The Material World Is Not The Uncaused Cause

Even an atheist who believes the false idea that the physical cosmos has always existed and never had a beginning (which would at best be unprovable even if there were not logically falsifiable aspects of it) still believes in an uncaused cause whether or not they realize it or would want this to be recognized.  To be clear, they do not believe in a theistic uncaused cause, nor are they likely to believe that they believe in an uncaused cause.  Almost no one who identifies as an atheist would probably say they accept an uncaused cause.  They might find the very thought offensive and feel misrepresented.  Of course, none of these things change the truth.

The uncaused cause that they hold to is not an immaterial entity that created the universe, but it is the universe itself, which according to them created all contingent things in existence (things that depend on something else to exist).  Those philosophically inept enough to believe in a past-eternal universe do think that matter, which has always existed, produced human and animal consciousness, certain kinds of energy, and potentially other things, depending on the rest of their worldview.  This is exactly what someone who does not acknowledge an uncaused cause that at least set in motion events that led to the creation of the universe (perhaps by creating some immensely powerful but lesser being that created the universe) would believe if they still realize the impossibilities of infinite regress, self-causation, and beginning without a cause [1].

The issue then reduces down to whether it is logically possible for the universe to be the uncaused cause and, if so, if it could ever be proven to be past-eternal--or even if the idea could just be supported with fallible, limited sensory information.  Just like an infinite number of past moments would make it impossible for the present moment to be reached, so too would an infinite past number of events in the physical world make it impossible for the current part of the causal chain to arrive.  There must be an uncaused cause, but the cosmos cannot have always existed.  This means that something not comprised of the physical matter unique to the universe must be the uncaused cause.

The material world is not and cannot be uncaused or past-eternal.  It is logically possible for a material world to bring objects of matter and even some immaterial things (like consciousness or the internet) into existence, yes.  It is logically possible for matter to have existed for eons longer than humankind has existed as a species.  Indeed, there is evidence both that immaterial things like consciousness are brought into existence by the cosmos and that the universe has existed for far longer than the 6,000-7,000 years posited by evangelicals.  There is also scientific evidence that the universe had a beginning, but the aforementioned logical impossibility of a universe that has always existed renders mere scientific evidence secondary and unnecessary.

[1].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-uncaused-cause.html