We don't have any evidence for a creator, only myths.  Knowing what we know about a creator (nothing) and what we know about ourselves (storytelling nomads who settled down and developed the scientific method) and knowing what we know SINCE we settled down and developed the scientific method, the lack of evidence for a creator trumps the stories we have of creation.

There is no God.  We made him up.  It makes no sense to essentially say "Just because we made him up doesn't mean there is no God."

I bought big-time into "the Lord moves in mysterious ways" bullshit, which was good enough for a sheltered Catholic boy who did not yet know that parents would sooner see their child die than have them receive blood products, and did not understand that it's perfectly normal for a man to love another man.

Catholics get a lot of grief for not reading their Bible, and that's crap - but I DID find it interesting that in eight years of Catholic grade school we never discussed 1 Corinthians 13:11 ("When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.").  I might have become an atheist even sooner!

In my opinion, it seems the people who are absolutely certain that there is no creator are seeking the same comfort in false certainty that religious people seek, and both extremes are wrong.

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This is just avoidance. You want a "creator" without "God"? Sure, no problem. 4.5 billion years ago, a space ship passed by this area and dumped its garbage. That's us.

So, what have we accomplished? We now have a "creator". We know where we came from. But the same question is still here, as it always will be: who or what created the creator.

It's not "keeping an open mind" to say "I cannot completely discount the idea of a creator". It is, like any religion (which is all this is, wrapped up with a different ribbon), setting up one answer in order to avoid the bigger question(s). "God/the Creator/the Great Pumpkin/aliens from Planet Quuarr did it! Now STOP ASKING."

Total cop out.

Seriously, could anyone here take credit for creating the world, without hanging their head in shame?

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The answer is always the same. If God exists, then the "horrifying" things happen because God MAKES them happen, or God LETS them happen, or God is POWERLESS to PREVENT them from happening. Whichever one we chose, we are fuct.

Then I'll just have to make sure those people know I think they're idiots.

Not as noble a cause, but when you're dealing with idiots...

Cut them some slack, it's not like physics is a required course in public education, but religious teaching usually gets started right away. Watching a show on History chanel that talked about when Copernicus offered his theory of a heliocentric solar system probably 5 other people in all of Europe cared, and at the time he was an astrologer, a job today we don't even take seriously.

One of the less vicious Christian responses on Yahoo said something like, "If Hawking's so clever, can he explain the soul?" Sorry, the what? Show him one, and perhaps he'll think about it.

Too be fair it's not like Hawking isn't dealing with the useen too. Show me a neutrino, show me a black hole.

The answer is always the same. If God exists, then the "horrifying" things happen because God MAKES them happen, or God LETS them happen, or God is POWERLESS to PREVENT them from happening. Whichever one we chose, we are fuct.

If he LETS them happen doesn't that mean we can stop them from happening?

People who have learned the ways of the skeptic who still believe in God do not deserve any "slack".  They've been given their chance and they failed.  Now they're idiots.

And neutrinos and black holes can be reliably and repeatably (wow, repeatably is a word, good guess Kev!) demonstrated to exist.  THAT'S why we "believe" in them.

And neutrinos and black holes can be reliably and repeatably (wow, repeatably is a word, good guess Kev!) demonstrated to exist.  THAT'S why we "believe" in them.

I only said they are as unseen as a soul, you can only "see" their effect on other matter. I'm sure someone demonstrating a soul could show you its effect on other matter too, live body- soul, dead body-no soul.