MrLewisSmile has written a piece titled "The Lunacy of Religion". I would like the opportunity to offer a response to his hard work. I recommend you read both lenses one topic at a time. I pray that if you are considering Atheism you will read both of our lenses and then research on your own before making a decision. If you are a Christian I pray you will see that showing love, patience and wisdom is the only way to respond to anyone, including those with differing opinions. Far to many times Christians speak without thinking first. An Atheist has spent a considerable amount of time in deciding to become an Atheist and more than likely has a response on standby to anything you say.

I believe a huge problem today in all walks of life is acting on emotion. I must admit I suffer from the dreaded foot in mouth disease at times myself. Someone told me once that my view point was innocuous on a certain matter. I got mad! I didn't even know what innocuous means; I just got mad; silly huh? We must set in course our actions and allow our emotions to follow action NOT the other way around.

What does the psalmist mean by fool? The term "fool" is in reference to a group of people who have closed their minds off to God and His word, NOT uneducated people. According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary the definition of an Atheist is: one who believes that there is no deity. Is Atheism truly based on logic and knowledge or is it a control issue? I have caused a few car accidents; my wife has been in none. I am almost always the one to drive when our family goes somewhere. My reasoning is I want to be in control of the car should an emergency present itself with my family in the car. If I base my reasoning on statistics and facts, my wife is the wiser choice to be at the helm.

The practice of Atheism appears to revolve around seeking the desires of your own heart under the cloak of finding truth in reasoning rather than embracing the longing are all born with: seeking the truth which is God.

When I was a small child I remember wanting a bowie knife for Christmas. One year, I got my wish. After I nearly cut my finger off, I soon grew tired of the knife and lost it. Later, all I wanted was a remote control car; I soon lost interest. A few years later all I wanted was to fit in with the kids at school and be popular; after joining the football team, sleeping with dozens of girls and partying every weekend I soon grew bored with that also. After numerous attempts at filling the desires of my heart the void was never satisfied, only doused with temporal pleasures. I also realized another important life lesson, with each fulfilled desire of my heart, I wanted more and more to replace the latest desire! It was not until I gave into the longing for God that the void became a home for the Holy Spirit, a God that can never die and amazingly enough the more of Him I want the more of Him I get, the only obstacle is when I get in the way with my own selfish desires.

Again and again in China I talked to people who had never heard of Christianity, never heard of Jesus, never heard a single word from the Bible. Yet through nature and their God-given conscience, many believed in God. Not only did they believe God existed, they had derived some understanding about His loving character because he provided food, water, and a beautiful world. One old woman told me, "I've known him for years. I just didn't know his name." -Michael Card

An Atheist will be quick to tell you that there is no proof of God therefore it is foolish to believe in God.

If I told you this web page built itself and just came to be, you would say I am an idiot and know that it was created. Look at how amazingly intricate you are made! Why is it easier to believe you evolved from a Monkey than to believe in intelligent design? Given the two scenarios for our own existence between an intelligent being and a random occurrence we must take into consideration a common characteristic of the two: created by intelligence or created out of stupidity. Which characteristic have you inherited?

Endless supplies in the proof of God have been discovered such as archeological discoveries and most importantly the bible itself (more below) but what it will boil down to in the eyes of an Atheist is can you see or touch God?

I believe many Atheists are kind and caring people. I do not believe Atheists are stupid as proposed. Simply put, you cannot take the views from a few Christians and base that as an agreed opinion. As you know, we are as different as a frog and a dog!

In short, I do NOT think less of the author for his beliefs and I am saddened but not surprised that he thinks less of me for my beliefs.

"And I think less of them (Christians and Religious people) for their beliefs too." -MrLewisSmile

Lewis: "If you are a religious person and you can make a case for why you don't believe in fairies or mermaids or Zeus, you have just successfully made the case for why I don't believe in your God too. So I treat religious belief with the same conversational intolerance as I would if the person just told me they were once abducted by aliens."

I have done research into why an Atheist is an Atheist in order to understand why one would choose this path. I did the research as if I was curious about becoming an Atheist. I have come to the conclusion that the only thing short of God coming to earth and taking the form of man and interacting with Atheists on their ground will prove pointless. Wait a minute that already happened.

In all the videos I have seen, literature I have read and websites I have visited I can make a few certain general observations:

When this lens was only an idea, my initial plan was to debunk every topic listed on the "The Lunacy of Religion" but the further I advanced in my research the more I discovered the end of the discussion will result in the same conclusion for both sides: FAITH! Whether an Atheist will admit it or not he is a religious person with warriors of their faith such as Richard Dawkins in the same manor as Christians have Billy Graham.

