Has atheism made the world a better place?

[Salus Maior]

You forgot the steady state theory. An omnipotent and eternal God, by nature, has no beginning or end, and therefore exist outside of time or constraints of cause and effect.

why can't the cosmos be eternal on its own?

Because the Cosmos has a beginning point at the Big Bang, which is scientifically confirmed.

[Satuga]

You forgot the steady state theory. An omnipotent and eternal God, by nature, has no beginning or end, and therefore exist outside of time or constraints of cause and effect.

why can't the cosmos be eternal on its own?

The cosmos is constantly expanding therefore it can't be eternal because if it was all the atoms in the universe would have been separated by now, which means the cosmos would just be a space filled with infinite single atoms. Or even totally stretched out to just be quarks or even strange quarks which would be a whole different ball game.

[Sarderia]

Even if there isn't a God, I would not say my time praying is wasted. It's done a lot to help me with my depression and helps me center myself when I need it.

I mean, it's a form of meditation.

That's... not the right way to treat (actual) depression. If you really do have depression, that's a mental health problem, and should be treated by a doctor, not prayers.

Depression, from Depressed: (Merriam-Webster)

1: low in spirits : SAD
especially : affected by psychological depression

2: vertically flattened

That said, a prayer is a form of meditation, a form to somewhat put our problems into the hands of someone who we knew would sort out the best outcome for us (God). If it could give someone assurance in their low spirits, then it could also cure depression that way. In some cases, even going to multiple doctors/therapists still could not help to lift the depressed feeling, whereas prayer, directed to a higher being than we are, could give us a sense of assurance (even if it's a placebo).

TL;DR Prayers are effective for depression.

[Panslav]

why can't the cosmos be eternal on its own?

Because the Cosmos has a beginning point at the Big Bang, which is scientifically confirmed.

Nope. Big Bang is still going on. It just means "expansion of space" (it's actually a term that opposition came up with to make fun of the theory, but it kinda just stuck).

[Panslav]

why can't the cosmos be eternal on its own?

The cosmos is constantly expanding therefore it can't be eternal because if it was all the atoms in the universe would have been separated by now, which means the cosmos would just be a space filled with infinite single atoms. Or even totally stretched out to just be quarks or even strange quarks which would be a whole different ball game.

If it expands right now, doesn't mean it always was/will be.

[Panslav]

And what if I don't think morals are a valid concept? I prefer societal norms (I mean, that's one way to define morals, but then, parental help isn't required for "moral compass", society is).

Quite honestly, your statement here makes no sense. Societal norms are based on the morals of the people making up the society. They can't replace them. That's like asking someone to build a house on top of itself.

And even there, Wider society has fairly little hand in the raising of children. That falls to the parents.

1. Why morals? Why not empathy/principles of humanism/whatever? I suppose you mean "morals" in the sense of religious "morals" aka "good, opposing evil" and not in the sense of "something a certain person considers to be righteous"

2. Public Schools. Let those two words sink in.

[Salus Maior]

Because the Cosmos has a beginning point at the Big Bang, which is scientifically confirmed.

Nope. Big Bang is still going on. It just means "expansion of space" (it's actually a term that opposition came up with to make fun of the theory, but it kinda just stuck).

I'm aware of it, and it has a beginning point, which is the point.

[Panslav]

Nope. Big Bang is still going on. It just means "expansion of space" (it's actually a term that opposition came up with to make fun of the theory, but it kinda just stuck).

I'm aware of it, and it has a beginning point, which is the point.

Big Bang has a beginning. The Cosmos? We don't really know. (and probably never will, probably)

[Salus Maior]

Quite honestly, your statement here makes no sense. Societal norms are based on the morals of the people making up the society. They can't replace them. That's like asking someone to build a house on top of itself.

And even there, Wider society has fairly little hand in the raising of children. That falls to the parents.

1. Why morals? Why not empathy/principles of humanism/whatever? I suppose you mean "morals" in the sense of religious "morals" aka "good, opposing evil" and not in the sense of "something a certain person considers to be righteous"

2. Public Schools. Let those two words sink in.

Religious morality including both concepts already.

[Salus Maior]

I'm aware of it, and it has a beginning point, which is the point.

Big Bang has a beginning. The Cosmos? We don't really know. (and probably never will, probably)

It's not really the "Cosmos" if there's nothing in it. Which there wasn't before the Big Bang.

[The Emerald Legion]

Quite honestly, your statement here makes no sense. Societal norms are based on the morals of the people making up the society. They can't replace them. That's like asking someone to build a house on top of itself.

And even there, Wider society has fairly little hand in the raising of children. That falls to the parents.

1. Why morals? Why not empathy/principles of humanism/whatever? I suppose you mean "morals" in the sense of religious "morals" aka "good, opposing evil" and not in the sense of "something a certain person considers to be righteous"

2. Public Schools. Let those two words sink in.

You would be incorrect in that assumption. I literally mean morals as in the thousands of contradictory personal beliefs of every citizen of every country.

