How to discuss religion with believers?

[Godscreated]

You are pushing against the religious because you see them as stubborn in their belief and yet you are doing the same thing you accuses them of doing, You can't do that and get anywhere. You say you do not believe in anything without proof stick around for a while and you'll be challenged on that statement, many things in science have no proofs and thus by your own words must reject them as you have God, welcome to the forum.

GC

Alll I perceive is the present physical reality, no more no less. Someone in the past tried to understand how this reality works, carried out experiments and discovered the fundamental laws that regulate everything and it turns out they actually work

Most of those people were Christians looking to explain God's creation. The reason you only experience the present physical reality is because it's all you have. until you come to know God it will be all you will ever know. Christians like myself have come to know the creator God and in that we can have an understanding from Him if we seek it. Many Christians blab about God did it without ever knowing what they are talking about, but the sensible Christian will set down and explain things to you. But if you use the references about God that you did in this post to me you will find most Christians pushing back at you for not having respect for their beliefs especially when you have no proof they are wrong.

How did everything come to life? I don't know. There are many theories around such as the big bang, which is the most "scientific", and then there is creationism, which is more abstract and magical.

I guess it might seem like magic to those who can't understand even to some Christians. However the correct word their is omnipotence, "all powerful." By the way if you are not as afraid as most of the atheist here you should seriously look into creation science you just might find yourself finding the truth you say you're looking for, if you are not afraid to.

What really puzzles me is how believers (no matter the religion) have this certainty that it was a magical being called god. Where do they get this confidence? Do they possess some kind of evidence I overlooked in my learning process? If so, can they share with me this personal evidence they uncovered?

Since I can't and want speak for other religions I will speak to the case of Christianity. Yes you have missed out by rejecting God and yes you have rejected God, you see there is no middle ground, you either believe or reject. Some people play at Christianity but they too have rejected Christ. Again if you want to truly get somewhere in understanding the truth of God from others, words like magical want help you, alienating people with disrespect will put you on the outside looking in. Like I said earlier find a Christian who will set down with you and explain what they know, but if proof is the only thing you will except then you are never going to get there. God gives proof to those who come to Christ and ask Him to show them truth, he will do it in His time for your good.

Also, assuming that we were created by some entity, where do they get the confidence it's the benevolent and magical god described in their book? Couldn't it be some impartial, neutral and uncaring being that just creates life and moves on?

Benevolent, show me in the Bible where that word or any phrase concerning that word is located. God is many awesome things but benevolent isn't one of them. God through His grace will show or give benevolence to individuals, but to be benevolent in the same way He is truth and love would limit Him in His work.

 I personally stated in the first line that I'm agnostic and I remain open to the possibility of both being plausible until conclusive evidence is shown. The difference is that believers are very confident in their statements. It's like they are in a hurry to discover the truth and would rather blindly accept some sketchy story now rather then question it and keep exploring.

When you use the words you have to describe the Christian God and then say you are open to the truth, well, you betray yourself and show that you only engage in discussions with Christians as a pass time, you even said so in this post to me. There is a world of evidence for God and the creation, but only to those who will take their blinders off and actually seek the truth. Of coarse we are confident, Paul tells the believer that we can have such confidence when we trust in God, I do and I have that confidence, it is unshakable. There is no fast track to the truth, it takes an open mind, patience and trust in God. I'm a questioning Christian and through that God has taught me many things, I ask and if He desires for me to have the answer I will receive it and I have been shown many amazing things. Why me, because I have trusted my life to God through Christ and want to sincerely know the real truths. You can't get truths from God until you accept Him as the truth and that my friend means accepting Christ as your savior. Sorry if you do not like that but that's the way it has to be, it is God's creation man has spoiled after all.

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Ultimately, to anyone who makes it their strong point that "science can't explain this, so it must be god", I'd like to add a "yet" in their sentence. Give it time, don't be in a hurry. I'd rather die questioning than blindly accept some farfetched story.

There you go again, far fetched story, you're betraying yourself again. Science will never explain everything because the science that you speak of is man made and man manipulated. God knows all, omniscient, He has all the truths, things that would blow our minds if explained to us, things we could never understand. About that "yet," I say the same thing when it comes to things we have not been able to explain that's in the Bible, so my yet holds the same weight as your's does. I have explained some things to you now it's up to you to search out the truth and it want happen on this forum, I've been here many years and I know what happens here. I came back from a rest that I've not finished to see what was happening and had no intentions of being in any discussions, I decided to for this one thread, but now I'm finished and will continue with my rest, yes that means I will have no further discussion with you about this thread, good luck in your search, i hope you can find a way to open your mind up to find the real truth.

GC

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... many things in science have no proofs...

I'm not sure you know what that means. The only thing science cares about is evidence. In scientific terms, proof is a term used to reference evidence that supports a theory not that it is an absolute sum of all knowledge. In theism, proof means that the evidence supports an absolute as the sum of all knowledge. The theists definition of proof does not actually exist in science.

The nuance is important. Not only does it have a completely different meaning in science and religion, but how the word is used in scientific terms distinguishes actual science from junk science.

Thus the problem with modern science, it doesn't seek absolute truth only that which supports what a given scientist wants to believe. As I said to Scientia, I will not be engaging in further discussions in this thread, I have a rest to finish.