"If God exists,why is there so much evil?"

"Why are so many Christians hypocrites?"

"Why isn't there more evidence? Why is God so hidden?"

If you are a Christian who is vocal about your faith, you've probably been asked these questions. If you are an atheist, agnostic, or skeptic, you've probably been on the other side of those questions. It is common for religious believers to be in the hotseat when it comes to intellectually justifying their beliefs, but some don't recognize that non-believers also have a fair share of 'splainin to do.

Rest assured, the questions above have good answers, but they shouldn't be the only focus; the skeptic should be in the hotseat too:

1) Why is there something rather than nothing?

The "big bang" has a wealth of scientific evidence confirming it. Belief in the "big bang" requires one to believe that the universe began a finite time ago. Not only is there scientific evidence confirming the big bang, but there are also a number of philosophical reasons for the beginning of the universe (as opposed to a universe that's always existed). But this runs smack dab into atheism--out of nothing, nothing comes. Things don't just pop into existence uncaused. Here we have a limited number of possibilities: either something outside the material universe caused it, or it all came from nothing. Which is more reasonable?

2) What do you mean by something being "good"?

This goes much deeper than the common atheist rallying cry: "you can be good without God." If the material world is all that exists, then the atheist and believer alike might *think* they are acting good, but "good" is without robust meaning. All that exists are preferences, pragmatics, and the herd morality. Upon what basis do you say racism or homophobia is wrong? Not wrong "for you," but wrong, period. What would you say to someone who comes from another culture who holds those things to be good? Is *anything* wrong universally (rape? murder? judging?), and if so, what are you prepared to do to enforce that morality? Why should someone be concerned, on atheism, about obeying the herd morality and following our evolutionary past, especially when he can get away with it and benefit from it personally?

3) Inanimate matter stays that way no matter how complicated the arrangement. Without an immaterial mind, how can consciousness emerge from pure material?

Causally or correlatively linking a brain state to a mental state is not sufficient. You cannot reduce the mental to the physical because the former states possess properties the latter do not. For instance, mental states are first person, whereas brain states are third person.

4) If the physical world is all there is, is there free will?

5) The last one comes from another blogger: if Christ appeared to you and said that He really rose from the dead and is God, how would you respond? Witnesses and tests confirm you weren't dreaming--it was really God! What's next?

Their answer will tell you a lot about the true state of their heart. Intent is prior to content: some, using the supposed lack of evidence as a red herring, won't believe even if God appeared to them. The evidence is not the problem.

The next time you talk about beliefs with an atheist or agnostic, ask them some of the questions above. The answers you get might surprise you.