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Perhaps you are the person who can shed light on the two great mysteries that drive me crazy. 1. Why is it that people will laugh at the creation myths of other religions while insisting that their own religious creation myth is literal truth? 2. Why is it that some people will laugh at all religious creation myths while at the same time they consider the big bang theory to be scientifically proven truth? Is there really any difference in God speaking the universe into existence and a quantam fluctuation that continues forever or whatever the theory is? I don't pretend to understand the big bang theory, it just sounds like so much gibberish to me. I sometimes wonder if the people with the doctorate in physics understand it any better than I do or are they just spouting mumbo jumbo like some witch doctor so that they can make the villagers think they know something.

Those are mysteries. Whether they are great mysteries, who knows. I'll just have to agree with those who say there are some things we will never know intellectually. It is likely that the stress of modern life, all the traffic and noise causes almost everyone to have to take their answers in soundbites. Who has time to sit under a tree for 40 days eating nothing and not sleeping the whole time just to clear the mind so they can figure some of these things out? It's like the Falun Gong, meditation for the businessman on the run. Pre-packaged, instant microwaved understanding.

1. Why is it that people will laugh at the creation myths of other religions while insisting that their own religious creation myth is literal truth?

That's a question for the religious among us. Ask a Christian what he thinks of native American creation myths, and why.

2. Why is it that some people will laugh at all religious creation myths while at the same time they consider the big bang theory to be scientifically proven truth?

But as this article shows, not even the people who came up with the leading big bang model consider it to be the proven truth. These are models, only models...but as models, they are in exquisite agreement with the known facts, whereas other models--including religious creation myths--are in stark disagreement with the known facts. That really does give them a greater claim on the truth.

Is there really any difference in God speaking the universe into existence and a quantam fluctuation that continues forever or whatever the theory is?

Yes. One is to some extent calculable and testable, and one is not.

I don't pretend to understand the big bang theory, it just sounds like so much gibberish to me. I sometimes wonder if the people with the doctorate in physics understand it any better than I do or are they just spouting mumbo jumbo like some witch doctor so that they can make the villagers think they know something.

So you don't understand the math, you are unwilling or unable to make the effort to understand it (which isn't a criticism; few people are in a position to do it), and you don't trust the people who do. In that case, there's nothing anybody can say that can in principle change your position.

Part of the trust issue falls on the shoulders of the scientists. Scientists have not done an adequate job of communicating and interpreting the fruits of their research to the lay public. Most of the time and effort I spend on FreeRepublic has been to correct that, as far as I can and to the best of my ability. But I can't do it alone; you have to meet me part of the way. You can't just sit there and say, "I don't understand it, so I guess nobody does."

So if you have any questions, fire away, and I'll answer them as best I can.