Atheism misleads many people. It instills the idea that there is no ultimate authority or ultimate meaning in this universe. We have spend many many many generations searching for a meaning of life, including those who adhere to atheism.
Whenever atheists argue that there are no good arguments (which I completely disagree with that, but that is irrelevant), they forget one fact, especially when comparing a deity to leprechauns or fairies or Martians (?). That fact is that no person on this planet has a good argument why any other person on this planet exists. God is a Person, not an entity we call “God”. Granted, that is not an argument in itself and nor does it disprove God. I am just saying that they are not thinking about things they should think about.
Atheism also excludes personal experience and trust in other humans beings as rational reasons why people do believe in anything. Very few (if any) atheists will believe their best friend if the friend saw an angel save them from death in a major car accident. Why is that?
I am not equating atheism to dishonesty or distrust. I am just noting from experience (on both sides) that it poisons the heart in a virtually undetectable way.
Atheism also says that any extraordinary claim requires extraordinary evidence. Last week in Chicago, there was a 15-year old girl who sold her 7-year old step-sister to 5 men (2 adults and 3 teens) for sex. The only evidence was witnesses. No atheist would disbelieve that. But what is so non-extraordinary about that or things similar to that? Miracles have so much evidence (perhaps more than some of those disgusting stories) going for them, yet they will not believe them due to a predisposed idea that miracles cannot happen.
With that said, even atheism is appealing just as any religion in this world is.
Well, since we are going to take the assumption in this part that God does exist (rightly so), we would have to ask what it is that God would be. And we are excluding atheistic religions like Buddhism.
Pantheism - I am a little uneducated about pantheism, so I will be brief. If God WAS the world, then how in the world did he become the world? God being the world suggests immanence rather than both transcendence and immanence. If God is just immanent, then how did his immanence begin? That is, how did the world begin and hence, God?
Polytheism - Well, if there were good and evil gods, then our inclinations would be towards good AND evil, but we have this innate moral desire to do good and seek the good of others for the suppression of evil. We go against the inclinations and even more so, we KNOW it when we do something bad. Even if that were false, why are we all like one god rather than the others? That is, why are we in the image of only one god and not any other?
Deism - This says that there is a god, but he left it like a “Blind Watchmaker”. Something created that has the intricate-ness of the universe requires sentience at the very least. A non-rational but sentient being does things that pertains to its needs. Why would a non-rational sentient being created something by choice that it does not need? A rational being is where we are at through reason. It is a reasonable assertion that all rational beings search for three things in order for complete fulfillment (not just superfically): Life, Truth and Love. Basing my idea off of this, if God created the world and left it to be, why would He have left it on its own? Is there only one rational being out of the many that have lived that does not search for these things? It is a strange thing to think about.
Islam - It is the only religion of the Judeo-Christian-Islam God that was not started by what is believed to be God. The Jews believe that their religion started with God. Christians believe that their religion started with God (Jesus Christ). Muslims believe that their religion started by a man, who was believed to be a prophet of God. This is why I do not believe that the Islam religion cannot be right.
Judaism - I have come to realize that knowledgeable Jews are the hardest to debate with. But, it is my belief that the Old Testament clearly points to Christ. And that the theology of certain things (like the Eucharist and the Holy Trinity) are beautifully foreshadowed by certain things in Jewish Scriptures. That is the best I can do with this one. I am no Scripture scholar.
Protestantism - I do not even have to refer to the Bible to notice logical contradictions or circular logic in their own theologies. Although I can use the Bible, I usually just use their own arguments against them to prove them wrong. Whether or not they see it is a different story, but logic never fails to show why they are wrong despite their inclinations to disagree.
Orthodox - I do not know enough to make a case, but I just know that the Catholic Church is right.
Not only can you cancel out everything else, but one can give convincing reasons to be a Catholic. No aspect of Life goes unnoticed in the Catholic Church. The Truths she teaches is the Truth she notoriously defends and never sways from enemies even within her. God’s Love for us is seen in Christ’s Sacrifice and the Eucharist, which are inexplicably one and the same. Life. Truth. Love. There is no greater institution on this planet that seeks to fulfill the desires of every man and woman than the Catholic Church. There are plenty of other reasons in defense of Christ’s Church also.
I hope this helps.
God bless!
I created a Rosary specifically for unbelievers and those struggling with doubt. I will pray it.
Gregg
