Comments by "June VanDerMark" (@junevandermark952) on "Why It's So Hard for Scientists to Believe in God? | Francis Collins | Big Think" video.

Until 70 years of age, I tried (in spite of all the suffering) to believe in the existence of a creator. Now that I am 81 years of age, I believe as did Stephen Hawking, (before he died), that the universe always existed ... no creator involved.
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@Angle98411 “I still believe the universe has a beginning in real time, at the big bang. But there’s another kind of time, imaginary time, at right angles to real time, in which the universe has no beginning or end.”—Stephen Hawking Black Holes and Baby Universes.
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@Angle98411 Scientists often contradict each other's theories. Stephen Hawking's theory of the universe not being created, but rather always existing in one form or another, makes sense to me. That way, suffering is natural, not a punishment from an angry creator.
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@Angle98411 Maybe there were many big bangs. I just don't know. But I believe that 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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@Angle98411 “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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This quote came from Stephen Hawking. "In 1985, I attended a conference on cosmology at the Vatican in Rome. The gathering of scientists had an audience with Pope John Paul II. He told us that it was okay to study the workings of the universe, but we should not ask questions about its origin, for that was the work of God."
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@Angle98411 It's too bad you couldn't have debated that subject with Stephen Hawking. But then, maybe his explanation would have gone over your head, just as it would go over mine.
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@Angle98411 When I still believed in the existence of a god, I would not believe that the god could be mean, because if punishment of any souls whatsoever was his goal, then he wouldn't have any right to judge us for punishing each other, as he would be our teacher. The myths are as silly as the men that created the myths.
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@Angle98411 If you had the power to create a universe, would you create souls that you knew ahead of time you were going to send those souls to hell and eternal suffering? Please answer the question.
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@Angle98411 The idea that you not only believe a god exists, but that you know what the god thinks, is a sign that you are certain you are on the same level of knowledge as is the god. If you don't see that as arrogance ... it's because you don't want to see!
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@Angle98411 If you admit that you don't understand "all" of a god's thoughts, then just maybe, even if a god existed, you could be in deep trouble if you misquote the intentions of the god ... right? I don't believe in a god, so if there just happened to be a god waiting to penalize my soul for not believing in it, then I will tell it that had it created a perfect universe, suffering would not exist, and that it should be ashamed of itself. THAT would be true.
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