Americans tend to look for the easy solution to any given problem. Critical examination of any question requires some effort and too many folks just aren't prepared to make that effort. The more cherished the belief, the less sense the rationalizations need to make. But then again, if they were rational and logical, we wouldn't have the entertainment provided by there absurd statements. The best way to counter an absurdity is to point out exactly where it fails the tests of facts and logic.
Proper refutations are always strong ones.
Obviously I share beliefs similar to yours, but I believe I take them a step further. My guess is that you are either unwilling to take this crucial step, or you haven't yet considered it. The existence of free will is often used as contrary evidence of God, and the argument is great at confounding believers because very few people are willing to admit there is no such thing as free will. Just another of the numerous paradoxes which arise from the proposition that God is omnipotent and omniscient. Any proposition which leads to paradox must contain at least one error.