Here is my train of thought on this one.
Let’s say God doesn’t exist. Jesus is made up. The whole thing is just insecure humans contriving religions out of their lack of knowledge and science to know what is real or not. Let’s say all that is absolutely true.
But we also know that current humans contrive religious experiences out of their lack of knowledge and inability to reason. We know that humans love to follow and have a leader and purpose and meaning in their lives. They are going to pick something and pursue it.
So humans will pursue (probably haphazardly and poorly) their ambitions. This could be a mix or one of money, religion, their made up understanding of God, luxury, family, meaning, adventure, thrill or pleasure.
Which leads me to wonder…
Is there a better thing to pursue that Jesus? (I’m not talking about current manifestations of Christianity)
In what we know about Jesus through the stories told about him. Caring for the poor, hanging out with the outcast, political revolutionary, humble, just, loving, nonviolent and peaceful. Is there a better example out there of someone who humans should pursue? Is there a better option? Absolutely it’s true that even people who say they follow Jesus are just as bad as everyone else, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a bad option, it just means that people won’t and don’t choose the hard option of trying it (any harder than they do anything else).
But can anyone honestly say “you should really stop trying to follow this Jesus guy so much, it’s making the world worse.” You could say that easily about Christianity in its current form, but can you say that about Jesus? I’m not sure you can. I’m inclined to lean to the idea that Jesus is the best person/thing/ideaology to follow than anything else anyone else has come up with.