree, spark another big bang. The big bang-big crunch cycle would continue forever. No beginning or end could ever be identified... in other words--the universe would be infinite.

We see signs of infinite/the cycle all around us in the shape of a circle. This is the predominate shape of the universe and its myriad galaxies, stars, planets, etc. If anything, this speaks to something other than a single beginning to all things and a single planner of that beginning. This understanding should affect our beliefs and morals more than assumptions like, "if it exists, it must have been made by something." Furthermore, we are a bit cocky for thinking that whatever might have made the universe was in any way like us. We just learn how to flush poo down a drain or gain flight with our man-made contraptions and we proclaim that the entire universe exists because of someone that looks and acts like us.

Your questions:
1) What caused the big bang?
Where did all the matter in the universe come from?
Scientists have pretty detailed answers for these questions--ranging from pretty factual/scientific, to purely theoretical, but look into it and you'll see.
2) How does science explain the spirit/soul/consciousness?
Just because you refuse to believe that a human being could only consist of chemicals and other matter, as well as electrical impulses doesn't mean that there must be a soul. Basically, we're extremely complicated organisms. We shouldn't believe that something exists (soul) just because we can't fully grasp the complexity of what does exist (the human body/mind).

I don't believe in god but I am a moral person. I would not cheat on my spouse because I would love her, and I would also understand that she is just like me, and I would feel bad if she was hurt...her pain would be my pain. The understanding that we are all in this together--you could say that we are all running around blind, making mistakes, feeling pain, finding comfort and pleasure in each other...but we're all pretty clueless relatively speaking--this understanding fosters immense sympathy for fellow human beings...we see ourselves as largely innocent...we find that our greatest hope for being happy is in being courageous, living energetically, and especially helping each other...giving to each other. This is what morality can be based on, this "all in it together" thing. Not some "mind fuck" called faith, in which we metaphorically stare up out of our cages hoping that some day we will be let free. I don't need an imaginary friend or parent (god) to feel secure. I don't need to imagine a heaven or a hell to behave.

You said that belief and faith are not at all bad. I say tell that to the people who drank the poisoned punch. Tell that to those who keep expecting some divine UFO to arrive and take away the chosen ones. Tell that to the Branch Davidians. How about Terrorists? What about the millions of people each day who live in guilt and fear of punishment because they "fornicated"? What about the millions of women throughout history who lived their lives as sex-slaves and slaves to their families because they were fulfilling their roles in accordance with their faith? You may say that these are extreme cases, or that the evil which occured cannot be blamed on faith, but I disagree. Faith--the shutting down of the mind--is to blame for allowing these people and others to throw away their lives.

Vern, I'm ranting and arguing so strongly because my uncles, aunts, mom, sister, cousins, and so many others let this thing called faith control their lives, and I don't believe that that is at all helpful. Anyway, thanks for the good blog. More later, I'm sure. Josh