Atheists have great faith

People look at me strange when I say that Atheists have great faith. But it is true. In order to be an athiest, then all of this we see, feel, smell and touch all occurred by random interactions of molecules. Life is one great big accident. I have less trouble understanding Agnostics. At least Agnostics believe that there is some sort of deity somewhere but are too jaded by organized religions or two blase to think much more about it. But to be an atheist, you have to believe in all these remarkable coincidences.

Atheists believe that the universe, the galaxies, stars and planets all happened by chance. These molecules exploded and flew apart and some in the process collected other groups of molecules and took shape. Life was another series of accidents or coincidences when molecules of one chemical collided with others to form different elements and those elements eventually led to life as one-cell organisms until we all evolved from there. 

Somewhere along the way, evolution caused man to adapt and develop cognitive ability that no other animal has. Man can do things, but again, humans are just an accident of development and evolution.

Now that we have mysteriously evolved into this race of humans, we discovered things like fire and wheels and ways to till the ground and tame animals. From there we learned how to gather into societies and make rules and laws and to govern. After periods of light and dark ages, here we are as the end result of our happy accident.

That takes a lot of faith, does it not?

The core foundation of this faith is that everything is random and for no real reason. What I could never understand is this: If everything is random and without an overall purpose, why did we bother to create laws and government and what we innately seem to agree is good behavior and bad behavior? If nothing matters, why does that matter?

Why is there a need to gain a good education, desire to obtain a good career, be a good person, raise children to be good people, save for retirement, give to the poor, take care of the environment if none of it matters? We are all just a temporary blip in a gigantic accident. Why should we care if the earth survives or not or if anyone goes hungry? Why would we strive to be successful people and "make a mark" with our lives if this is all an accident that will someday give way to something else and ends for us personally when we die?

I don't understand how the two dissect. To be an atheist, everything we do and accomplish means nothing and ends in nothing and only happened by accident anyway. If I had such a faith in so many grand accidents, I would care nothing of my life or what I did or how it affected anyone.

And yet, most do. I don't understand.

I do not have enough faith to believe in that many accidents happening to create such a complex organism that humans have become and a world. My faith is simple. There has to be a creator. I see a monarch butterfly and observe the hand of an artist, not a product of chance. When I see people having an innate knowledge of what is good and what is evil, I know it comes from the fact that there is a good and there is an evil and a creator has built into us a knowledge of which is which.

There are laws and codes of conduct because we are built in the image of that creator and we know right from wrong. 

Look, I'm not going to argue evolution versus creationism. I am not wholly convinced the two systems cannot coexist side by side. But a creator put either process or both processes in motion with his creative hand.

To me there is no other choice of belief. Even when I fell away from God, there was a part of me that could not take my life in any other belief system. I echoed Peter when asked if he would leave Jesus also. Peter answered, "Where else would I go?"

Atheists have a lot of faith, much more than I could ever muster. I, as a follower of Jesus Christ and a child of God have a simpler faith. In the beginning, God created. A simpler construct, perhaps, but from that faith comes the jump of faith to the need for a relationship with that creator because life is not a cosmic accident that ends in nothingness. We are born in spirit and there is life after this fragile human period. I intend to spend that eternal life with God, the creator and the reason behind our very existence.