"All Christianity concentrates on the man at the crossroads" G.K. Chesteron

In his book, Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton explains the difference between Eastern philosophy/religion and Western philosophy/Christianity by focusing on fatalism versus free will.  To those who believe in pantheism ("all is God") or panentheism ("all is in God"), "existence is a science or a plan, which must end up a certain way." (p. 128)  After all, without separation between God and man, what use is there in trying to change anything, what hope is there in reform?  Thus the Buddhist ends up denying existence and seeking to extinguish it rather than trying to change it.  Christianity (and by with it Western philosophy) views life differently, "to a Christian existence is a story, which may end up in any way."  Thus the focus upon the crossroads, it matters a great deal which road a man takes in life because God has created man to have life and being of his own, to be able to choose to not do what God wants, and to be able to choose to love God.  Without freewill, and you can't have freewill without a transcendent (separate) God, what's the purpose of anyone's life?
This may seem like an area of interest only to philosophy or comparative religion students, but in reality, our attitudes about our place in this world and our relation to God have profound effects upon how seriously we take our personal responsibility for the choices we make.  With every horrific act of violence reported on TV due to the latest shooting or suicide bombing, people want more and more to believe that evil is something abnormal in the human brain.  It is only the "crazy" people who do such things we tell ourselves as we search for what went wrong in someone's life to turn them into such a madman.  Evil is choice, the vast majority of evil in our world is the result of the mundane choices to choose evil or good on the part of ordinary people.
Christianity offers an alternative road.  Jesus stands at the crossroad, holding up a sign that says, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)  Will people pass him by, laughing at the guy who hasn't realized yet that life is meaningless?  Will they stop, look to Jesus, and allow him to lead them down a new path?  It makes all the difference in the world which path we take.  You see, "all of Christianity concentrates on the man at the crossroads."