As Pertaining to Debating with Atheists

I'm afraid this is going to be more a rant than a lecture.

About a month ago, I decided to join a debate forum. I was tired of people getting offended for what I said, and I was especially tired of people running and hiding as soon as I tried to discuss anything. Okay, this is mainly my fault. I kind of have this way of saying everything I know about the subject in five minutes so that by the time I'm done, people are so sick of hearing about it that they leave. I was excited to start debating with other people that would actually listen and argue back. My favorite thing to debate about, however, is theology. Unfortunately, this forum didn't have too many Christians on it. Even the section for talking about religion was mostly atheists coming in and telling everyone that they're nuts. After even a couple days of this degrading way atheists talk about Christianity, I couldn't stand it. I left. However, it has gotten me to think why it is so hard to debate religion with atheists.

1. In my experience with atheists, it seems that many of them grew up in a Christian family. Having had this background, many of them have all the arguments, and they can even pick out instances in the Bible to use against you. For example, someone told me that they would never want to become a Christian because the God of the Old Testament was very harsh, cruel, and unjust. Well, nevermind the fact that they're completely missing the point of the whole Old Testament, but they had enough background to make these conclusions.
2. They're fighting not only against you as a Christian but also against themselves. All people innately have a sense of needing a supreme being. All people also innately have a sense that they are separated from that supreme being. Because of the fall, we are indeed separated from God. All people (even Christians) try to do things to bridge the gap that is between God and man. Think of the Tower of Babel. The people were building a tower up to heaven, signifying that they thought that they could bridge that gap between their God and themselves on their own. Well, believe it or not, atheists also have those feelings. Instead of making the real God their God, they make nature itself and man their god. So, even though they would never admit to worshipping themselves, they are indeed trying to bridge the gap between what they know to be higher than they. All that to say, when they're telling you that there isn't a God, they're having to ingrain that into themselves also.
3. Atheists, in general, tend to be very dogmatic. You are wrong. Even if you're right, you're still wrong. They have all the "good arguments" under their belt, and they know how to use them. They know the weaknesses of Christianity (in natural wisdom), and they know how to use them against Christians. They believe whole-heartedly in science. They have to see everything for themselves. Christians don't. Doesn't that seem a little strange to them?
4. Atheists, for the most part, are very logical people. They've worked out the logic in their arguments, and they know how to use them. Christianity, on the other hand, is not ever going to appear logical to the natural mind. Atheists see this, and use it against Christians. As I said before, they know the "weak" part of the plan (though we know there isn't actually a weak part).
5. It all comes down to faith. Even though atheists think they can see and know everything by science, they actually can't. They don't actually know everything. They don't know for sure that it rained for 2.7 million years to fill up the oceans, and they didn't know that there was a "big bang." Believe it or not, they weren't actually there to see it. Even if they claim they were, I don't know if they could survive the rain that long. :) However, on the other hand, we have Christianity. We, too, have to have faith. Much more so than atheists (though I'm beginning to think that it would take a whole lot more faith to believe atheism). We must have faith that we don't have to see everything. We can definitely (and should!) think about things, but when it comes down to whether you believe in God or not, that comes down to whether or not you are in Christ.
6. Okay, I can't be totally hard on atheists. I know that many Christians use pretty puny arguments against them, causing them to think that Christians are these loony, weak people that believe in some guy named Jesus. It is going to seem absurd to them, and when Christians use some not-so-great arguments against them, it's going to confirm their suspicions. Think deeply before you talk to them. Can you fully explain what you are talking about? Do you know what you believe? How do you know what you believe? Don't forget that for the most part, atheists do know what they believe in, why they believe it, how they believe it, and how to defend themselves. You aren't going to convince them because that comes down to faith, but if you represent Christianity to them as being some organization for people who need help, you're not going to be doing a single good thing for them. If you just stand there with a blank face while they're lecturing you, it's only going to confirm it in their mind that the theory of evolution is far superior.
7. Talk to them out of love. <---One of my biggest problems I face when debating. Don't forget you're representing Christianity to them. If you get all hussled up, they're going to see that you can't defend yourself. If you just start shouting at them with no logic, their suspicions are going to be confirmed. Be patient and listen to them. Don't just bark back at them. Think. Show the love of Christ to them by how you speak to them. Don't get mad at them.

To sum this all up, I just want to say that atheists (in my opinion) are some of the absolute hardest people to deal with, but I also have to remember that it's not my work that's going to get anyone saved. It's God's work. Faith.