You have to understand the mindsets. I assume you're talking about Christians, so you have to realize that they are going to believe what they believe in spite of what they see. Some of them would rather die than disbelieve, though admittedly such knights are becoming more rare.
And then there's the problem of Jesus. Atheists like Bill Maher like to pretend Jesus never existed, but that's a pretty new view. Everyone has always assumed given the various gospels out there from antiquity and the impact on the world, and the face value of the four gospels of the New Testament, that Jesus probably existed. And the stuff Jesus says, if a person will just read it for themselves, is so anarchist, so inflamatory, so elitist, so uncompromising, so violent, and so courageous, and so monarchical (in the sense of being above the law and even justice for that matter) that it remains highly attractive to those who still care about "character."
And Jesus assumes the existence of God. Even more powerfully, he doesn't devote one word to trying to "prove" his "Father's" existence to anyone.
So, you have that to contend with.
Then there is always the possibility that atheism just doesn't work either. Most Christians no longer believe God is a man in the sky. They really think of God more as a spiritual entity responsible for the creation of the world and intimately involved with all of His creation. So, when you say God doesn't exist, you hit a definition problem. Of course the man with a white beared sitting on a throne doesn't exist--all Christians know that, and they know that's symbolic language. So, they see atheists who beat up on "idiot Christianity" as kind of idiots themselves.
When it comes to disproving a "Creator," you're in for an uphill battle, because you really don't know. No one does. No one knows how the universe started, and if it didn't start, how it came to exist at all (without infinite regress). No one has a clue how gravity works or why energy comes in little quantums. All atheism can do is speculate that it might be something other than a conscious supernatural creator, but they have nothing to put in place of it, and that can never convince a believer.
And then there's the problem of Jesus. Atheists like Bill Maher like to pretend Jesus never existed, but that's a pretty new view. Everyone has always assumed given the various gospels out there from antiquity and the impact on the world, and the face value of the four gospels of the New Testament, that Jesus probably existed. And the stuff Jesus says, if a person will just read it for themselves, is so anarchist, so inflamatory, so elitist, so uncompromising, so violent, and so courageous, and so monarchical (in the sense of being above the law and even justice for that matter) that it remains highly attractive to those who still care about "character."
And Jesus assumes the existence of God. Even more powerfully, he doesn't devote one word to trying to "prove" his "Father's" existence to anyone.
So, you have that to contend with.
Then there is always the possibility that atheism just doesn't work either. Most Christians no longer believe God is a man in the sky. They really think of God more as a spiritual entity responsible for the creation of the world and intimately involved with all of His creation. So, when you say God doesn't exist, you hit a definition problem. Of course the man with a white beared sitting on a throne doesn't exist--all Christians know that, and they know that's symbolic language. So, they see atheists who beat up on "idiot Christianity" as kind of idiots themselves.
When it comes to disproving a "Creator," you're in for an uphill battle, because you really don't know. No one does. No one knows how the universe started, and if it didn't start, how it came to exist at all (without infinite regress). No one has a clue how gravity works or why energy comes in little quantums. All atheism can do is speculate that it might be something other than a conscious supernatural creator, but they have nothing to put in place of it, and that can never convince a believer.
