Sunday 1 March 2009

The Atheist Riddle

While watching the latest Captain Disillusion, there was a pop up for the "Atheist Riddle: So simple, any child can understand, yet so complex, no atheist can solve."

Well, let us see what it is. Click to the site, and the question they present us with is "Where Did the Universe Come From? Was it started by... God?" The best answer I can go with here is "Presuming the universe did come from god, where did god come from? And if god didn't come from anywhere, why can't we use that explanation for the universe and cut out a step?" (The universe is tangible to us, per se, more than god, so we have a harder time accepting a vague answer about it.)

Although this isn't the actual riddle. That's basically "DNA is complex and looks like a language. What language hasn't come from a mind?" While science can explain how a lot of complexity arises naturally (and humans see patterns everywhere and think there is a reason behind it), it doesn't have an answer for everything, and not everyone accepts the answers they have, leading to "god of the gaps" and general denial of reality. As for a discussion of this riddle, see the Rational Response Squad, Ask the Atheist and Talk Origins, just for starters...

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