First off atheists don't necessarily believe anything, it's a vague term that simply covers one belief, whether or not someone has a belief in god. It doesn't decide whether someone believes in evolution or the big bang. I'm assuming most do, as that is where all the evidence lies, but there are religious atheists and non-scientific atheists, just so you know.Does everything have a natural cause?
Atheists believe that all cause and effect in the universe has a naturalistic origin. Observational data lead us to the conclusion that the universe first began to exist 13.7 billion years ago. Since all things that begin to exist must have a cause, this means that the universe has a cause. However, a naturalistic cause for the origin of the universe cannot be confirmed observationally. Therefore, atheists believe the tenet that all phenomena have a naturalistic cause based solely upon faith in naturalism.
Rich Deem
So, what many people are suggesting is basically that everything needs a cause for the effect, and since scientists can't say the cause of the universe, we are taking a leap of faith assuming it is not god. First off, that wouldn't solve our problem, we would still need to find the origin of god. That just adds one more unnecessary step to the chain of cause and effect, second off, there are plausible ideas that make more sense than adding supernatural steps (which have NEVER been necessary, and so there is no evidence or logical reason suggesting it is necessary for this). Some ideas suggest the Universe has always been here (at least since the beginning of time, before the universe there could have been no time, and thus to ask what came before it is like asking what is north of the north pole), One idea is that the universe goes through infinite stages of contraction and expansion. BOOM - expansion - contraction - BOOM ...you get the idea. . Some ideas suggest a finite universe, that simply began with the big bang, there was no before and the kick start seems to be unclear, regardless this is where the math and evidence are.
The fact that we don't know does not mean we are blindly believing anything, most scientists will admit they can't point out why the universe began exactly, if it even did. But "You don't know for sure! Therefore GOD!" isn't going to cut it.
Discuss.