"God does not exist": Stephen Hawking

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The story of Stephen Hawking is a paradox: The 72 years scientist does not believe in miracles ignoring the fact that he is a living miracle himself, as he exceeded the life expectancy of a person with ALS. 

The question of creation has tormented men since we can remember, and traditionally people have attributed to a divine action. Today science has refined the theory of the Big Bang and the Big Bang that originated the universe is more than confirmed. Thanks to the latest advances it is possible to understand exactly what had happened microseconds after, ie, how galaxies and planets were formed. But there is still no definitive answer on what happened before, what or who caused this outbreak and what is their reason for being.

For centuries scientists and philosophers have attempted to unravel these complex questions. The British cosmologist Stephen Hawking is one of the minds that have spent most time and energy devoted to the subject. His approaches and his life accomplishments have made him a star wherever he goes where people make their way to take a selfie at his side, and every sentence he utters is without any doubt a secure media headline. Lately, as a guest of honor of the festival of astrophysics Starmus on the island of Tenerife, his words again caused controversy when he unceremoniously reaffirmed that 'God does not exist', ignoring completely the laws of physics and science that he so much have tried to defend. 

"In the past, before we understood the science it was logical to think that God created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation "he told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. In his most famous work, A Brief History of Time, published in 1988, Hawking suggested that men would only know the "mind of God" when he managed to understand the theory of everything, which consistently seeks to unify the forces that govern the universe. The world famous astrophysicist considered agnostic, as though he could not scientifically prove the existence of a higher divine being, he had never closed the doors to that possibility: He simply believed that the concept of the divine was beyond his knowledge.

In 2010, however, he elaborated that idea in his book The Grand Design, where he declared that the universe came from nothing, spontaneously, as an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics. In short, in his point of view God is not necessary to explain the origin of everything. He has now confirmed his radical stance: "What I meant when I assured my statement about knowing 'the mind of God' was that we would understand all what God would be able to archive if he would now exist. But there is no God. I am an atheist. Religion believes in miracles, but these are not supported by science", he concludes.

That statement is no less paradoxical, because to many he is proof that miracles exist. At age of 21 he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neurodegeneration disease that causes progressive muscle paralysis, the same that caused the anger of the Ice 'bucket challenge'. The doctors gave her two to three years, but miraclely Hawking defied predictions. Today, at 72, he can only move his eyes and cheeks. With those he controls a computer that allow you him communicate through a voice synthesizer. With robotic accent he insists that science is the answer to everything.

According to the scientist science alone is the way to understand the origin and structure of the universe. In fact, right now we are close to achieving this goal, "he adds. Hawking refers to the recent discovery of gravitational waves generated during the creation of the cosmos which confirms the idea of inflation. According to this, after the Big Bang, the universe expanded at a faster rate than light and in the process they may have created other universes, as if it were a pot of boiling water where hundreds of bubbles appear and collide. This position, known as the theory of the multiverse, sheds light on what happened before the big bang.

The British is optimistic, as for him, "there is no aspect of reality beyond the reach of the human mind." Missing all the miracles that is happening around him and scientifically proven but not explained near death experiences or how the mediums have been able to speak with the death...

Incidents of looting show the scale of moral collapse

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Protest against the 2014 World Cup in Sao Paulo. Reuters

Protest against the 2014 World Cup in Sao Paulo. Reuters

There is a disease that has plagued the world for the last hundred years. Lovelessness! This sickness, the result of the imposition of materialist teachings, affects all sections of society. Lovelessness, and the ruthlessness and lack of empathy that result from it lead to moral collapse. The incidents of looting that have taken place in recent months reveal the scale of that moral collapse. People across the world organize lawful or unlawful protests and marches to criticize policies and forms of administration in their own countries and to demand their rights; but acts of looting during such protests are a disgrace.

One example of this disgrace happened in Brazil. People began protesting against the ongoing economic crisis and the Brazilian government’s social policies in the country last June. In particular, the fact that Brazil was to host the World Cup led people to take to the streets. Some Brazilians are of the opinion that it is a mistake for money that should be spent on public services to be spent on World Cup projects instead.  

Major acts of looting took place during these protests. Stores and shops are robbed in broad daylight due to the security void caused by the police going on strike. In an effort to stop the looting, the government is sending troops to the regions involved.  

In fact, these acts of looting are an important example for understanding and exposing the moral collapse across the world. We know that acts of looting have taken place in many countries in the past in conditions of turmoil, when technical facilities are interrupted and security cannot be maintained.

A major electricity outage occurred in America and Canada in 2003. That outage paralyzed life in major cities such as New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Ottawa and Toronto. Acts of looting occurred when security measures failed as the sun set and darkness fell. An even worse and more thought-provoking event happened in the USA in 1977.

On  July 13th, 1977, electricity  in New York went down  for 25 hours; ten minutes after the outage, not a shop remained in the Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn or Harlem that had not been looted. Food, clothing and furniture stores were looted, and the looting went on until power was restored the next day. The damage was put at $1 billion, two people died and more than 3,700 looters were arrested.  

Major looting across the country began in Argentina when the security forces went on strike in 2013. Hundreds of people were injured and the national economy suffered major damage in the looting that began when police in 17 out of 23 cities stopped work. 

Similar events to those in Argentina and Brazil took place in the British capital, London, in 2011. Major disturbances broke out with the killing of a young black British man and several large stores were looted in the ensuing turmoil. Wealthy areas such as Notting Hill and Ealing were looted.  

A different example of moral breakdown occurred in the Philippines last year. Numerous markets and aid organization warehouses were looted in the wake of a typhoon that struck the country in 2013. The interesting thing is that statements about acts of looting expressed irrational and shallow opinions such as these acts being caused by poverty, hunger, lack of water and opportunism.  

Looking at these incidents, a very terrible picture emerges. Countries such as America, Great Britain and Canada are among the few that come to mind when peace, justice, order and security are mentioned; yet public order can disintegrate  when the slightest turmoil or security weakness develops. Adequate military power and advanced technological means certainly do not prevent outcomes in which human values are rejected, such as theft and looting and destruction.

The events taking places in countries where looting is seen are analyzed in the context of cause and effect; there is a seriously mistaken perspective to the effect that such illegal activities are natural in the event of disasters or technical interruptions. Materialist analyses are offered by saying that despair, hunger, lack of water and opportunism cause such incidents and unethical incidents are, knowingly or otherwise, given a legitimate basis but nobody ever says that such illegal activities stem from moral deprivation and lovelessness.

The fact is that God recommends justice, love, compassion, patience and reason. Someone in possession of the moral values of God will never loot property belonging to someone else in times of hunger, thirst or despair. He will not regard the events or turmoil taking place as an opportunity to enrich himself illegally and will not regard property belonging to someone else as legitimate; he will know that this is a great crime in the Sight of God.

What needs to be done is to explain that all mankind has a Creator and that people will be held to account for their deeds after their deaths. Human love will naturally spread in communities that are bound to the love of God, and such unlawful incidents will never take place, no matter how dire the circumstances.