The other day I saw a post in a FB group that the problem with this world is religion.  This comes from the Bondi massacre and others.  My response was this:  Religion isn’t the problem.  It’s false religion that is the problem.

The hostilities were almost violent in backlash.  Of course as anyone in this world, we post and we receive hostile feedback.  But this was at a level I hadn’t seen in awhile.  Which tells me we are getting closer and closer to global persecution and an outbreak of global war.  We are not there yet, but we are well on our way.

But the question stands:  Is religion the problem?

Let’s say for a moment that all religions on the earth were no more.  Not only was it illegal to practice faith, but no one did.  Humanity just stopped believing.  Would that fix everything?

Historically we’ve seen nations try this.  We have had China that has tried to stamp out all faith.  Russia was not too dissimilar.

The reality is that atheism is historically the worst religion of them all.  Now people will say that atheism is not a religion, but in every sense it is.  It has its prophets (Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hutchines, and others), it has rules (you are not allowed to believe any different than what we believe), and it has its own standards of morality that are imposed except that everyone believes their own standards are right.  Make no mistake, atheism is a religion.

But there are huge problems of atheism.  Besides the fact of how dangerous it is to humanity.

Atheism does not answer why we exist, where we came from, and what is our purpose.

Without God, then life doesn’t make sense.  How is that there is this sophisticated, incredibly complex life, and that we exist in it?  Where do we come from?

My atheist friends tell me we are just a bunch of hydrogen atoms that once existed.  And when I ask, then where did the hydrogen atoms originate?  They have no answer.

Then there is the issue of purpose.  If there is no God, and our origin of existence is a mystery, then we have no purpose.  We are born, we suffer a lot, and we die.  That’s it. That hopelessness is terrible.

Atheism also worsens the problem.  When you have no external sense of purpose and divinity, you become insanely selfish.  And why would you be anything else than selfish?  If there is no purpose to life and no one to be accountable to, then the only thing you should live for is your pleasure, no one else’s.

Granted, there are some very good atheist people who do great things in the world.  But the answer is why?  What’s the point if we are all going to be dead and have no existence?

Atheism gives no explanation for anything.  And worse, it gives license to everything.

It is why in the great atheistic experiments of the 20th century that atheistic leaders killed more people than anyone else.

• Logical consistency with what we observe in the world around us
• That humanity is served and built up, but yet there is accountability and justice
• An abundance of prophecies made before events and then fulfilled afterwords, in order to reveal only supernatural intervention
• Miracles, signs, and wonders that are not for show, but that serve other people.
• Revelation that is consistent and reliable
• The central figure would need to be sinless or else they could not be trusted

These are all things we find in the Christian faith to show that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.  No man comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6).

But what about false faiths?  Can’t they be good?

Yes and no.  They can be good in that they promote kindness and morality.  But if they are not true, then ultimately they do not save.  Nor promote life.  Morality is not the core of faith.  Right relationship with God is central.

In summation, it isn’t faith that is the problem.  In fact, atheism is far worse.  It’s about true faith that lines up with a good, loving, kind, but just God.  One who is love, forgives sin, but is also just and deals with evil.

When we have that, we have an explanation of the nature of God, why we are made, the reality of good and evil, a reason to live, and even a reason to die in sacrifice for other people.

Jesus is the only One who was shown to be true through hundreds of very specific prophecies, he did extraordinary miracles on a regular basis that served others, and laid down his life in love.  He teaches us who we are, why we live, how we should live, and that we should lay down our lives for our enemies.

No one else comes close.

And that is why this author chooses to follow Jesus.