CHRISTIANITY: WHY IT'S AWESOME

Once I arrived at the conclusion that there must be a Creator behind all existence, I then had to determine which world religion most accurately reflected the true nature of God.  The first thing I noticed about Christianity was the abundance of historical evidence and eyewitness testimony for the events recorded in the New Testament.  This stands in stark contrast to other religions which rely primarily on a single person's account of a private revelation from God, holy texts delivered by God to a single individual in a private encounter, ancient tales passed down through generations via oral tradition, etc.  With the New Testament, we have multiple perspectives of eyewitness testimony recorded in manuscripts dating back to the lifetimes of those who authored them.  We are not relying on writings that have been copied dozens of times through the ages.  Compared to other ancient manuscripts of that time, including the historical records of ancient Rome, this is extraordinarily unique.

But more importantly than this is the unique message of Christianity.  Look at any other religion and, at the core, you will find a common theme: that in order to make things "right" with God or to earn "enlightenment", you must work at it.  You must earn God's favor through good deeds, by following a list of rules and observing certain restrictions, by not eating various foods, by practicing a specific ritual on a regular basis, whatever.  Only after you have proven yourself to God will God love you and reward you.

Christianity breaks this mold.  At the core of Christianity is a message of immediate forgiveness, freely given.  A recognition that we humans are inherently flawed, and that's ok with God.  Christianity recognizes that we can never be perfect, no matter how hard we try.  We can work at it all our lives and we will never get there.

In Christianity, we find a God who loves us by default.  There is nothing we must do to earn it, and there is nothing we can do to erase it.  Everyone gets into the club the same way, everyone is invited, and the price of admission has already been paid.  Not a bad deal if you ask me!

For those of you who are Christian and attending church, I urge you to closely examine how your church presents the Christian message.  If your church doesn't communicate this central theme, and if it doesn't embody this theme in its attitude, then leave.  You're better off taking your family to the park on Sunday morning.  Most churches have unfortunately allowed the common trait of other religions -- the notion that God's favor must be earned -- to creep into their thinking and their way of doing things.  This is partly why so many of us have become disenchanted with Christianity today.  As we drift further away from the uniqueness of Christianity, and drift further towards other religions, the problem of disenchantment will only get worse.  We've got to get things back on track and rediscover what makes Christianity so awesome.  It is superior to other religions because it is grounded in truth, and it produces superior results when adopted and applied correctly.  Let's not forget that.

WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?

So the Casey Anthony verdict is causing quite a stir around the country today.  It seems everyone except the jury was convinced Casey was responsible for her 2-year-old daughter's death.

I wonder how you professed Atheists feel about this case.  Are you as outraged as everyone else?  You shouldn't be.  If you adopt the Atheistic view completely, and apply it consistently to all your values and beliefs, you can't find any fault in what Casey Anthony did.

So she probably killed her daughter Caylee.  So what?  What value did Caylee really have?  Caylee was just like the rest of us: a mere fluke, a product of random chance, consisting only of physical matter, here on Earth for no real purpose except to propagate human DNA.  A tiny, insignificant speck in a Universe that is headed towards eventual burnout and destruction.  We, as living organisms, are meaningless.  And anything we do in this life is ultimately meaningless.

Besides, now that Casey has escaped the wrath of our justice system, who can say she did anything really "wrong"?  How can you, the Atheist, impose your moral views upon Casey?  Thanks to Evolution, each of us is genetically programmed with a sense of right and wrong.  But this programming, just like eye color and hair color, can vary.  How is your morality any better than Casey's?

Am I making sense?  Am I helping you Atheists feel better about the Casey Anthony verdict?  If not, then I have one last observation that might help:

Casey Anthony simply waited 2 years to have an abortion.  There.  Now it shouldn't bother you.

MULTIPLE UNIVERSES?

One of the more popular arguments for the existence of a Creator, the "Fine-Tuning Argument" can be summarized as follows:

1. If the Universe was not caused by an intelligent being, it is here by chance, and chance is more likely to produce non-order than order. In other words, without a Creator/Designer there is a higher likelihood that our Universe would be purely random and chaotic than rich with function, rules, and structure.

2. Science tells us our Universe is not ruled by chaos. There is observable order, organization, function, and synergy in the Universe. Physical Laws govern the behavior and interaction of matter/energy and space/time. Look inside the atom and you will find a clear demonstrable example of advanced functioning. (A list of supportive examples here would fill volumes.)

3. Therefore, a Creator/Designer is the most likely explanation for these characteristics of our Universe.

It's a very simple and rational argument, based on the observable evidence around us. But, as you might imagine, Atheists have many objections. During my time of exploration on these topics, when I was "searching" for answers to the God question, I evaluated these Atheist counter-arguments. What I found was a short list of very flimsy rebuttals, based on poor logic and false assumptions. (For anyone interested in these Atheists rebuttals, and my thoughts on them, please send me an email. You can find my email address by viewing my Profile.)

Some Atheists choose to criticize the premises of the argument. But others elect to take a different approach. They agree to premise #1 and premise #2, but offer an alternate explanation: Multiverse Theory.

This theory suggests that our Universe is not alone. It is simply one of possibly trillions and trillions of multiple universes. What this theory offers the Atheist is a convenient way to deal with the problem of probability. In a sea of trillions of Universes, there are far greater odds that a functional Universe will emerge. Therefore, there is no reason to assume a Designer is responsible.

This concept is a life-saver for the Atheist backed into a corner by the Fine-Tuning Argument.

There is one major problem, however. The concept of "Multiple Universes" is merely that: a concept. There is no observable or empirical evidence for Multiverses. None whatsoever. Only highly speculative suggestions that a Multiverse could possibly explain certain phenomena. And notice the typical Atheist hypocrisy: Many Atheists argue that Intelligent Design is not "science" because it cannot be empirically verified, but neither can Multiverse theory.

How can Atheists so freely accept Multiverse theory with no observable evidence, but reject Intelligent Design? It requires intellectual suicide. Such behavior reeks of desperation and emotional bias against the notion of a Creator.

But Atheists are commonly motivated by emotional bias, so I suppose we shouldn't be surprised.

WONDERS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

"It seems extraordinary that such a well ordered system could have come into being spontaneously."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

KOREA AT NIGHT

I know this has nothing to do with Atheism or Christianity, but it's my blog so I'll post it anyway.

All the debate in America about Liberal vs. Conservative, Big Government vs. Small Government, Socialism vs. Capitalism, or Democrats vs. Republicans, can be summed up perfectly in this single image:

A QUOTE FOR CHRISTIANS

“I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.”
- Ghandi

What a powerful statement. It seems that so many of us "Christians" simply don't understand what it means to be one. Christianity should not be a religion. Religion is a man-made thing. Jesus did not come to create a religion. He was steadfastly opposed to the primary religion of his day, and he was killed for it.

Jesus spoke a unique message about something entirely new: a meaningful personal relationship with God. He did not construct a system of rituals, rules, or routines to "earn God's favor" or "become enlightened" as other religions do. His message was unique. It's not about kneeling a certain way, reciting a specific chant, banning certain foods, wearing certain clothes, confessional booths, etc. It's about getting rid of that type of nonsense, and simply connecting to a God who says "You're already in the club."

THE IMPACT OF JESUS

"Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander the Great, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of school, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times."

- Philip Schaff