[quote=DuMaurier]It’s very difficult because atheists are generally close minded in a sense, although they like to consider themselves free thinkers. They force you to play by their rules by demanding proof through experiment or scientifically testable hypothesis. They have bound themselves around this mantra. However the scientific method was not developed to test the transcendant. For example you could say you love your mother and I could say “prove it”.

I find the most effective response is not to play by their rules at all. But make sure you are well guarded against their attacks and are strong in your faith. They attempt to bombard you with thousands of equally unprovable theories and conjectures about Christianity in order to make it nearly impossible for you to respond. So make sure you are knowledgeble in the faith before you engage in dialogue.

When you can defend your own position well then the atheist will come around naturally through his own personal experiences. Humans are by their nature religious beings. Atheists have simply lost touch with their spiritual sides through over rationalizations and philosophy.

You won’t convince everyone one so don’t despair if you fail. In the words of Francis of Assisi “Evangelize everyday. Use words only when necessary.” i.e. Live the faith and be a shining example for them.

[/quote]

You cleary have no idea what you are talking about. Here’s an effective principle: do not speak speculatively about an issue unless you know what you are talking about–otherwise you make yourself appear asinine, which you have accomplished rather well.

Human beings are by their nature psychologically primitive–we are not inherently religious per se. One can logically argue that no man is born with a religious belief, but that such beliefs are developed through societal upbringing and trauma. We have produced monumental innovations in science and mathematics, yet most human beings still claim to believe the same absurdities that people have been claiming to believe for over two-thousand years. People still claim to believe in angels, vampires, goblins, leprachauns, “ghosts”, santa claus, zombies, and so forth. And, even more absurd than the former, there are those who claim to believe that when they eat and drink a particular substance, that it mystically transforms into the body and blood of an alleged two-thousand year old dead man . . . .

Furthermore, you are presupposing that human beings possess a “spiritual side” without even knowing what a spirit is, which is blatantly illogical. What you really mean to express is that atheists are not religious. Simple. It’s not a matter of ignorance; it’s a matter of intelligibility. An atheist can logically argue that self-proclaimed “theists” have lost touch with their reason and better judgement–THEY CAN LOGICALLY DEMONSTRATE THIS–however, if you filp the coin, all that these self-proclaimed theists can say is that atheists are not religious and therefore cannot possibly understand what they are missing, whatever that may be. The major problem with theism is that it is vacuous, muddled, incoherent, and simply irrelevant at times, and therefore cannot be rationally defended. You make claims but your claims warrant no consideration. Let us assume for a moment that you are honest and possess an amount of intellectual integrity. If you cannot rationally, nor scientifically, defend what you believe, why bother believing it?