I'm at a party in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Midway into the party, I’m chatting with the host, a man named Jim. For some reason, the conversation turns to the subject of the universe and how it was created.
A Force Beyond Imagination
My host says it was a spontaneous reaction from a dense, infinitesimally small atom and occurred 13.5 billion years ago. Everything I've ever read confirms his words. I respond, yes, what an incredibly monumental event to have occurred via God or some creator, a powerful force that no one can comprehend.
My host looks at me as if I am daft. He says he doesn't believe in God. I asked him how, then, the Big Bang ever occurred. Where did all the matter that now fills the universe originate? He says, “It doesn't matter. Who cares how it started? It started.”
If we don't care how it started or acknowledge a creator, then we're saying that the universe and everything that we know about it sprang from nothing. Everything from nothing? That is hard to fathom.
A minimum of 800 billion galaxies have been charted, one of which is our galaxy, the Milky Way. The Milky Way is saucer-shaped and more significant than the average galaxy. Our solar system is on the outer rim of the Milky Way, with the eight planets revolving around our star, the “Sun.” The ‘closest’ galaxy to us is Andromeda. In human terms, the galaxies are so vastly distant in space that perhaps nobody can ever venture to another galaxy.
Interpretation is Not Necessarily Truth
Within the Milky Way, travel to even the closest star to our Sun, at the fastest speed at which we can conceive, would take 70,000 years, 140,000 years round trip. Any volunteers?
Whatever or whoever created such a vast universe has to be all-powerful. Everyone on Earth and every creature alive anywhere in the universe all have the same creator or whatever term you care to employ. As such, to me, all religions are simply humankind's interpretation of God, the creation of the universe, and how we are supposed to act and treat one another. God himself is everywhere, for all time.
My host’s assertion, that there is no creator, is shared by multimillion people, primarily on the Left. For them, that we exist among countless stars is enough. They don't question how we got here or who or what is behind it all. They view existence as a random combustion of elements that led to all that we know and all that we are.
It must be great to have such an easy explanation for the existence of the universe and to easily downplay overwhelming evidence of a creator. For Jim, questions about the origins of the universe, where life began, and such are of no concern.
No Guiding Hand? Unlikely
Jim has a college degree and at least one advanced degree. He is doing well in his profession, his house and yard are sparkling, and the friends at the party are all educated. Most appear to be healthy and happy. So, he is content, never probing further into our existence's quintessential questions.
Personally, I cannot for a pico-second believe that the universe originated with no guiding hand, via spontaneous chemical reactions. The majesty of how the Earth was formed, our solar system, our galaxy, and the +800 billion other galaxies all but preclude that creation was random.
If it was a chemical reaction, why 13.5 billion years ago and not 20 billion years ago? Why did it unfold in the way that it did? How long will the universe last? If it will endure infinitely long, is that a random phenomenon? I doubt it.
Scientists in Awe
Upwards of 85% of scientists are religious for a reason. In general, scientists tend to be more religious than others. What would prompt them, who are steeped in the scientific method and who fight for objectivity every day, to have a strong belief in God? Should we not take our cues from them?
I didn’t tell Jim about the scientists, knowing that he would find a way to diminish that statistic. Concurrently, I don't base my belief in a supreme being on the opinions of others. For me, no other explanation makes sense about the origin of the universe, why it is so vast, and why it will probably exist for eternity.
We’ll likely never understand even a fraction of its mechanisms, because God, who created all, is more powerful than anyone can possibly imagine.