The Universe and Big Bang

[pocaracas]

The consciousness slips away into nothingness once the brain is dead. There is nothing beyond the one life we experience here.

wow thats something to look forward to.

Reality doesn't care if you look forward to it or not...

I have a friend that used to be an atheist and these are the questions he started to ask himself and realize.

Will you be able to say you heard there may be a loving God that promises eternal life for all who accept His sacrifice and grace? Then having heard that, will you be able to say you decided to take a long hard look at the for the answer?

Can't understand the second question...

The first, yes, I heard about god. I heard about Allah, I heard about Thor, I heard about Shiva, I heard about Athena, I heard about Jupiter, I heard about the great turtle...
Should I accept them all?
Or look hard at the reality I have in front of me and come to my own realization, because it's obvious that either only one is right, or all are wrong... And all share that human quality of "wishful thinking"...

Have you realized the issue of God is a philosophical issue rather than a scientific one?

LOL.
The existence of an entity is a scientific issue.
True, the belief in that sort of entity does aid in some psychological problems... but that doesn't mean that the entity exists.

Have you asked yourself what is love? Do I have free will? Are some things always wrong? Then aside from the answers to those questions making it at least possible what you’ve heard is true, have you read the Gospels?

Have you read the Vedas? the Egyptian book of the dead? the Qu'ran?
Why should your version of the divine be the one that's right?
What is love?... something very complex I can't answer in a single line, so... you get complex psychological state of fondness towards another human being.
Do I have free will? As far as I can tell, the brain works in a deterministically fashion... mind you, I'm not saying that it does, I'm just saying that based on all the available evidence, there a clear hint towards that conclusion.... so, ultimately, no we don't have free will.... however, in the immense complexity involved in the thinking process, we have the illusion of free will.
Can you honestly say that, given the same set of circumstances, the same prior knowledge, the same physical ability... at any time in your life... would you have acted differently from what you did?
Are some things always wrong?... "2+2=3" is always wrong, unless you redefine 3...so even that can't follow the rule of "always".

Have you read the great (Atheist) existentialist philosophers that raise issues of moral relativism and the hopelessness of atheism?

Reality doesn't give a damn about the individual's hope...

I ask all those things as your answer because according to scripture, we are each responsible to search for the truth. If we decide to be Atheist simply because Penn Jillette (I’m not at all implying this is you) is atheist and he seems cool, we are responsible for that.
BTW, I’m not saying you haven’t done these things, I’m asking you. I'm asking because it’s a path that I’ve found very enlightening.

I didn't decide to be an atheist...
I simply realized that reality is at odds with religion...
And I think reality is better than human wishful thinking.