I've been in an astronomy class this semester at college and have really enjoyed it. I've learned a ton about stars, galaxies, and the physics behind them. I've visited the observatory (once for points in the class) and looked at the Orion Nebula, Mars, and Saturn. It was awesome. I talked with the professor about Carl Sagan and Cosmos and he seems like a totally awesome guy.
So today we started talking about Cosmology. I knew we would reach this point, where we would discuss the Big Bang and the origins of the universe. Throughout the course he's dictated the age of the universe to be the proper billions of years I've come to expect and readily admitted the limitations of our knowledge in certain aspects. He discussed the progression of our understanding through time and to date has been extremely modest and clear about what we know and don't know.
So here we go. We contract the universe to a single point. We go back billions of years. I knew this day was coming. I'm expecting the rational, modest professor I've heard all year continue this trend.
...And he does. Mostly.
He puts up this comic. It gets a chuckle, and I'm okay with this. It's a quaint admission that the majority of the world thinks this way. He then moves on to describe the Big Bang and its meaning, referencing Plank Time, which is supposedly the farthest backwards in time the current scientific models are accurate (10^-43 seconds after t = 0, by the way).
But then things get a little hairy for me. He discusses how anything before that point is "faith". An irking word choice to me, but true. We don't know; we only know the aftermath. He says something akin to if you want to believe the universe hatched out of an egg or is on a turtle's back, you're welcome to. Again, more humor, and I'm really feeling the Occam's Razor at this point.
He then says he's a devout Christian who believes that this is how the supreme being make it all work. It was short and sweet, but pretty heavy on me. I should say that afterwards he made no more mention of this and discussed the positive evidence for the Big Bang theory.
This all left me very conflicted. On one side, I've lost a lot of respect for this professor who has taught a very enjoyable class. On the other, I know this is too rash of a sentiment for someone who has been so rational this whole time. It's been an ongoing progression since my semi-outspoken atheism that I've respected fewer and fewer people as I find they enjoy sky cake. "How can people compartmentalize their sense and reason so?" I feel a constant need to correct people's terrible misconceptions. I get annoyed at having to maintain societal norms when I want to smack religious people around (mostly verbally).
So now we're getting outside the classroom, here. I know I need to curb my "enthusiasm" ("evangelism", more like it), but the rational me can't stand to see people living in such ignorance. I can't find that line between tolerance and, frankly, bullying. I don't want to be "that atheist guy" that people fear to talk to, and I often fear that's what I've become to some.
Tell me I've judged him too harshly. I want to say that most of the people I know view it as a harmless propagation of love, but isn't that just tolerating the fanatical? I have a hard time enjoying superficial pleasantries when I know my friends have misconceptions on a universal scale. How do I reconcile a religious person and their beliefs?
To date I've been playing what I can only describe as a game at this point. My rule has been to not bring up the topic unless it's brought up before me. ...But I've been feeling like a hyena, waiting to pounce on any utterance of a god or the theological.
I probably have to answer the question myself, but any perspectives would be welcome.
