They get frustrated because the can't think of an answer.

Because everyone is right.

I don't believe in any form of deity either, but you have to keep in mind how important it would be to you if you did. It's fundamental to their world view and as such anything that might question it will be taken very seriously. I've found for the most part that if you tread lightly and respectfully most people of faith will discuss it resonably - frankly I've found just as many atheists to be prone to hysterics on such matters.

I have no idea, perhaps you are not very respectful to others when you are discussing theology?

Why do you get a kick out of this? Because you like to get a rise out of people. It's that same old domination complex that humans have always had. Why do they get mad? Because they can't win the argument. I've always wondered why some Chrisitians would even enter such a debate. Why not just say, "I live by faith alone"? If a Christian enters into such an argument, then it is understood that he accepts that reason will be the mediator between himself and the atheist. Am I wrong?

I am a devout Catholic and I have been in many arguements with Atheists and non-atheists over religion. Depending on how the other person comes into the discussion depends on my reaction. I get about as worked up as the other person does UNLESS what the person is saying is personally offending me. Some people come into these arguements completely close minded. I come in with an open mind, or at least try to. Not nesecarily saying every time I get into one of these discussions I change my opinions but I try to see the other persons point of view. The person I am debating with doesn't always have the same outlook on the discussion. This is what gets me worked up. Especially when they bring out the big guns: "Well your church did this..." Oh, come on, like 2000 years of a religion can't have a few mistakes. OK shutting up I'm starting to ramble.

I sometimes feel that people get worked up because they are insecure in their beliefs. Challenge, questions and debate are healthy, they get us to delve deeper into our belief-system.

Perhaps you love getting into arguments because being an athiest it cost you nothing. Why not get into a discussion about something that matters to you and find out the answer to your own question. People who have religious faith are really sick to death of people who want to discuss religion merely so that they can ridicule or prove their intellectual superiority to religious people. Find some other way to amuse yourself.

The problem is that people IDENTIFY with their beliefs. There's a big difference between having a view about something and defining one's identity in terms of that view. When someone holds a view "correctly", they're able to engage in lively and creative discussions about it, turn it around in the dialog and view the topic from different angles, and learn or grow their own perspective in the process. When someone holds a view "incorrectly" (identifying with it), they lose this mental freedom, and become enslaved by the view -- they're "sentenced" to defending and promoting the view at all times, because the view is considered to be equivalent to themselves: "this view IS myself, and I must survive". Thus our millions of years of fight-or-flight instinct gets co-opted to work on behalf of something which is actually quite irrelevant to our survival. It's the source of most conflicts and wars, too... as long as we're on the topic. A subtle but crucial mistake made billions of times each day by human beings.

I just think it's not something most people can be objective about. Most people feel very strongly about their beliefs and they also want to impress upon you the seriousness of your decision to reject God. To them it is literally a matter of life and death not righ or wrong. If I were you I'd try not to belittle their beliefs and try to make them feel like they are stupid for having faith in a God they cannot prove to exist. If you like the trill of the debate I suggest you either chage topics or limit your discussions to J.W.'s. They have a vast knowledge of "facts" to back up their beliefs and take up to 5 classes a week just to learn how to debate with non-believers without showing any passion whatsoever.

I will start by saying I do not believe in a "god" All anyone can do is believe. You either believe a god exists or you don't believe a god exists. Once you prove a god exists/doesn't exist then you can't believe a god exists/doesn't exist any more, so it creates a never ending argument. Also faith is based on belief so once you prove a god exists how can you have faith in a god any more? (proof denies faith etc) Concluding the answer AAAAARRRRRRRGGHHHHHHHHHH (scream) (vomit)

i love to get into arguments with religios peoplr because it always end with them speachless and so worked u about it that they cant talk straight but all athiests i know includeing me see religios people as brian washed since most the time they were born into it and have a closed mind like there parents and it makes my temper rise and my blood boil to know that there waisting the only life theyll ever get and not to mention all the money that could go to research for medicine to prolong life witch is much better than a fat man in a wierd hat praying for you and medicine when ever doctors save a life they thank god but it was athiests that made medicine and the wheel and fire and cars trians guns bombs houses microwaves paper ink discovered that the sun is the center not use and it was athiests that discovered the lawes of physics and it pisses me the hell off that they thank god when somthing good happens when it was mjan that did it.... sorry i got carried away ive done forgot what i was typeing about o well

