Stephen Hawking makes it clear: There is no God   
       
   The physicist explains that science now offers more convincing explanations   
   for existence. He is therefore an atheist.   
       
   by  Chris Matyszczyk   
   @ChrisMatyszczyk   
   September 26, 2014 9:33 AM PDT   
       
   If I were a scientist, I'd stick to the Goldman Sachs principle: bet on both   
   sides.   
       
   "Believe in science, believe in God" seems to cover all the possibilities and   
   gives you the best chance for a cheery afterlife.   
       
   For a time, it was thought that astrophysicist Stephen Hawking had also left a   
   tiny gap in his credo window for a magical deity. However, he has now come out   
   and declared that there is no God.   
       
   He gave an interview to Spain's El Mundo in which he expressed his firm belief   
   that el mundo [the world] was the work of scientifically explainable   
   phenomena, not of a supreme being.   
       
   Hawking said: "Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God   
   created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation."   
       
   I'm not sure whether there was a specific moment in which science overtook the   
   deistic explanation of existence. However, El Mundo pressed him on the   
   suggestion in "A Brief History of Time" that a unifying theory of science   
   would help mankind "know the mind of God."   
       
   Hawking now explained: "What I meant by 'we would know the mind of God' is, we   
   would know everything that God would know, if there were a God. Which there   
   isn't. I'm an atheist."   
       
   He added: "Religion believes in miracles, but these aren't compatible with   
   science."   
       
   Perhaps. But some look at, for example, the human eye and wonder how that   
   exciting ball of jelly could have come about scientifically.   
       
   Hawking's been tending toward such an absolute pronouncement for a while. In a   
   speech last year, he offered an explanation of how the world came to being   
   without God. He mused: "What was God doing before the divine creation? Was he   
   preparing hell for people who asked such questions?"   
       
   I do worry, though, about Hawking's sweetly divine faith in humanity. He told   
   El Mundo: "In my opinion, there is no aspect of reality beyond the reach of   
   the human mind."   
       
   If that's true, the human mind still has to develop exponentially to explain   
   everyday phenomena, such as social networking. And then there's Hawking's   
   insistence that his speech synthesizer, which gives him a curiously   
   American accent, has had this consequence: "With the American accent, I've had   
   far more success with women."   
       
   We definitely need some serious research to explain that.   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- D'Bridge 3.99   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna (1:3828/7)