Atheism is quickly joining mainstream American society. If a majority of the population doesn't accept atheism, it can't be for lack of exposure.

Atheists publish best-selling books. They debate people of faith in public forums. Some articulate their viewpoint in magazines and newspapers. There is no shortage of material from which to distill why atheists believe there is no God.

Despite the volume of arguments, many are based on the same underlying assumption: If humans can't explain God, then he does not exist. Of course, this further assumes we have the capability to do so.

One has to accept these premises if they look to science and reason - two ways we explain phenomena - to disprove God's existence.

Not surprisingly, science is a pillar of atheism. And for good reason - it is a powerful discipline with much to recommend it as a way to explain reality, from cosmology to quantum mechanics.

Many atheists look at the explanatory power of science - such as evolution via natural selection - and conclude a higher power isn't at work in the universe. Others cite a general lack of evidence of God's existence as reason for their disbelief.

However, this line of reasoning ignores one major shortcoming of science. Its utility is limited to what physicists call "space-time." In essence, space-time constitutes time, our spatial dimensions and anything contained within them.

This also could be thought of as our reality. Whether anything exists outside space-time, we cannot know for certain because humans lack the means to go "outside" and find out.

If God resides outside space-time - an assumption made by many believers - science would not be able to offer a definitive conclusion on his existence.

Imagine our universe as a snow globe in an empty room. How would we know if anything existed on the other side of the glass? Even if evidence from the outside did make its way inside, would we interpret it correctly or simply in terms of water and fake snow?

Some atheists concede science can't disprove God, which is why they also point to tragedy as proof a higher power either does not exist or is powerless to intercede in human affairs.

"If there is a God, why did this happen?" is often asked in light of unfortunate events. The person asking these questions assumes, maybe without realizing it, that God acts according to our reason. But that's not a conclusion we can make, especially if the higher power somehow exists outside our domain.

Perhaps that frees God from the constraints of time and space. He could very well see tragedy and its ultimate resolution at the same instant and determine intervention is either unnecessary or could lead to larger problems in the future.

We simply are not in a position to make judgment calls about God's existence or power based on what we see in the present.

It's like being upset at how the plot of a book unfolds as you read it, but upon completion, realize those points of frustration were necessary for a proper resolution. Crying foul halfway through the text may later seem ignorant and foolish.

And even if the book turned out poorly, you wouldn't conclude the author did not exist.

The debate between atheism and belief is not simple, and condensing the issue to such a short length leaves many reasonable questions unanswered.

Here, the issue is whether a higher power could exist. It seems logical to cover that base before moving to any others.

No matter what aspect of the issue one chooses to explore, the conclusion is often the same - it comes down to faith.

Believers have faith God resides outside our realm and may act in ways nonsensical to us. This is why they don't often look to science to undergird their beliefs.

Atheists trust that nothing exists outside reality and often rely on science and reason to "disprove God." But that point of view is taken on faith as well, since there is no way to leave reality and confirm that beyond it nothing exists.

In spite of vastly different points of view about a higher power, all atheists and believers eventually will find they have something in common: death.

At that point the matter will be settled. If no reality exists beyond ours - and humans cease to exist at the end of their earthly lives - believers won't be able to look back with regret at lives spent believing in a nonexistent higher power.

But if something does exist beyond, and it is the domain of the higher power atheists spent their life denying and questioning, they may regret not practicing a different kind of faith.

Michael Thom is a 2005 MSU graduate and a State News columnist. Reach him at thommic2@msu.edu.