Okay Intelligent Designers, and out-in-the-open Creationists, here's a challenge. You say that science can't explain where the universe came from. You say it can't possibly have come from nothing. You say that God made everything. It's written in the Bible: God created the heavens and the earth and all life in six days, and rested on the seventh. We, as atheists, as so-called 'believers in the religion of science' cannot explain the origins of the universe, and therefore you look down on us and tell us that we are wrong. So my challenge to you is this:

You say that God did it. Fair enough. How did he do it?

That's right, not who, but how. You say that God made everything. So tell us how. Did he create each atom one by one and stick them all together? Did he get a big box of stars and suns and shake them out into space? At some point in time there was no universe. So if God made it, he must have started with nothing, and made it from nothing. How is that possible?

If scientists can't explain it, but the Bible can, then let anyone who is a Bible scholar, and who also knows his science, explain how God made the universe. Because if you can't, then you have as much knowledge of the origins of the universe as the rest of us.

Will the first Creationist ever to openly admit that he doesn't actually know please step forward. Then can we finally all agree, theists and atheists, that we simply do not know where the universe came from? Atheists are never afraid to say that we don't know. Only when you admit to not knowing the answers can you work to find the explanations, the answers that we all want to know.

But if you know it all already, if you know that God made everything we see around us, then all you need to do is share the information with us: how did he do it?

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Footnote: Don't think the universe can come from nothing? Welcome to Vacuum Fluctuations.

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Footnote: The idea for this question came from two sources. The first, and most obvious, is the relentless Christian insistence that scientists cannot explain where the original matter/energy came from which gave rise to the universe in the process we call the Big Bang Theory. The second was an interview of Richard Dawkins conducted by Bill O'Reilly, which I've blogged about before (15 June 2007). I've attached the interview video again, but here is the relevant part of the conversation:

O'Reilly: I'm throwing in with Jesus rather than throwing in with you guys, because you guys can't tell me how it all got here. You guys don't know.

Dawkins: We're working on it.

O'Reilly: When you get it, maybe I'll listen.

O'Reilly was so proud of that come-back that he related his 'victory' in other interviews, and wrote about it in his own blog column. But he is as clueless as anyone, and furthermore he completely misses the point.

Dawkins asserts that scientific principles are behind the origins of the universe, but we don't know how, hence 'we're working on it'. O'Reilly thinks that God/Jesus did it... but that is not how, that is who. Christians have no more knowledge than scientists, and God is no more an answer to 'how did the universe get here?' than it is to 'what is the capital city of Spain?'. It's the answer to an entirely different question. Putting it another way, I could pose the question 'how do you bake a loaf of bread?' But what kind of a non-answer is 'the baker did it'?

Science is not looking for a creator, it is looking for an explanation. In science these explanations are known as theories. We are, indeed, working on it.

This is a follow-on from yesterday's article, 'The drug of religion' (so please read the other post first if you've just arrived). I mentioned in it that religion can give people positive benefits. The important question is: as an atheist can you live happily without those apparent benefits? To determine that, we need to look at some of the things that religion has to offer.

Last thing first - the after-life. As an atheist, you're not going to get one. Is your life unfulfilled because you do not have this blissful state of ever-lasting wonder to look forward to? Of course the flip side is that you might end up in Hell if the stories are true, but again, as an atheist that shouldn't really worry you. In fact, not having to prove anything to God, that you are worthy of going up rather than down, should be a great relief to most people. The pressure is off. Everybody makes mistakes, but you can deal with them while you're here, and put them behind you. Nobody is going to write down your indiscretions in a book and read them back to you later, and there's no need to worry that you've not been devout enough in your worship of God. Remember also that nobody has yet given a solid definition of what happens in the after-life (the Bible certainly doesn't), so if you don't know what it is how can you miss it?

