Dear Theists, Why Are We Here?

As an atheist, I get asked about the First Cause constantly despite the fact that any theist could just Google it and learn that the First Cause Argument was refuted hundreds of years ago. Not only that, but it has been refuted in multiple different ways. Still, religious believers will question atheists on this and insert their poor interpretation of what an atheist’s answer might be.

Why are we here? Obviously something can’t come from nothing, so therefore atheists must believe that all this is an accident, right? WRONG!

For starters, we don’t actually know that something can’t come from nothing. In fact, we don’t even know what nothing is nothing. Lawrence Krauss has a book about this and it is really worth a theist’s time to check it out. If “nothing” else, you might learn something about why we know what we think we know and how science actually works. Check out A Universe From Nothing.

Second, there is no shame in admitting ignorance. While we know that the Big Bang happened, we don’t know much else. We can say that because space and time are linked, it makes no sense to really talk about a before the universe. Stephen Hawking once described it by asking what is south of the South Pole. Since the South Pole is the most southern location on the planet, one can’t go any further south. The same might be the case with space/time.

But let’s turn this question around on the believer. If God created the universe and God is eternal, what was God doing before he created the universe? And if God is perfect and necessity is the mother of invention, why did God create the universe? Wouldn’t God have been perfectly content to just exist in… a nonexistent universe? Where did God live before there was a universe to live in? Oh, Heaven – right. When did God create that place? Why did he create Heaven? Where did God live before he created Heaven? Did Heaven exist before God? If so, then who created Heaven? If not, then where did God live before he created Heaven? Wasn’t he perfectly content there? Again, if necessity is the mother of all invention and God doesn’t need anything because he is perfect, then why is there anything at all? Why are we here?

Just something for religious believers to think about… have a lovely and rational day. 🙂

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