When to debate religion

[Mahou]

You can't debate Ray Comfort he is a moron .

And yet people do. See, this is my point, right here.

[charlou]

Watching several clips of Dillahaunty debating a few years back is what initially grabbed my attention and ultimately led to deconversion. If I hadn't seen those clips posted on a random music forum I was visiting, I'd still be a believer. So yes, debate helps. Hearing your prized views questioned by an intelligent dissenting voice might not sway you right away, but it will definitely plant a seed. I think we should speak up and debate whenever possible, but also in a courteous tone appropriate to the situation. Don't be a dick by forcing the issue or insinuating that believers are silly/deluded. If you want to have an impact, politely give your reasons for doubting if someone asks you, and be prepared to ask a few tough questions of your own in response. You won't sway people in a single conversation, but you can definitely get the cogs in their head turning.

I agree with you as this has been my experience too .. but I also think persuasion to change a way of thinking takes different forms for different people. One of those seeds you describe came to me in the form of childhood peer ridicule (which was unpleasant at the time, but I'm now grateful for) and one thing I gleaned during that ridicule was the revelation that not everyone is raised with religion, not everyone believes in God ... Such a simple thing, yet so important in planting a seed of doubt in the environment of misguided, misinformed dogma in which I was raised .. It was an early stage in the alteration of my world view .. To run with your metaphor, it opened my mind a crack, allowing further information to infiltrate like light and which has allowed the various seeds, planted in various ways over the years, to eventually germinate or be culled, with reasoning.

[Tero]

Well, the entertainment value. I used to like yanking their cahin. But...

...and those videos were boring. I have not learned anything from any sides of any videos that I could not figure out myself.

[Blondie]

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