Purpose. Religious people worship God. They glorify an invisible man and spend a lot of time doing so. In return they expect a reward - their place in Heaven, presumably where they will spend a billion more years kneeling and praising and generally being subservient. Atheists have no purpose but their own. We attach meaning to things which are important to us. You may feel that your purpose in life was to raise your children. Equally, you may be quite happy striving to eat as much pizza as possible before you die. Those of us in developed countries have far more time to devote to leisure activities than our ancestors, so we don't have to spend every waking hour working ourselves into the ground. We can enjoy life in whatever way we choose. And to a certain extent many of us can choose work which, by and large, we enjoy. Such a life has meaning. Your personal goals may not match my own, but they are just as important to you as the meaning I'm currently attaching to my own life (part of which is writing this blog for like-minded atheists). There is no single answer. No purpose. It's all truly relative, individual and personal. We don't need religion to give us a purpose in life.

Love. A tricky one. Some Christians feel the love of Jesus flowing through them while they praise him, and get a genuine psychological 'high' from the experience, often heightened in their place of worship. But that kind of love is easily replaced with love for your family, your partner, your friends, even your pets (have you seen my dogs? I love 'em to bits!). Remember the feelings that you had the first time you kissed your partner. Or the emotions at the birth of your child. That's love, and it's love which is as strong as any love a Christian or Muslim has for their God. You don't need to be in a crazy, trance-like state every Sunday to appreciate that. The rarer the high points are, the more precious they will become. Quality rather than quantity. Atheists can give and receive just as much love as those who have religion.

Friendship and companionship. Churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, all bring together like-minded people in a place where they can share a common belief, a common goal. When you have the support of others you naturally feel stronger. How can atheists replace that community spirit? A simple, and perhaps obvious answer is to make friends and have a variety of interests. You might enjoy sports, or dancing, or board games, or yoga, or painting. You could meet people who study the same subject at college or night school, take a cookery class, volunteer to hand out soup to the homeless, become a member of a parents association at the local school, join a political party. I could list thousands of activities and opportunities where people to are able make friends and form relationships, either close or casual, with others who share similar interests. You don't need religion to become part of a community, or indeed part of many different and varied communities.

Charity. No doubt about it, religion is well known for collecting money on behalf of charitable causes. Often, I might add, in return for 'brand placement' of their particular type of religion. Very few churches will donate time, money and resources anonymously and discretely - it's usually 'help provided by God'. Atheists, on the other hand, are just as happy to donate to worthy causes, but unlikely to deliver a speech about secularism when they do so. Only when religion is involved are strings attached - remember that some churches have notoriously refused to help in non-Christian countries unless they are allowed to proselytise at the same time. Atheists also refuse to donate to self-serving churches who simply want to pay for more churches, rather than help those in genuine need. Finally, atheists are charitable not because a pastor told them, not because a TV evangelist sold them a promise of salvation in return for money, but because charity and generosity are characteristics of all human beings, and helping others is simply a good thing to do.

The ability to question everything. Why should this go away if you're an atheist? Not believing in God should not take away your ability to think for yourself, to question everything, to put your trust only where there is sound evidence, to be sceptical. Hmm. Did I just say 'not take it away'? Did I also mention that if you are a 'person of faith' that is exactly what is taken away from you? When was the last time you heard a Muslim say, 'well actually, that part of the Qur'an is not relevant in our modern society and I disagree with it'? How many Catholics will say, 'I think the Pope is wrong - the wide-spread use of condoms would be beneficial in preventing disease in African nations'?

So we're one up on religion there. We can think freely, unrestricted by dogma. The holy books say 'it is so' and their sole reason is 'God said it'. Moreover, the words are not subject to questioning, and certainly cannot be changed. Atheists can agree with the (relatively few) good teachings of the Bible, fair enough, but we can equally easily point to outdated, useless stories which in our modern lives are meaningless or indeed offensive and immoral. We can question old values and develop new ways of living. Morals and ethics change as societies change. In short, without religion we can ask more questions, find new answers, and become better people.

This was not a comprehensive list by any means, but whatever perceived advantages there may be in being part of a religion, being part of no religion can provide equally fulfilling substitutes. Atheists can and do live good, happy, meaningful lives. Being an atheist is most definitely enough.