(August 6, 2010 at 6:30 pm)HeyItsZeus Wrote: I was raised Roman Catholic since birth and have believed in the teachings of the bible because I have been told it is the only way. My parents are always trying to push their Christian ideals on me and it bothers me a lot. I try to have discussions with my father and debate with him but whenever I throw something at him(not literally) it's like it doesn't count. There is no convincing a grown theist, is there? It's always the same with theist: It's true cuz it is.Because you're their 15 year old son and they're your parents, they're not going to view any of your opposing thoughts seriously. They're just going to ignore it for one reason or another and assume their opinions are better informed.
Attempting to convince them of anything is going to be an uphill battle mostly because they're going to try to preach to you before they bother to actually listen to you, assuming they even get that far.
(August 6, 2010 at 6:30 pm)HeyItsZeus Wrote: What do I do to get past the wall of irrational thought and convince them once and for all? Are there any arguments I could use?
Mostly, you just need to establish communication with them and make sure they listen to what you say.
Make all of your points as rationally as possible. Never resort to logical fallacies. Most importantly, let them make their points, but If all they do is try to talk over you, then the conversation is already over because they've already decided to not listen to you.
Pick your battles with them and don't confront them - if they want to debate with you, let them come to you.
Finally, just be calm, rational, and think critically about the points they make. You'd be surprised at how easy they are to counter. Just know your facts from fiction and you'll do fine.
