[Xujhan]

Promoting free thinking is certainly an option, and ultimately it's the goal I'm trying to reach, but I find it's almost impossible to get anywhere with it in a debate. If someone actually has the stones and the self-awareness to up and say "Okay, I see your point, I suppose my family and community have brainwashed me into believing this," then they probably didn't need me to point it out in the first place. I've certainly never run into anyone like that. Everyone wants to believe that their thoughts are their own.

Instead of simply suggesting the someone review their beliefs, arguing atheism actually forces them too, assuming they're a willing participant in the debate. One might argue that forcing a person to do something is wrong, but I don't think being forced to think does any harm. Either they retain their faith and wind up with a broader perspective, or they abandon their faith. Either way, they end up with more power over themselves from having honestly thought about it than they had before.

And as a slightly less relevant point, I do feel that atheism is the "ideal" belief, in that even free-thinking religion always carries the risk of devolving back into organized religion. I'm well aware that if humanity ever does reach a state of total atheism, it'll be many, many lifetimes after I'm dead and buried, but every time I hear another person come forward as being an atheist my hope for the future grows just a little more. That's only my personal belief though, and not something I try to throw in people's faces.