Religion? Bah, Humbug!

(This resort is under development)

"The Room"

COMMON OBJECTIONS & QUESTIONS see below!

I wonder why you came to look at this page? Curious about the title? Did you come because you are religious yourself, or maybe you are an atheist or agnostic...... Maybe some of you are genealogy / family history enthusiasts like myself, and find it a sobering fact that one day we will be ancestors too......Three score years and ten is an average life span. But is that really all there is to life? Does man even need to consider if there is a God? What are the implications for our lives if there is? If we are the product of chance and there is no God, then why does it matter if man commits acts of barbarism? Have you the courage to examine the evidence and ask yourself how sound are your assumptions about God, meaning, life and death with which you have lived so far? Comments like: "I've no time for God or religion!" "I'm not the religious sort" or "I'll think about God later..." are incredibly short-sighted attitudes! And I make no apologies for saying that! One of the Oxford Dictionary definitions of religion is a "system of faith" Many believe and think that going through a daily, weekly or occasional ritual or tradition will "put them right" with God. Thus, the way "Christianity" is practised by many people, as a man-made ritual and tradition, is a "system of faith" - it is "being religious" Every religion has the same basic characteristic - man is trying to find God, (or some sort of supernatural being or force) to reach God and please God through their own efforts. Being an atheist or an evolutionist is also "a system of faith" ! Someone who believes in their horoscopes is being religious, because they are going through a ritual, they are in a "system of faith". BUT that is not what true biblical Christianity is all about. Christianity is unique in that it claims to be the ONLY way to God - the Bible teaches that God has reached out for us, to restore man's relationship with Him through Jesus, to be the sort of men and women God meant us to be. But a relationship cannot be a "system"! So, by the Oxford definition, Christianity is therefore not really a religion However, another definition is "a conviction of the existence of a supreme being, which arouses love and gratitude" The basic question is, therefore, whatever you believe, what is truth? Why is the Bible, its message and the claims of Jesus so offensive to people the world over? Or why does it "arouse so much love and gratitude " amongst the followers of Jesus that 2000 years of persecution, empires, dictators and regimes have failed to snuff it out? Could it be that people cannot face the implications for their lives? Is it because people prefer God on their own terms? The questions and answers below will, I hope, challenge and help you to think about life and death.

Common objections and questions

DOES GOD EXIST?

IT'S ALL A CRUTCH!

EVOLUTION - a faith

ATONEMENT??

WHY DOES GOD ALLOW SUFFERING? an answer to an age old question

KNOWING RIGHT FROM WRONG Evolution and morality

Does God actually exist?

The Christian faith does not depend on proving the existence of God. People who think that are mistaken! We only have to look at our world, the universe and at ourselves that we cannot fail to marvel at the complexity and uniformity of the life forms, physical laws and inter-dependence. Is our universe and life the product of blind chance? Unlike animals we are rational beings who can reason. How then can we believe that reasoning and rational thought has arisen out of chance? Belief in God does not mean we suspend our rational thought and close our eyes - precisely the opposite - our eyes are opened wide to the facts. The design in the universe and world suggests intelligence In May 1999, on a British ITV program about Christianity called "Two thousand years", Dr Jonathan Miller, a medical doctor and TV producer declared his atheism, talked about his marvel at the body and the world we live in, yet asked why we have to believe that a God is behind it. But if, as rational beings, we take God out of the equation, what sense does it all make? The fact of human life suggests that this intelligence is also personal Assuming that what the Bible teaches about God and his creation is true, we can make better sense of the facts. After all, evolution is only a theory, and cannot be proved! Yet it is taught as fact. What about human beings? Why is man religious at all? His religions may differ, but in all there is prayer to a deity, and usually sacrifice. Why do we have a conscience? We have a sense of "right" and "wrong" - a moral obligation. If mankind happened by chance, where did this sense come from? Even atheists have a sense of "doing wrong". Right and wrong is not relative! Why should man place such value on our own kind? Conscience indicates that God is concerned about right conduct.

It's all just a crutch!

My son said that to me once.......No, because being a Christian is all about a two -way relationship. as much as but deeper than with a partner or spouse. So aren't drugs a crutch then? Anything that becomes addictive becomes a crutch - Drugs, alcohol, cigarettes all the more so because people can't face life without them. Drugs in particular because people can't enjoy themselves without them. A close family member has been on drugs, and its a form of excapism from real life. Karl Marx once said that Christianity is for the weak - wrong, because the weak simply follow the flow of society as a whole, "do it" because everybody else is "doing it", because the media and peer pressure say you'll have fun "doing it" or "having it" (whatever that may be - sex, drugs, alcohol, fashion statements etc) It takes guts and strength to stand out from the crowd and stand out for Christ and be different from everybody else. Remember - its the drug dealers, fashion companies like Nike, Gap and Calvin Klein, the media and advertising people who are laughing all the way to the bank at YOUR expense!! Michael Jordan gets paid more by Nike than the whole of the Indonesian workforce Read the Bible and find out!

If you are a Christian teacher, Governor, have school contacts or just a heart for Christian education, then have a look at the following links: