Before We Discuss Whether God Exists, I Have A Question

[Jenny A]

Jenny, I think where people may be getting hung up is that having hope is part of having faith. The 2 go hand in hand. There is no concrete proof that God exists, but we *hope* that He does.

Of course, if it was somehow made 100% clear that God indeed was not real, there would be no reason to hope anymore and I would just face the reality. But as everyone knows, It's almost impossible to disprove a negative and probably impossible to disprove the existance of God. So there will always be room for faith and hope, and people will keep hoping.

But that is exactly the point of my question.  Discussing the existence of something when one person is emotionally invested in belief through faith and the other only wants to believe in it if it's actually true, is not a dicussion, it's a conversation attempt.  And with relatives, it's likely to lead to a guilt trip as well.  So, it's a conversation I'd really rather not have.  The point of my question is to avoid the conversion altogether.

Not that I mind debate. I rather like it.  But that isn't what conversations with faithful relatives leads to.