Late_Cretaceous

A lot of the people who adhere to the notion that God is holding the protons together will reply to any discussion about nuclear physics with "nobody has seen a gluon" or "nobody has seen the strong force". To which the correct rebuttal is "Well, has anyone ever seen a PROTON asshole?"

Jesus Tap-Dancin' Christ

Actually, yes.

And last I heard, they have discovered gluons. But I may be wrong. Thank gawd that physics is in 45.

Regarding isotope decay: Actually, in most heavy elements, there are too MANY neutrons to be stable. At least, that is what I remember from high school. Ick, I need to talk to my profs today now.

tronvillain

Something that hasn't been pointed out: if one is to give God credit for holding atoms together, shouldn't one give him credit for pushing protons apart as well?

Dr Rick

There's been some excellent replies to the specifics of the question. The inquiry is just one variation of a common fallacious ploy known as argumentum ad ignorantiam, or argument from ignorance.

In other words, "I/we don't understand something, therefore, God did/does it, and so God must exist." Similar reasoning was and has been used to explain plagues (demons instead of germs), earthquakes (divine retribution instead of fault movement), and speciation (creation instead of evolution). The problem isn't just that the god arguments are wrong, but that they also impede further inquiry and advancement. Once you know God is responsible for an event, what's the point of studying it further when you should be praying, instead?

Answer a question with "God did/does it," and you gain nothing that will help you understand and improve the world around us. On the other hand, answer questions about nature with material explanations, and you learn something about the world that may help you manipulate it to your advantage.

No one discovered an antibiotic, built a stronger building, or split an atom by saying "God does it". Naturalistic answers about the forces that hold molecules together will help us better understand the universe; simply saying "God does it" will not.

Rick