What really bugs me the most is teaching that Christianity has done no good and only hurts mankind. This is a fallacy anyone can see, especially a supposed free thinking humanitarian! Instead of getting into a who can pee the furthest when we both know we are right, I will ask you to look into all the good Christianity has done for man kind, and sure an Atheist will have statements of Christians and crimes but once again are you going to judge an entire population based on the actions of a few?

Look at the atrocities Hitler committed! Do you believe every German is at fault? On that same note, look at the atrocities of Stalin, does that mean all Atheists are at fault?

p.s. to anyone who would like to discuss any of the topics on "The Lunacy of Religion" contact me and I will be honored to offer an apologetic to any topic and post them here.

Why? Ultimately, what the question we ask is why Atheism or Christianity? My personal answer is because I have found something that changes me, something that has made such an impact in my life that it has impacted and changed the lives of those around me.

I was once a skeptic and only found the verses in the bible that I could attack just like an Atheist does, I took Christianity and the bible and put them into a surface value category. Why? Because I had a few horrible encounters with religion. I failed to realize that the beliefs or views of a few religious people don't reflect Christianity as a whole.

Sadly, many churches may have the best intentions but are in fact flawed in their teaching of the inerrant bible. People make mistakes, no denying that. If you listen to an Atheist long enough you will usually hear the personal reason why they don't believe in God and most of the times it is from improper teaching of the bible. I admire Atheists for their passion in knowledge but unfortunately they seek the answers from within instead of feasting on the bible to discover for them what has been improperly taught such as believing that a person who has never heard the Gospel will burn eternally in torture. Atheists take views from the bible such as slavery and twist it into a condoning behavior encouraged by the bible which is ludicrous.

Why an Atheist believes that Christianity does more harm than good is beyond my understanding! Whether you believe in God or not, to deny the good that comes from the structured life of following Jesus is not proven by the many claims of an Atheist.

I want to leave you with a challenge. If you are considering atheism, seek your answers in the bible first. Don't just look at the quotes other people have led you to. Whether you believe in the bible or not the bible is the best selling book known to mankind. The original manuscripts that make up the Bible were written over a 1,500 year time span by more than 40 authors from 3 seperate continents. These writers covered every walk of life including kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, and scholars yet they present one message. Such a miracle can only be explained by there being one divine Author, who was in control of all these human writers. There were no phones or email!

The Bible has proven itself historically accurate. No historical revelations disprove the Bible's account of history. New historical findings continue to verify the accuracy of the Bible's historical basis.

The Bible has proven to be archaeologically accurate. No archaeological evidence has ever been unearthed that disproves the Bible's account of civilizations and cultures that have existed since the beginning of man's life on earth.

The Bible has proven itself prophetically accurate. Hundreds of prophesies recorded in the Bible have been fulfilled to the letter, centuries after they were recorded. The only exceptions are those pertaining to the return of Jesus Christ to establish His reign on earth, and the subsequent establishing of the new heavens and the new earth.

Jesus bears witness to the Bible's inerrancy where He emphasizes that the actual written words of Scripture can be trusted, not just the ideas they contain. Jesus demonstrated the power of the words of Scripture to defeat Satan when he tempted Him. We have that same weapon available to us today - the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:17).

No one has ever successfully refuted the Bible. Many mock the Bible but avoid challenging it point by point. No one who has done in-depth research, honestly examining the evidence for the Bible's inspiration and truthfulness, has been able to disprove the Bible.

Books written by men have no unity of thought on even one subject. Some of them invariably disagree with others. But there is perfect unity between the books of the Bible -- which speak of hundreds of subjects in many fields. There is no contradiction among them.

Millions have acted on the Bible's commands and have testified to receiving its promises. Probably someone living near you has such a testimony. I have a testimony! Millions of individuals, as well as nations, have been changed for the better when they have accepted the Bible as the Word of God. More people on Earth today believe in Jesus Christ and the Bible as the Word of God than any other creed or philosophy. These millions of people have proved the claims of the Bible when its conditions were met. Wherever the Bible is accepted people are lifted up to a higher plane of life. The Bible message has changed the vilest sinners into the most loving saints. No other message ever has done that. Individuals, and even whole societies, have been transformed wherever the Bible has been believed and obeyed. The Bible's fruits have always been good and wholesome. Neglect of the Bible has always meant sin, suffering, and sorrow.

Examine the bible for yourself, ask God to reveal himself to you if you seek proof, you will have exactly the proof you need! I have found the truth and my life is an example and a testimony to truth; even though I am flawed the bible has not one single time failed to provide me with the nourishment I need in the core of my happiness, at that core I have found Love!

Christian Aid is working in India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia - the areas most badly affected by the tsunami and earthquake. With our partner organisations, we are providing shelter, food and clean drinking water to those in need. We are also looking to aid the long-term reconstruction effort.