Finding Answers
By Bob Lafferty

   As human beings, we have the ability to ask questions.  From the simple to the complex, we look around and ask “How?” and “Why?” and “What is the purpose?”  All too often, when the data necessary to create an accurate answer is not available, we formulate one using incorrect information.

   For too long many of the answers man has devised and uses in his everyday activity have stemmed from a reliance on the tenets of religion.  But they are faulty at the base because a belief in God does not produce an accurate answer.  I can say that with total conviction because, as a practicing atheist, I know (not “believe”, “know”) God as an entity, spiritual or physical, does not exist.  Just as elves, trolls or Santa Claus are used to entertain or frighten children, a worshiped god is still offered as an answer to difficult questions for believers of all ages. 

   Although it may have started with primitive man cowering from the sound of thunder, an exploding mountain, or a burning stick, his desire to create a reason for an unexplained occurrence has continued through today.  If he was frightened by it, and couldn’t explain it, he could gain control of his fright by worshiping it.  Today, there has been little change as many look for answers to unexplained phenomena. 

   Let’s begin with the most universal question of all.  Where did we or, better yet, where did the entire universe come from?  Because we believe (wrongly) everything must have a beginning, we trip over the logic problem involving origins.  If the earth, or sky, or the universe had a beginning, something must have been there to create it.  But, what created that which created the earth?  And finally the ultimate puzzle; where did the first thing come from?

   Because physical entities seem to be finite, we need to find something that can be infinite.  So, we ascribe that attribute to a god; one god, several gods, he, she or a creature with many arms, as long as we envision a spiritual being we can believe it has always existed.  And, when we endow it with infinite power over the universe, it can be used as the universal answer.

   Where did we and all around us come from?  God created us.  Why does man suffer?  Because God wills it.  Why is there rain in time to save the crops? It is a gift from God.  Why is Uncle Willie’s cancer in remission?  It is a miracle provided by God.  How easy it is to answer questions when the answer itself cannot be questioned.

   But, returning to the beginning, I am an atheist.  I totally reject the concept that there is any form of spiritual being including a god.  I do not accept this simplistic, universal answer to all difficult questions.  

   Does that keep me up nights, pondering the mysteries of the universe?  Absolutely not.  Let’s begin with the “where did we come from” conundrum.  This is simple to solve as long as we don’t start with an erroneous premise.  It is not necessary that EVERYTHING had to be created.  The religious can believe that a spiritual being can have no beginning.  Rejecting that, I accept that matter and energy has always existed.  It is what everything is made of and it has always been here, in some form or another, constantly in motion, constantly changing.   

   Here scientific explanations take over.  Billions of years ago some of the matter in space came together in a way that caused the big bang which resulted in, among much else, a puny little planet we call “Earth” containing the right components to produce life that evolved into all we are and see today.  How’s that for compacting a myriad of scientific observations into one relatively short sentence?

   There are those who rely on the “intelligent design” myth to counter scientific evidence and bolster their religious beliefs.  How could this complex world exist if it were not produced by some greater intelligence?  We couldn’t possibly have occurred by happenstance, by lucky combination of atom and molecule. 

   That might be true if you could look around and call this world the crowning achievement of some vast intelligence.  But when you list the negative components including natural disasters – hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, droughts, deadly disease – and add the destructive activities of man – wars, genocide, rampant criminal activity – it is difficult to attach any form of intelligence to the result.

   Man himself is the crowning example of imperfection.  To pick at least one of its many faults, let’s look at the human body from a mechanical perspective.  No self-respecting engineer would design a device that holds its lifting apparatus (our arms and hands) atop a series of loosely fitting blocks (our spine).  Had we been properly “designed”, chiropractors would never be needed.  Or as I normally illustrate it, “Anyone who believes the human body is the ultimate product of some greater intelligence should try climbing a flight of stairs using 74 year old knees.”

   So what to believe:  A six day construction project by some infallible spirit a few thousand years or so ago, or a bionetwork that slowly developed over millions of years as activity within the system produced minute changes, natural selection weeding out many that didn’t work and leaving us with what we have today? 

   To accept the former, I would have to believe the “intelligence” that designed the world included the negative aspects either due to a massive streak of cruelty or a desire to leave before the job was done.  If you cling to the religious explanation of creation by a loving God, how do you explain a baby dying in pain from a disease it did nothing to deserve? 

   On the other hand, when you realize that evolution is far from an infallible activity it is possible to understand the existence of all the world’s negative aspects.  The process of natural selection weeds out changes that can’t possibly continue, but does not eliminate many that are detrimental to the world in general and man in particular.  We are the product of tempered chance, and it is chance that explains phenomena harmful to man and threatening to the continued existence of our planet.

   If you only look at the surface, if you only see those things immediately around you, a rock here, a tree there, a cloud floating in the sky, children playing in the park, it is easy to believe the world is an amazingly complex place made up of totally unrelated parts that could only work together as part of some cosmic plan.  But, when you dig a little deeper, the miraculous aspects begin to disappear.

   Using science as your guide you find how closely everything from the smallest rock to the most complex living organism is related.  Everything is made up of the same components: atoms, molecules, elements listed on the periodic table. Narrow the scope down to living organisms and you’ll again find a list of specific building blocks.  Limit the observation to members of the animal kingdom and you find they have similar working anatomical components varying mainly in appearance.

   The basic concepts of religious explanation were devised during the time people still thought the sun orbited the earth and there was no true scientific knowledge of the universe.  And yet those same concepts are being used today by the religious fanatics who refuse to accept scientific proof.  Today, we can see how all things are directly related with a step by step progression from an unstable ball of matter to an earth inhabited by living creatures.

   As humans, it appears that those who rely on religion are willing to accept an illogical answer rather than have an unanswered question.  I would prefer to wait for an answer that does not rely on some mythical being.  Once you brush away the web of myths woven by religion, the facts uncovered by science provide the only reasonable answer.