/sci/ - Science & Math

>>6163357
First step to winning your audience will be to pull out a few good arguments /against/ atheism. If you can't hold a subject well enough to defend it, you cannot defend against it. It also makes you "sympathetic," which allows much more leeway while you present.

As to actual arguements, you have to be systematic without being aggressive. There are a few tactics, but I'll give you a quick runthrough of the one I use whenever I need to end a debate.

1: endearment (agreeing that they might be right). For instance, the universe is self consistent. Everything inside our universe requires coming from something else, all the way back to the big bang (avoid using the big bang as a baseline theory as opposed to a single slide, there's a lot of defense around it). For the universe to exist, there has to be something that exists outside of our laws and understanding that can exist absolutely. This could easily be interpreted to be God.

2: Gently attack preconceptions. The first preconception that all people hold is that they are /right/, and that everyone else either agrees or is wrong. To loosen this (which I assume is your goal in giving the presentation), point out how many major religions there are (include dead historical religions), how many branches each religion has, and even then there's dissent in the church over details (add buzzwords in quick succession without focusing on any particular to add impact without pulling up defenses) Avoid saying that any of these are wrong.

3: Introduce the concept of athiesm as a theoretical possibility. ("But what if they were all wrong? What if these Gods they worship were all created by people? What would you believe") Avoid saying that it is right at this stage (only imply it later if that's the point you're trying to make), and avoid tying it into evolution as much as possible. Also try to bring up agnosticism, and define it separately.

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