Why the Christian God?
Other gods are either too impersonal (like the "divine force") or limited with human flaws (pre-Christian polytheism), be it lust, egotism or greed. After reviewing the different deities, I feel that none but YHWH El Shaddai can love me no matter what and He proved this by dying for me, what other god is willing to do this?
Why are you a Christian as opposed to a Muslim, Hindu, Zoroastrian, etc.?
I don't know a whole lot about Zoroastrianism though there are some interesting parallels with Christianity and Judaism. But so far I get the impression that Ahura Mazda is not in complete control of the universe whilst every orthodox Christian and Jew agrees that YHWH is. A god that's not in complete control doesn't sound very powerful to me, the theological implications are obvious. I would like to learn more about this one though.
I'm not very well versed on Hinduism either, though I do know it's not a religion per se (not like it used to be) rather it's a collection of religions. There are monotheistic Hindus, polytheistic Hindus, pantheistic Hindus, ect. But from the little I know, here's why I'm not a Hindu:
1. The whole reincarnation thing is utterly pointless to me as we apparently can't remember anything about our past lives, so then how we so supposed to learn from our mistakes in order to get closer with the "divine consciousness"? Reincarnation can in a way encourage immorality because the worst thing that can possibly happen to you is that you will be reincarnated as a lessor being, so Hinduism doesn't install any fear of future judgement. Though to it's credit it at least teaches in the doctrine of Karma that there are consequences to the things we do.
2. I really don't like those creepy looking idols, the thought of having those things in my house or bowing to them literally makes me wanna hurl. They freak me out so much that I won't even go into an Indian restaurant, but I hate Indian food anyway, just gimme a bowl of curry if you really wanna punish me.
3. The pantheistic side of Hinduism (which can also be seen in Buddahism and the New Age Movement) denies the reality of evil. Quite frankly I cannot believe in a faith that refuses to see the world and humanity how it really is, because you cannot fix a problem if you refuse to acknowledge that it's there. Faith is believing what we can't see, not denying what is right in front of us.
As for Islam, now this is religion I'm much more knowledgable about. I am not Muslim because:
1. Muhammad's allah is too arbitrary for my liking, he changes his mind all the time (nasikh), does stuff just because he feels like it and his love is limited, it's not unconditional so I can't trust him with my eternal salvation.
2. Muhammad's allah is not holy, the Quran explicitly states that allah creates both good and evil. Well salt water cannot flow from a fresh stream, or as Yeshua put it "a good tree cannot bear bad fruit". Allah is good because does good (as Muslims claim) so if Allah does evil too, then obviously he is evil too, meaning evil is part of his nature. So Muhammad's allah strikes me a transcendent supernatural schitzo, I cannot accept that such a 2 face inconsistent deity can be the true one.
3. Islam is the only religion that I know of that actually sanctifies deceit. In practically every other religion dishonesty of any kind is considered totally unacceptable, but not in Islam as it's doctrines of Taqiya and Kithman make very clear. But what should we expect as according to Muhammad Allah is the "greatest deceiver". How 1.3 billion people (and counting) on this planet can put their faith in such an untrustworthy god is something I can't wrap my head around. This religion is no doubt Satan's most successful brainchild, his greatest masterpiece.
4. The man Muhammad. He was a lying, thieving, murdering rapist and paedophile, and all this is extensively documented in Muslim sacred literature, and to top it off he gleefully committed these atrocities without a hint of remorse. Seriously even Buddah and Krishna surpass him in the morality stakes.
Now I realize this sounds like a very Christian polemical response to Islam but because Islam is the youngest of the major world religions I already have other literature, world figures and deities to compare with the Quran, Muhammad and his allah. Yes there is all the usual objections of violence and hatred towards kuffar, but once you get deep into the theology you'll find that all this evil in Islam can be justified and that there is a loophole for any sin you can imagine. And that's what makes Islam different not only from Christianity but from everything else. There is just no absolute gage for what is right and wrong, there is no concrete basis for ethics, not even it's deity.
There's also the element of logic. I know that the Bible has some "unbelievable" stories but I must say that it's still the most believable book of the lot.
What would you say to someone who asked a question like this?
I would answer as I did above, name the problems I have with other religions and then I'll drop the bomb on what makes Christianity truly unique:
In every other religion you have to save yourself, well what you're really doing is appealing to the mercy of the god/goddess so that he/she will take pity on you and choose not to destroy you. In Christianity, more correctly in Christ, it is God who took the initiative to save us when we didn't even ask for it, and He did so by doing the unthinkable - dying for us out of sheer 100% pure love. And then coming back to life, thereby reassuring us that even if it seems like He won't come through, He will, that we can trust Him completely because He fulfilled His promises.