by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Not Sure. Anyone who expresses a more definitive response to the question is claiming access to knowledge not based on empirical foundations. This remarkably persistent way of thinking, common to most religions and some branches of philosophy, has failed badly in past efforts to understand, and thereby predict the operations of the universe and our place within it.

To assert that the universe has a purpose implies the universe has intent. And intent implies a desired outcome. But who would do the desiring? And what would a desired outcome be? That carbon-based life is inevitable? Or that sentient primates are life’s neurological pinnacle? Are answers to these questions even possible without expressing a profound bias of human sentiment? Of course humans were not around to ask these questions for 99.9999% of cosmic history. So if the purpose of the universe was to create humans then the cosmos was embarrassingly inefficient about it.

And if a further purpose of the universe was to create a fertile cradle for life, then our cosmic environment has got an odd way of showing it. Life on Earth, during more than 3.5 billion years of existence, has been persistently assaulted by natural sources of mayhem, death, and destruction. Ecological devastation exacted by volcanoes, climate change, earthquakes, tsunamis, storms, pestilence, and especially killer asteroids have left extinct 99.9% of all species that have ever lived here.

How about human life itself? If you are religious, you might declare that the purpose of life is to serve God. But if you’re one of the 100 billion bacteria living and working in a single centimeter of our lower intestine (rivaling, by the way, the total number of humans who have ever been born) you would give an entirely different answer. You might instead say that the purpose of human life is to provide you with a dark, but idyllic, anaerobic habitat of fecal matter.

So in the absence of human hubris, and after we filter out the delusional assessments it promotes within us, the universe looks more and more random. Whenever events that are purported to occur in our best interest are as numerous as other events that would just as soon kill us, then intent is hard, if not impossible, to assert. So while I cannot claim to know for sure whether or not the universe has a purpose, the case against it is strong, and visible to anyone who sees the universe as it is rather than as they wish it to be.

One day, all of the world’s famous physicists decided to get together for a party (ok, there were some non-physicists too who crashed the party). Fortunately, the doorman was a grad student, and able to observe some of the guests…

• Everyone gravitated toward Newton, but he…

By adelrossi on October 6, 2011

By: Craig Clearwater

Who do you think the most despised group in America is? Tea Party members? Scientology followers? Justin Bieber fans? Actually, a poll by the University of Minnesota suggests that atheists are pretty high on the list. For example, when Americans were asked whether they would disapprove of a child’s wish to marry an atheist, 47.6% of those interviewed said yes. This is a significantly higher percentage than Muslims (32.5%), blacks (27.2%), Jews (11.5%), conservative Christians (6.9%), and every other people group measured in the study. When Americans were asked which groups did not share their vision of American society, atheists again scored the highest. Consider this exclusionary quote from ex-president George H. W. Bush: “No, I don’t know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God.”

A 2007 USA Today/Gallup poll suggests that 53% of Americans would not vote for an atheist politician who was otherwise well qualified, the highest score among all the people groups measured. Rick Warren, who gave the invocation at the most recent presidential nomination, publicly said, “The only kind of president I don’t think I could vote for would be an atheist.” Can you imagine the backlash if Rick Warren and George W. Bush were talking about Hispanics or gays instead?
Why are atheists so distrusted in the United States? The University of Minnesota study suggests that one of the main reasons is that respondents associated atheists with “immorality” and “criminal behavior.” However, the evidence does not support this stereotype. For example, research suggests that peaceful countries have higher levels of atheism. Iceland is a case in point. Currently, this country holds the number one spot on the Global Peace Index (GPI) and an estimated 72 percent of its inhabitants do not believe in god(s). To put this in perspective, America is currently 8-15 percent atheist and this nation is ranked 83rd on the GPI out of 153 countries.

If anything, atheism is correlated with less criminal activity and if you think about it these findings make sense. When is the last time you heard of an atheist bombing an abortion clinic or flying a plane into a building? When is the last time that atheists have started a war with a group that does not share their viewpoints?

In a nutshell, atheists are too often treated like criminals when their only “crime” is thinking differently than the majority. How is this not an injustice?