It is better to live as a Christian than to live as an atheist.

Firstly, I do not stereotype all Christians as the same at all. My opening argument may have lacked some depth and just touched off topics but please don't mistake this for ignorance. Because the debate topic is so vast it is hard to pinpoint some details. Now, onto your points. I shall accept your take that you didn't find your life greatly enhanced through free practices as a personal opinion. However you say that "every Christian who used to be an atheist will generally feel more free after giving up their atheist freedoms than when they had them". If this is true than the only explanation I think of why it is so is because of fear. In a sense, Christian life is the easy option as there is a supposed explanation for everything and that you shouldn't worry about things because God will take care of everything. Also Christianity has rules whereas atheism doesn't. It just follows a more humanist way of life. I can see why Christianity would appeal to an atheist who is lost in life as atheism makes you stand on your own two feet and find things out for yourself whereas religion just gives you a superstitious explanation for everything and indirectly says that because of all these "explanations" you never have to think about or question such things again. This fear would come from the overwhelming freedom and different mindset that atheism gives you. Some people want to live life by a code and have things all laid out for them. That is the only reason why I feel an atheist would convert to Christianity, not because they suddenly believe in God, but because they are lazy to seek knowledge and I think their supposed "liberty" and "peace" are just substitute words for their relief, as they feel they don't have to question anything anymore and that SOME Christian ideas such as heaven simply sound a lot sweeter to them. This is very poor reasoning to convert and such conversion results in become like a child again, tied down with a superstitious explanation instead of standing on their own two feet and researching such things for themselves. This is a key reason why I favour the atheistic lifestyle, there is much more personal development involved under every aspect. "Starting with myself, my faith has never once dimmed my interest in science. Cosmology is as interesting to me as it is to my opponent. I am a great admirer of Neil deGrasse Tyson, and one of my favorite books is The Big Bang, by Simon Singh." This is great for you and I am not denying it here you are making more of a case for disproving Christian stereotyping than addressing the actual topic on hand. "I'm just saying that when my opponent crows about his interest in the origin of the universe, complete with an implication that religious people are not curious about the question, and don't care, or are even possibly forbidden from wondering" Of course Christians are curious about the origin of the universe, that is why they proposed the idea that God is the cause. Christians can be as curious as they like about it but it doesn't change the fact that their beliefs on the issue stem from superstitious explanations. Again you can talk all you like about your "intellectual freedoms" but at the end of the day (apart from it being nighttime) a Christian is not as intellectually free as an atheist as the religion holds a set of rules, teachings and supposed explanations to follow. Such a lifestyle ties people down and hinders a lot of freedom. "The difference between Augustine and an atheist is that an atheist sees no answers (or at least no good ones) when he asks tough questions about faith" I am sorry I do not follow. What do you mean by sees no good answers? Again, the fact that you have never felt punished by God for indulging such questions is great for you but again this goes against Christian ideology which teaches that you never have to question such things. We are after all dealing with Christian life vs Atheist life. Why does God deserve the right to judge us and control our life and death in such an often cruel and immoral way? I don't want to be owned and I think we all agree that ownership of people is a very immoral thing. Are you actually comparing human judgments to God judgements? Yes we judge a lot which has become just a natural part of life but WE don't send unbaptized babies to hell when they die, WE don't send homosexuals to hell when they die, we don't send people of other religions to hell for not believing in the Christian God. Granted, "every minute of the day" was more a use of hyperbole but it is the exact same principle as judging us a lot. If he is an almighty God then he surely is aware of all of our actions so the time window of when he judges us is irrelevant. "The Bible also depicts him spending his time doing a whole lot more. Teaching, or guarding, or guiding, or blessing, or planning, or giving advice" And what would such teaching be? Condemning homosexuals? E.g 2: Leviticus 20:13 "If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense." Or what about rejecting everything apart from God? E.g. 1: Luke 14 :26-27 26, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27, And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple". These are examples of God's supposed teachings. These are horribly immoral lessons taken from the bible, which is after all, the alleged word of God. Back to the topic on hand, these, among other immoral examples are all part of the text of Christianity which is then part of the Christian way of living. Granted the majority of Christians don't take such immoral passages literally as they have learned to cherry pick from the bible however I don't see how worshiping a God who has demonstrated cruelness, immorality and an unjust nature through such teachings and actions is a better lifestyle than not following such a sadist; and that's what I feel God is when it all boils down; a sadist. I don't see how a being who is divine and almighty with power, with the ability to do what he pleases, as you say, can allow such hardship, pain and misery to exist in the world yet can still often stay in a mode of complete indifference. You can argue all you like that God does moral things as well but the fact that he allegedly has the power to stop such pain and hardship and doesn't is the essence of a callous bully. That is another reason why I prefer the atheist lifestyle. There is no dictator in which you feel you have to worship and praise , you are your own God, if you will. "He spends a lot of time forgiving" That's great but if he does this then why can't he spend a lot of time ridding hardship and misery as well? I look forward to your response. P.S. I also have had a lot of sex, I wish........