Comments by "June VanDerMark" (@junevandermark952) on "Joe Rogan - Neil deGrasse Tyson "I'm Not an Atheist!!"" video.

I would like to ask Neil if he believes that the multiverse (universe) was created by a god ... or whether he believes as did Stephen Hawking (before he died) that the multiverse) universe always existed. I believe that that question would prove whether or not he believes in the existence of a god. If he doesn't, then he is an Atheist.
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If a scientist is asked the question, “Do you believe that the universe was created,” and the scientist answers, “Yes,” that is not science. That is religion.
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Fred Foot Do you believe that the universe was created?
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Fred Foot Religion is the study of mythical gods. Science is the study of all things other than mythical gods. Please don't confuse the two as being united.
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Fred Foot Do you believe that the universe was created?
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Fred Foot I was raised in a Christian culture, but religion never made any sense to me. I figured that if I was powerful enough to create a universe, suffering would not exist. Otherwise, I could not claim to be perfect, nor could I expect to be worshiped. After years of study of all religions, at the age of 70, I became an Atheist, and now believe as did Stephen Hawking, before he died, that the universe in one form or another, always existed, and that suffering is natural ... no creator involved. I am now 82 years of age, and feel whole just as I am. It’s as probable that my personal consciousness will survive the death of the material body that I inhabit, as it will be that the personal consciousness of an alligator will survive the death of the material body that he or she inhabits. What you believe is your choice.
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Fred Foot Each religious cult, is a branch off a tree of misinformation, that in turn, prides itself as being super-natural information. Without Judaism, there wouldn't be any Catholicism, or Islam, or Protestantism. And before Judaism started the one-god dogma, Jews believed in the existence of many gods. Had we evolved with paws or hooves, neither science, nor religion, would exist. And if as a species, we go extinct, neither science, nor religion will exist ... period ... and the earth will not miss us, even one little bit, as it will continue to do "what comes naturally."
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Fred Foot People fresh out of the caves, didn't understand anything, so they made up stories of gods existing, that rewarded good behavior, and punished bad behavior. Killing their neighbors as heretics, was preached as being good behavior ... according to the gods ... blah, blah, blah. Religion is a mockery of any semblance of common sense.
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Fred Foot Concerning the theology of a supposed afterlife, in the self-serving quests to gain followers, theologians found it necessary to preach fear tactics. If they had, in humility, preached that a god of pure unconditional love exists, that will reward all souls with eternal bliss ... who would have felt a “need” to hear any more words expressed by those theologians? If you want to keep believing that a god exists, that in turn will favor your personal soul with eternal bliss, while punishing other souls for eternity ... that is your choice. It never was my choice, and that is why those teachings never did make any sense to me.
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Fred Foot If you believe that a god created the universe ... you ARE religious. This new-age chatter about being spiritual, but not religious, is nonsense!
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Fred Foot Your bottom "line" is, you want to believe that your soul is superior and sin-free from the perception of the god, while the same "holy" god believes that other souls are evil, and will be punished for eternity. It's an ego thingy.
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Fred Foot If devotees used the word "thoughts" rather than the word "souls" ... I suggest it would sound rather silly, when human animals die, to say "His or her thoughts will either go flying off to heaven ... or to hell ... or to reincarnate." Without the word "soul," there couldn't be any religion. All stories are based on what the soul is thinking, and what the soul is doing, and where the soul came from, and where the soul is going after death of the physical body. Fortunes have been made by theologians who taught that the soul is a gift from God, and that women must never have abortions, because abortions offend God's gift to humanity. Evolution of the soul is a huge seller in religion. It means that your soul is ever upgrading and will hopefully soon make the grade of God's "entire" approval of enlightenment and salvation … or … that in the afterlife something horrible could happen to your soul. If you remove the word "soul" from religion, you will not have anything but ground zero.
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Fred Foot If it was not for cells, that in turn built our bodies, we would not exist. We are simply material beings, with no more importance than plants.
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Fred Foot If the universe always existed, then consciousness in all forms of life always existed. Nothing "spiritual" about it!
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Fred Foot I suggest that all things are natural. Not super-natural. You can't see the wind, but it's natural. You can't see consciousness, but it is also natural.
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Fred Foot Why do you believe that cells turn into chemicals when they lose their ability to be conscious?
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Fred Foot I believe that every form of life is conscious, and when any form of life dies, the energy (which is consciousness) transfers to new forms of life.
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Fred Foot I suggest that consciousness in all form of life is caused by chemical reactions. The chemical reaction in cells, build brains. For instance ... once the brain of the fetus in the womb is completed, the fetus can "think" on its own. It is "conscious." However, if for whatever reason, the brain cells in the fetus dies, the fetus will never become a living, breathing baby. Brain death causes consciousness to leave the brain, but that energy that was in the brain cells, just transfers to other forms of material life ... such as maybe to some fungus, or to a flower, or to a snail. “I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when it’s components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.” Stephen Hawking
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Fred Foot You just didn't approve of my response to your question, and that is not my problem.
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Fred Foot When you refer to subconscious mind, are you not referring to what those in religion call "the soul?" I suggest that when the brain cells die, there isn't any consciousness, sub, or otherwise, as the energy simply goes elsewhere, maybe to a plant, or to the wind.
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Fred Foot Devotees of religions refer to consciousness as being a soul that flies away either to heaven or to hell, or to reincarnate back and forth between earth and other dimensions. I suggest that when brain cells are all dead in any animal, including human animals, the energy goes elsewhere, maybe to cells that grow a new plant, or to the wind that blows ashes away after cremation. As a species that just happened to evolve with fingers, rather than paws, or hooves, we aren't anything special.
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