I guess it just goes to show how passionate people are about what they believe. It's hard not to be reactive. Sounds like you are in the minority! I have a question for you. As an athiest, do you say that you believe in nothing? Or do you not believe in God yet you believe in something alternative.... I wonder if people get their dander up when they believe in "something" as opposed to believing in "nothing" (and this is not meant to be insulting to you at all)

Please learn to spell the word ATHEIST, ATHEIST: 1571, from Fr. athéiste (16c.), from Gk. atheos "to deny the gods, godless," from a- "without" + theos "a god" (see Thea). A slightly earlier form is represented by atheonism (c.1534) which is perhaps from It. atheo "atheist."

There's many people that discuss these controversial topics in a reasonable way. I'd say you just haven't connected with the right people.

i think religious wars are stupid. its like fighting over who has the better imaginary friend.

Different people, different reasons. Many I would guess just don't like to have their faith questioned if they think that is central to who they are as a person. I can't see the point of it as the dispute is one that cannot be proven one or the other.

God is real. Science proves nothing...bring your debate here.

Probably because most atheists instead of debating the existence of God use the term "debate" to undermine and demean those who believe. A debate does not include calling someone a fool for believing in the invisible sky man.

I hate to tell you this but that only means you are rather wishy washy. Suppose a Nazi comes into your house in full uniform and tells you with a smirk that he can pick anyone in your household and torture and kill them and there's not a thing you can do about it. He then signals the guard, who drags your mother out, screaming. Chances are, because you are so intimately affected by this, that you are unable to calmly discuss his position relative to yours and instead are horrified, you scream, you want to lunge at his throat. Many people on both sides of abortion or God debates, for instance, feel just as much is at stake in arguments about these deeply held beliefs.

they will swallow it back in some years

Believers know in their 'hearts' that their belief in invisible spirit(s) is as childish as belief in any other mythical, fictitious character. However, they have spent a lifetime going to church, donating money, praying, socializing with other church members, and they have become entrenched in the rituals and ceremonies. To admit that they've been foolish and gullible would mean losing the weekly rituals, their friends, possibly even their jobs and their families.   Moreover, the most fervent have engineered their lives around the expectation of an additional life, after they die. Now they find themselves confronting the absurdity of believing they will magically rise from their graves and float up into the sky to a magical place where everybody sits around doing nothing and smiling.  

I think it's because people that care enough about religion to debate it are very passionate about what they feel. Three thing people get fired up about. Religion, politics and race.

Because the stakes are so very high. If you are an atheist, you are looking at it from the point of view of there is no God, so this is just an interesting exercise. But for those of us who believe in God, your immortal soul is at stake. There really is a God. He really does rule the universe. He really did sacrifice Himself for you. He really does want you to have all of heaven. He really does love you. He really has given us the charge to love you too. And if we love you, we don't want to see you get it wrong, separate yourself from all that is good, loving and beautiful and end up in a really horrible place. I'm not sure what hell looks like. I think the descriptions in the Bible are allegorical because Hell is so bad that we can't describe it. Personally, my own vision of Hell is described nicely by Ground Control to Major Tom. I envision Hell as endlessly floating in the blackness of space, separated from God and from love and from fellowship: endlessly lonely and alone with myself. That isn't where I want to be. I want to be where there is light and laughter and love. And I'd rather you got there too. When people get worked up over religion, its another way of saying they love you.