I work in public schools. They are not raising your children for you. They are teaching them how to regurgitate facts on command and perform certain simple mental tasks. A child who got their moral grounding from the public school system would be a terrifying thing indeed.

[Albrenia]

Big Bang has a beginning. The Cosmos? We don't really know. (and probably never will, probably)

It's not really the "Cosmos" if there's nothing in it. Which there wasn't before the Big Bang.

Well, maybe. As far as we can tell the universe was all crammed into one infinitely small and dense speck before it exploded.

Anyway, the universe having a sort of beginning does not prove God in any way. Even assuming the assertion that something must exist outside the universe is true, there are many things besides a divine being that call fill that purpose nicely, such as the multiverse and other things way outside my capacity to fathom.

[Ethel mermania]

why can't the cosmos be eternal on its own?

Because the Cosmos has a beginning point at the Big Bang, which is scientifically confirmed.

No, the big bang is simply the first point they can identify, what if anything came before the big bang no one really has an idea.

[Nogodia]

Because the Cosmos has a beginning point at the Big Bang, which is scientifically confirmed.

No, the big bang is simply the first point they can identify, what if anything came before the big bang no one really has an idea.

A hot, dense mass split apart from other universes?

[Neutraligon]

Nope. Big Bang is still going on. It just means "expansion of space" (it's actually a term that opposition came up with to make fun of the theory, but it kinda just stuck).

I'm aware of it, and it has a beginning point, which is the point.

Except that all the big bang states is that at some point space-time expanded, it says nothing about the state of the universe "before" that point. For all we know a universe has "always" existed.

[Imperial Joseon]

No, the big bang is simply the first point they can identify, what if anything came before the big bang no one really has an idea.

A hot, dense mass split apart from other universes?

There's only one universe, I think.

[Kernen]

A hot, dense mass split apart from other universes?

There's only one universe, I think.

Marvel would like a word with you.

[Imperial Joseon]

There's only one universe, I think.

Marvel would like a word with you.

Not confronting the Superheroes. They'd capture me.

[Neutraligon]

A hot, dense mass split apart from other universes?

There's only one universe, I think.

Depends what is meant by universe, and we can't be sure that there is only one.

[Imperial Joseon]

There's only one universe, I think.

Depends what is meant by universe, and we can't be sure that there is only one.

What does that mean? Are there alternate theories to the origin of the universe?

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

There's only one universe, I think.

Marvel would like a word with you.

Just cross Marvel with DC!

[Neutraligon]

Depends what is meant by universe, and we can't be sure that there is only one.

What does that mean? Are there alternate theories to the origin of the universe?

Does universe men everything that has ever existed even if there where multiple contractions and expansions, or even alternate for lack of better word dimensions that ala marvel or dc but which we cannot access or does it simply mean everything that has existed since a big bang (if there have also been a cycle of bangs). If the later there may be many universes, or something may exist similar to the multiverse where each of the "dimensions" is a universe. As to alternate theories, currently the big bang is the best explanation for the state of the current universe but it does not really explain the origin of all things.

[Imperial Joseon]

What does that mean? Are there alternate theories to the origin of the universe?

Does universe men everything that has ever existed even if there where multiple contractions and expansions, or even alternate for lack of better word dimensions that ala marvel or dc but which we cannot access or does it simply mean everything that has existed since a big bang (if there have also been a cycle of bangs). If the later there may be many universes, or something may exist similar to the multiverse where each of the "dimensions" is a universe. As to alternate theories, currently the big bang is the best explanation for the state of the current universe but it does not really explain the origin of all things.

I understand now. I don't really believe in Big Bang, too, but I never thought of thinking about having multiple universes.

[Neutraligon]

Does universe men everything that has ever existed even if there where multiple contractions and expansions, or even alternate for lack of better word dimensions that ala marvel or dc but which we cannot access or does it simply mean everything that has existed since a big bang (if there have also been a cycle of bangs). If the later there may be many universes, or something may exist similar to the multiverse where each of the "dimensions" is a universe. As to alternate theories, currently the big bang is the best explanation for the state of the current universe but it does not really explain the origin of all things.

I understand now. I don't really believe in Big Bang, too, but I never thought of thinking about having multiple universes.

What do you mean you do not believe in the big bang?
Anyway, like others have said atheism itself cannot make anything better, as atheism is simply not having any go belief. Secularism and skepticism however have both one a great deal to make the world a better place

[Imperial Joseon]

I understand now. I don't really believe in Big Bang, too, but I never thought of thinking about having multiple universes.

What do you mean you do not believe in the big bang?
Anyway, like others have said atheism itself cannot make anything better, as atheism is simply not having any go belief. Secularism and skepticism however have both one a great deal to make the world a better place

I mean, it's just a speculation at best, despite the title of it being the "theory".