[py0alb]

We don't know and neither do you. Therefore any statement of a "belief" of what happened is unjustified and invalid. You're just guessing, so just admit that you're just guessing and we can all agree that you're idiots and move on.

[The Socktor]

God only knows.

[Super Mario 64]

When you think about it, God is a pretty joke guy

[geetar]

Ex nihilo nihil fit.

You can't ask what came before the BB, nothing did.

[miser]

It occured to me to ask why you're asking atheists and not scientists. There's nothing to qualify an atheist to answer your question, and nothing that says that they need to have an answer.

[Chumbaniya]

(Original post by Flying Cookie)
Cause is a human mind's concept. There is no proof that such notion applies in the universe. I believe there is a very good chance that such thing as cause doesn't exist as a fundamental principle on which the universe is based.

For example, we always speak of "nothing", yet our grasp of what this truly means is very poor. Can you give me an example of nothing?

I'm struggling to see what you're getting at here, and it seems to undermine itself. Everything that humans think is a mental concept, so I don't see why pointing this out is a criticism of anything - you go on to mention a 'fundamental principle on which the universe is based' but the idea of complexity being based on fundamental principles is just as much a human fabrication. The very idea of a law of physics is human. If you try to pick at things because they are human concepts, you end up with everything falling to pieces with no chance of putting it back together again. It's a valid point, philosophically, but it's not one that you can make without abandoning physics (or indeed the existence of a physical universe) entirely, and that's a long way from either side's position in this discussion.

You've fallen into a semantic trap when asking for an 'example' of nothing. An example is a 'thing' and by definition 'nothing' is the opposite of that. I can't present you with a thing which is nothing, because that's inherently contradictory. It is, however, as well-defined a concept as any other word, and I can think of many more cases where concepts much more complex than 'nothing' are without examples and yet are perfectly well-defined - numbers which lack a finite mathematical description, for example.

(Original post by miser)
It occured to me to ask why you're asking atheists and not scientists. There's nothing to qualify an atheist to answer your question, and nothing that says that they need to have an answer.

I actually think it's quite flattering that so many theists believe all atheists are expert scientists. It certainly makes me feel better about myself, until I remember how little science I understand.

[Bonnier]

I don't believe the 'big bang' ever happened.

[monk_keys]

The big bang was god exploding.

[Kage]

I'd much prefer to believe in Science which can be somewhat proven, than a god which cannot be proven at all

[Cringe]

We got here by chance, lets face it, we could all be aliens.

[117r]

(Original post by M'Ling)
"In many cultures it is customary to answer that God created the universe out of nothing. But this is mere temporizing. If we wish courageously to pursue the question, we must, of course ask next where God comes from? And if we decide this to be unanswerable, why not save a step and conclude that the universe has always existed?" - Carl Sagan

That sums up a lot of my thinking. WHY CAN'T I MAKE GOOD QUOTES LIKE THAT?? My thoughts tend to be incommunicable drivel...

[gateshipone]

(Original post by Cringe)
We got here by chance, lets face it, we could all be aliens.

Well to any other life form out there we are aliens

[Hype en Ecosse]

The Big Bang happened when God created a celestial chicken tikka masala.

[noobynoo]

What caused the number 3? You might say it was caused by the addition of the number 2 with number 1.

What caused the number 2? You might say it was caused by the addition of the number 1 with itself.

What caused the number 1?

Well, what caused it?

Did GOD cause it?

Was it always there?

What was BEFORE it? Nothing?

But how could something come from nothing?

Maybe some things just ARE. Because they CAN be and it makes sense that they ARE.

If we can't even explain why the number 1 exists how can we expect to understand why the Big Bang exists.

[heyhey922]

(Original post by hopingtobeadentist)
So you don't believe in God, but you believe in the Big Bang. But WHO caused it?

First of all, we who is leading the question a bit, you should be asking what?

And while there isn't too much evidence of what caused it yet (clues here and there) there's even less towards it being done by an all powerful intelligent being. There are many things we didnt know in the past which was filled in by religions as "GOD DID IT". Eventually they were proved wrong.

TLDR: We dont know, doesnt mean God did it

[Slumpy]

(Original post by noobynoo)
What caused the number 3? You might say it was caused by the addition of the number 2 with number 1.

What caused the number 2? You might say it was caused by the addition of the number 1 with itself.

What caused the number 1?

Basically:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peano_axioms

[xXxiKillxXx]

At least religion offers an explanation, Atheism doesn't. You can go on for millions of years debating but the above stands.. Atheism will never be able to explain what the first cause was. Even if they found what caused the big bang, they would have to find out what caused that cause and so on; stuck in an infinite cycle.

[james22]

(Original post by xXxiKillxXx)
At least religion offers an explanation, Atheism doesn't. You can go on for millions of years debating but the above stands.. Atheism will never be able to explain what the first cause was. Even if they found what caused the big bang, they would have to find out what caused that cause and so on; stuck in an infinite cycle.

Religion does not offer a solution because we get to exactly the same problem when we consider what caused God?

[CyclopsRock]

I don't know, but the logical conclusion of 'I don't know' isn't "therefore God".

[xXxiKillxXx]

(Original post by james22)
Religion does not offer a solution because we get to exactly the same problem when we consider what caused God?

If one believes God IS all-knowing, infinite etc, then one also believes that God is not bound by any of the laws of the universe. God hasn't got a cause since God isn't bound by the laws of this universe (which state everything has a cause).