1. That's not MY God or Religion you're criticising

Comment #82071 by michael1 on October 25, 2007 at 4:13 pm

When speaking to christians inparticular it is vital to begin debate by doing what comment #2 suggests: asking them to define what they mean by 'god'. As many of you may have found, this simple request will usually occupy most of the discussion as christians tend to believe in a range of definitions of their creator, such is the nature of a sectarian belief system. For many this will be the first time anyone, other than themselves, have questioned their most basic belief and their response is usually quite enlightening to non believers as it, invariably, will soon become apparent that they know very little about their own traditions and beliefs. If they, as most do, believe that god is omniescent, omnipotent and omnipresent then it is quite easy to use their own bible to refute these claims as there are numerous intances within the text which contradict this belief: Genesis 3:9 & 11:5 or Job 1:7 just off the top of my head. Using their own sacred scripture can sometimes be a more effective debating strategy than just plain old fashioned logic, for obvious reasons. I must say here that if atheists do engage believers in religious debate it is a good idea to know a thing or two about their relgion and its origins. It doesn't take much effort to learn some key biblical contradictions/history and can have a tremendous effect particularly with the tepid casual believer. It is perhaps the worst kept secret that most christians have absolutely no clue as to the origins and specifics of their faith and therefore when confronted will react, sometimes infuriatingly, by burying their head in the sand until you go away or relying on the age old cop out of 'well that's just what i believe' to avoid having to publicly acknowledge their adherence to fallacy. Not surprising really, if i worshipped a half naked man nailed to a piece of wood I'd probably be a bit embarrassed once the wool was pulled from my eyes.
It is important to always keep them defining their beliefs and insist that they verify them using scripture. This is the easiest way to expose the utter nonsense that is contained in the text and move the discussion from 'my god isn't like that' to 'why do you believe in this rubbish?'. This can also be a very effective tactic with theologians as they, in order to appear intelligent and rational, have to move the debate as far away from a scriptural basis as possible and into the realms of grandiose religious theory. Once they proclaim to be using logical reasoning, which (amazingly) they frequently do, any reference to the litany of illogical and contradictory biblical passages will expose their window dressed arguments for what they are. Of course we must also always insist that they confirm that god is infallable and that the bible is the authoritative word of god. Agreeing to these two beliefs is a guarantee that your debate will at least be factually and logically successful. Unfortunately, as we all know, the faithful have an uncanny ability to ignore the most obvious truth to protect their fragile beliefs from such absurdities as logic, facts and common sense.
So when a christian insists 'that's not my god your criticising' ask THEM a bit about this god they believe in. THEY are the one's making the incredible claims and therefore THEY have the burden of proof, so make THEM prove it. Reason will triumph every time.