You will never win this argument.
The winning answer is always "I believe..."
What gets me is that almost all if not all of the "major" religions essentially say the same two things-
Don't kill people, and don't screw people over.
For myself, I have deduced that there is no reliable way to tell which religion, if any is "correct".
Therefore I submit that the intelligent philosophy is to admit that.
I do believe that there is a certain order to the way things happen, but this could be "big nature" just as easily as an "intelligent creator". In fact, they may be one and the same.
I find it fascinating that those who believe Christianity the most, seem to be the least concerned with respect for a habitable planet and the most eager to kill or ostracize others that do not believe the exact same way.
It's almost as if they read the book over and over, but still do not get the meaning.
Something else that's often overlooked is that the particular book in question was translated how many times?
...and even rewritten by a king, perhaps to more closely follow his own personal beliefs.
If you understand the way the human brain works (OK, at least a cursory understanding), you can see how easily the manufacture of "gods" to explain all sorts of things, including human behavior, really is.
Again, I submit- don't kill people, and don't screw people over.
I do not need the threat of eternal damnation to live by those simple rules.
