This

You go dude. I'm sick of the public restroom preachers.

We don't need logic. Logic is a rule bound to humans, not God.

Let me tell you two pieces of good information. 1.I even as a Christian never stop a real jerkwad from making an ass out of himself. The reason is if they do not understand something then they ask or be made a fool of then learn. Just how it is in life. Sure i will help my friends or people who welcome my help. 2. To not be persecuted or if people try i tell them how it is. It is funny as they have nothing left to say. God of your own choosing. As i have my own ideas that i think are just that. The bible i have to point out to them is a tool. You do not need it to be a good person but as this is important when people ever question me as that is rarely. The bible has really good stuff to help people live life. It is a book and i know people might argue it is more than that. Holy book word of god man transcribed it and lately revisions as scholars look at it. Since i can only read it in English i have to make due. That way people make those choices for them. They find god and find fellowship to help them in problems life troubles or to just figure a path in the forest so be it. Take it for what it is and remember it is a personal commitment and choice. Defending Christian faith as a whole? Not sure as many of the branches do things that just do not jive with how i think they act. I met people who could memorize whole passages from the bible. Then forget them and do as they please. You cannot be responsible nor can the Christians as a whole be responsible for people who know an answer then do the wrong thing or they do not care. Thus if you want to do the same thing and expecting different results you got to change. Thus i think the op is blowing something out of proportions. I mean not every christian is running around trying to recruit people just chatting about a bit of god. Atheist grow the hell up and just smile nod be polite and listen then move on close the door ect. Op needs to find out you cannot force people to find god. They have to take that journey themselves and it will come in times they are in real need. Oh they forget about him when things are great. Then oh they praying for god. Crisis prayer has a weak chance unless you back it up with faith. Personally people should figure stuff on their own and the world can be a harsh place. Sometimes finding god can help you when the chips are down. As for the people who say they represent the Christian faith. I pray to god not some man in a pope mobile.

Religion is mocked because it has no basis in fact or truth. Religious people are mocked because they believe it. And rightly so.

I agree, sound reasoning should be a fundamental concern for everyone regardless of context and time. The biggest issue that I see from those who oppose Christianity (and other religions in general) is their reasoning is also plagued by logical fallacies, therefore preventing substantive discussion. I see [i]ad hominem[/i] attacks, [i]appeal to ridicule[/i] , [i]appeal to shame[/i] ,[i]genetic fallacies[/i], [i]begging the question[/i], [i]appeal to popularity[/i], [i]false dichotomy[/i], and the list goes on. The other descrepency concerns the quality of such conversations in terms of the presupposed 'systems' or methods being used. Much of religious criticism on this forum is largely based on the mainstream "new-Atheism" movement (Hawking, Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris), which lacks considerably in terms of philosophical sophistication to the point of complete logical incoherence at times. As for Christians, I believe they too need to be more logically rigorous - they need to establish systematic arguements more effectively, laying out each premise, anticipating and resolving possible counterarguements, etc. However, where I see both sides of the debate lacking is in the fact that discussion is being had almost exclusively within metaphysics. This means talking about various phenomena in terms of "beings" or "things". These are metaphysical contructions and imply the existence of an [i]imposing[/i] subject ("I") which, in some way and to some degree, constitutes the phenomena around them - all of reality more generally. Additionally, metaphysics relies on [i]principles[/i] or [i]grounds[/i] for reality, which means the foundation by which reality is understood in terms of its structure. The most destructive problem concerning metaphysical thought is precisely these principles/conditions because, again, they are what [i]determine[/i] the objects of experience/phenomena in a variety of ways. So one must then ask, "How are we to have any truth concerning empirical reality and rational reason, as both are guided by these principles?" What results is an inherently nihilistic system which distorts all phenomena, and in some cases, completely permits us from dicussing others which are so obviously part of everyday human life (Love, emotion, death, the nothing, boredom, etc.). The point is to understand that arguing via metaphysics is very misguided to the extent that certain phenomena cannot be properly, if at all, discussed. God is one such case because, from the perspective of Christianity, every time one attempts to fix an attribute to Him they immediately limit God, thus committing idolotry (speaking of false gods). Hence, this is the reason why I mentioned in a seperate post that God must be explained according to experience (via phenomenology), not metaphysics which necessarily limits and therefore betrays Him. Experience is where religious faith truly begins for many people, not rational arguementation - thus, it is infinitely more substantive to have such discussions within this realm. I'm well aware that an extremely great percentage of forum users are not philosophical trained - my polite suggestion to those of you who are not versed in these matters is you need not attempt to criticize things which you do not understand. Asking questions is fine, but name calling, mockery, and poor logic are worthless. Here's my thoughts. I hope substantive conversation will be the aim for people wishing to discuss these matters.

I don't care what people believe in, so long as it doesn't interfere with other people's lives. If people want to learn about your beliefs they will seek you out. But forcing your beliefs into people's lives when it is unwanted and uncalled for is where I take offense. Preaching one's beliefs on/in a public space without public consent is an open invention for conflict. It's disrespectful to everybody and that kind of behavior reflects upon the preachers along with their "god's word".

You complain about lack of reasoning and logic in threads, but your entire religion(s) have an even greater lack of such reasoning and logic.

Jesus was in fact a genius. Remember when everyone in the town wanted to stone the adulter and he told the crowd: "Then let he who is without sin cast the first stone"? He set them up. If anyone tried to stone the woman, they would be in fact saying that they are perfect and without blame therefore, making them God. Which to them was a sin to consider ones self God. That really struck me the other day when i heard it. The fact he saved the woman through wit and cunning amazed me... My point is that if we as Christians are supposed to follow Him and liken ourselves to Him, we should in fact be logical people!

God is defined by people who believe there is some greater power at work... Truth is [spoiler]there is no God[/spoiler]

As a semi-well adjusted person who also happens to be Christian I just sit back and let people live their lives. I laugh at the zealots on both sides and go about my day. Does it really bother people that much that some other people believe in God? Does it really bother Christians that there are people that disagree with their views? Does it affect either party in the slightest that the other exists? If you read the forums the overwhelming answer to all three of these questions is yes but I've yet to figure out why.

God doesn't exist.