Being a Christian is not that hard.

Hi everyone! This is Bee again, for my very second post. I want to debate this with atheists.

One of the many reasons why an atheist becomes an atheist is because of his or her disdain for religion. This disdain for religion usually comes from seeing the injustices and oddities of his or her respective religion. Pedophilia from priests, for example.

However, the institution of religion has very little to do with true Christianity.

In the later part of the Middle Ages, a group of Christians called "mystics" emerged and were heralded by the likes of Teresa of Avila and St, John of the Cross. These special group of Christians were a type of Christians who rejected church worship and instead, took to worshiping God (of the Old Testament and New Testament) in a personal, private way. You could say that they valued having a direct relationship with Him above all other theological practices of their day.

I follow in their tradition and have found God working in many parts of my life. I have a relationship with Him, and so could you.

I understand the hate for the institution of religion, but like a said, being a part of it has nothing to do with true Christianity. True Christianity is a RELATIONSHIP with God. And having a relationship with Him is EASY.

I want to address the issue of atheists concerning their criticisms of religion. Religion, by itself, can have very negative connotations. Religion involves ritual, tithing, and responsibilities. These can and often be a burden to many people. Religion can involve dietary restrictions, and on the worst instances, hostility against anyone not with them. These are all very bad, and it is understandable to avoid religion for those reasons alone.

With that said, it is important to keep in mind that religion is simply a Man's MEANS of reaching God. It is not the result. It is a way, or a method, to have communion with God. And like all other paths to the same destination, there are many other ways to get there. And like any man-made thing, it is very imperfect and very flawed.

I now propose a better way. And that is by prayer. You simply pray to God to ask for His grace, and He will surely give it to you in due time. It is almost like magic, but very real.

Jesus's narrowed-down commandments are as follows: Love God and love your neighbors. These can be hard to follow at times, but they are very simple and easy most of the time.

My fundamental argument in this case is the ease and universality of being a true Christian. It's easy because of its simplicity, and it is universal because anyone can be one. If you became an atheist out of disdain for religion, please consider that the church is not always a representation of Jesus and God.