One of the silliest arguments atheists use is that religion tends to be localised. If you were born in India, you'd be Hindu. If you were born in Pakistan, you'd be Muslim. This, allegedly, should at least undermine a Western Christian's confidence in Christianity.
For a number of reasons, this argument is particularly stupid. Reason number one: It is a classical example of the genetic fallacy (criticising a belief based on its origins/perception thereof). Your reason for believing something has absolutely no effect on the validity thereof. In fact, the irony is, there are Christians in India and Pakistan. There are actually Christians all over the world, even where you would least expect them to be. North Korea, for example, outlaws Christianity, yet there are many people in North Korea brave enough to reject that law. I'm willing to lay this down as a rule: If your argument cannot apply to everyone you could use it against, it is invalid.
But of course, there is something behind this argument. It is true that people tend to absorb their culture's beliefs. Here's the problem: That applies to all beliefs. Including beliefs like Evolution.
Western culture is absolutely saturated with Evolution. It's in our books, it's on our TVs, it's even in our schools. Students are indoctrinated with it from a very early age, and even before that, it is shoveled down their throats through various mediums, such as TV shows, movies, children's stories, and even their parents. Unless you were particularly sheltered, if you were raised in the West, you were raised as an Evolutionist. Here's the question: Can you defend it?
The overwhelming majority of Evolutionists must answer "no". Even the majority of those who think they can, upon being called to do so, will inevitably fail. This is because, much like any other religion, it's just something most believers were raised with. They never questioned it, and even those who did were already raised with the bias towards it.
As an ex-Evolutionist myself, I understand how difficult it is to set aside your biases and objectively analyse Evolution. But by design, most of my audience don't know who I am. You don't know my real name, my precise age, the full details of my education, all so that I may glorify my God rather than turning this ministry into the "Brian" show. So, let's hear it from a geneticist.
Dr James Allen is a retired senior lecturer in the Department of Genetics, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. He has researched the genetics of fruit flies, snails, chickens, dairy cattle, and fish, and taught students quantitative and population genetics, particularly in its application to the breeding of animals. Suffice to say, this man is no fool, unless you want to play the "No True Scotsman" fallacy and say that, since he is a Creationist, his qualifications are invalid. But quite frankly, that is only proving my point about irrationally sticking to inherited biases. Ultimately, James Allen is a qualified scientist, and though he spent 40 years as an Evolutionist, he is now a Creationist.
His abandonment of Evolution was due to a simple question from his wife: "Is there any reason why God should not have created all forms of life on the basis of a universal genetic code?" This powerful question seriously undermines a key argument for Evolution. Evolutionists constantly point to genetic similarities as "proof" of Evolution. The most common example is the (actually false) claim that humans share anywhere from 96-99% (depending who makes the claim) of our DNA with chimps.
To this question, Allen says "My immediate reaction was one of annoyance. What is she on about?—absolute nonsense! What does she know about such things? And then I got up in a state of irritation and I stalked out of the house. As I walked, I found myself thinking, and I really believe at that stage God spoke to me. He humbled me. I suddenly found myself thinking, you know, maybe she does have a point. Maybe God did create all forms of life on the basis of a universal genetic code. I mean, why should we expect God to do otherwise?"
Why indeed? As the saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". The genetic code, as it turns out, ain't broke. In fact, it is a rather ingenious design, far greater and more complex than anything we, as humans, could even pretend we could invent.
Here's the question you need to ask yourself: Are you where James Allen was? Are you stubbornly and ignorantly clinging to a man made religion you refuse to question? Many people are. As I said, most people cannot defend Evolution. We've all heard the "99% of scientists believe it" line, but where is the evidence? We've all been told "science has proven Evolution", but this science is never presented. We've all been told there are "mountains of evidence" for Evolution, but there is barely a mole hill.
In fact, the irony is, much of the "evidence" we were taught in schools was proven fraudulent even while Darwin was still breathing! The most famous example is Ernst Haeckel’s embryonic recapitulation fraud. This has been known to be fraudulent for well over a century, yet it still persisted in textbooks, and even in the school system, when I first started out as an apologist. I cannot confirm it persists in schools today, but to my knowledge, it has not been removed.
Furthermore, the "elite" strongly oppose any form of critical thought towards Evolution. Aside from the general atmosphere of "keep silent, or you'll face backlash" that keeps most people from questioning Evolution, there is a literal system in place to keep people trapped. Scientists who dare to question Evolution are, at best, denied funding for their research, and at worst persecuted in the workplace, and even fired. As for the schools, Eugenie Scott admitted that if the origins debate was used as a topic for critical thinking (i.e. if Creation and Evolution were put on a level playing field), students would soon reject Evolution.
It would be both a fallacy and a double standard for me to say "you're only an Evolutionist because you were raised to be, therefore Evolution is invalid", but if you are an Evolutionist, I do want this article to encourage you to question the beliefs with which you were raised. See how you have been lied to. Your whole life, you have been spoon fed the silliest religion mankind has ever invented. One that gives lip service to science while simultaneously denying its laws. One that claims neutrality, yet demands all contrary ideas be squashed. One that boasts of evidence it rarely, if ever, presents. Ask yourself why you believe that, then sit down and honestly analyse those reasons.
Once you've realised Evolution is false, there is an alternative that actually works: Christianity. We aren't a cosmic milk spillage, but the very intentional creations of the Living God. Sadly, though we were made in His image, we don't bear that image very well. We sin, meriting His wrath. Yet, in His love, wrath is not His preference. Rather, He extends grace to us. Through the womb of a virgin, Jesus Christ entered the world as an innocent baby boy, and unlike us, He maintained that innocence for His entire life. That life was ended by a very brutal, public execution, where He received the full penalty for sin. Yet, on the third day, He was raised to life. Through the confession that He is Lord, and belief that God raised Him, we can receive eternal life.