Be prepared. The best way to survive an argument with another person who disagrees with you is to be ready to handle any barrage of questions that may be thrown at you. Be ready to state relevant facts, and back these statements up to the best of your ability with further relevant information. Assess the belief and knowledge of your opponent before diving in. Are they atheist or agnostic, hard or soft? What made them choose to believe what they believe? Remember that many atheists were raised to be religious. They have knowledge of religion and have chosen to reject it. They may view your explanations as condescending. Get your facts straight. A factual and logical approach is often used by someone who is trying to persuade you to accept their point of view. Do not fight fire with fire, in doing so you are pleasing the opposing person because they enjoy the argument in the process of it happening. Listen to what they have to say eventually they will run out of ideas, and you may use a caring approach towards the other person. Ask relevant questions, as well as answer any the atheist might have. A tactic an atheist might use is to start asking you questions that will generate a

response that he wants, he will then use this response, in connection to future questions he will ask, to prove an illogical point. For example: Is God good? Yes. Who made everything? God. So God made Satan? Yes. If God is good, then why did he make something evil? If you are asked a question, answer it, but then immediately ask your own as soon as possible. Some questions include, "Why do you feel the extensive need for proof?" Be honest. Try to avoid saying anything that's pretentious (such as suggesting that their atheism is a result of feeling that religion had failed them in someway in their past), as this is unlikely to go down well with the other person. Admit that you don't claim to have "evidence" or "proof" that God exists, but that your belief is based on faith - if this is the case. The other person is then far more likely to show you respect. Know often atheists will not be the ones to bring up the subject of religion to argue about it. Atheists discussing religion is usually in response to a theists trying to preach to them, criticize them, or pass judgment on them. You respect their beliefs, and respect the rights of others, and they will treat you with respect. Try

to keep an open mind. If the atheist sparks a sense of logic or a questioning of faith in you, don't resist this new found sense of the world and try to learn a bit more about it. Remember the golden rule. If the other person is receptive to your beliefs, then great! But remember that they are most likely going to be annoyed. Consider their situation: how would you feel if someone came up to you and tried to convert you to Greek polytheism? You'd be annoyed by the nonsense of the person's arguments, and that's exactly how atheists feel. If the above steps don't help, consider dropping the discussion/argument altogether. Sometimes it's just not possible to reach a mutually agreeable point of view with someone else - no matter how hard you try. If you find that this is the case, you are likely to find that changing the subject altogether is the best course of action - as that way it'll help prevent further conflict and negative feelings on both sides.