The Big Bang makes for a chronological event horizon, yes, so we can only hypothesize what happened before or if there even was a before, and if there is a prime movement of the cause-effect chain.

God is not an answer. At very best, it is a label with no established properties. Especially not the first-dad properties that religions appoint God (omnescience, omnibenevolence, etc.)

(If you want to argue a simulated universe, then we can start talking about programmers.)

But where Stephen Hawking posited time only started with the Big Bang (so if there are causes, they'd have to occur on a separate, perpendicular axis of time), where Brian Greene (focusing on string theory and brane cosmology) figures ours is a single universe in a vast foam of them in a higher order manifold, and the intersection of two branes can cause a big bang event which is commonplace within this foam.

But what they figure is the universe we live in was started by natural forces, much the way our star was formed, or this earth. Those who are desperate for a creator deity to worship might try to insist They created the bulk (the foam manifold) but that positions all of life on Earth as infinitessimal and incidental. The depths of our own universe are unfathomable, let alone the countless others that exist alongside us.

[-] petrol_sniff_king 3 points 2 years ago

Religion's contribution was that the universe... began?

[-] uriel238 3 points 2 years ago

It's stll a presumption, and if we were to take Hawking's approach (time started with the big bang, ergo, there's no before in which causes could occur) it still leaves no room for a creator agent. Nothing happens without time.

So how does that work? We don't yet know. It remains a singularity in our models.

But just as science is merely a (pretty darned accurate) model of the mechanics of the world we live in, religion is a mythical narrative of that world, based on tradition, and willfully modified to adapt to political, cultural and technological developments. The real world continues on its own and doesn't care what we think... or if we're around to think about it.

this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2023

496 points (100.0% liked)

Atheism

4457 readers

18 users here now

Community Guide

Archive Today will help you look at paywalled content the way search engines see it.

Statement of Purpose

This is a support and conversation community for people who don't believe in gods.
Superstition hucksters have no reason to subscribe or post here at all.
If you are looking to debate or proselytize, options will be linked lower in the sidebar.

Acceptable

Honest questions or conversations.
Discussions on parenting or advice.
Struggles, frustrations, coming out.
Atheist memes. We can have fun!
News headlines relevant to atheism.

Unacceptable

Depending on severity, you might be warned before adverse action is taken.

Anything against site rules.
Illegal and/or NSFW material.
Troll posts and comments. There will be no attempt to explain what that means.
Leading questions, agenda pushing, or disingenuous attempts to bait members.
Personal attacks or flaming.

Inadvisable

Self promotion or upvote farming.
Excessive shitposting or off-topic discussion.

Application of warnings or bans will be subject to moderator discretion. Feel free to appeal. If changes to the guidelines are necessary, they will be adjusted.

If you vocally harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathizer or a resemblant of a group that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of any other group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you you will be banned on sight.

Provable means able to provide proof to the moderation, and, if necessary, to the community.

 ~ /c/nostupidquestions

If you want your space listed in this sidebar and it is especially relevant to the atheist or skeptic communities, PM DancingPickle and we'll have a look!

Connect with Atheists

Matrix: #atheism:envs.net

Help and Support Links

Streaming Media

This is mostly YouTube at the moment. Podcasts and similar media - especially on federated platforms - may also feature here.

Orgs, Blogs, Zines

Mainstream

Bibliography

Start here...

...proceed here.

Proselytize Religion

Convince an Atheist

From Reddit

As a community with an interest in providing the best resources to its members, the following wiki links are provided as historical reference until we can establish our own.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world