This post is aimed at creationists and theists but the rule do apply to everyone.
1. Remember: people don't choose their beliefs.
Beliefs are not choices. You can't choose to believe or not to believe something. Beliefs are determined by a variety of factors but choice is not one of them.
Don't believe me? Then try it. For five minutes choose to believe a god does not exist.
2. Get your facts straight.
If you make a bullshit statement people are only going to point how wrong it is and ridicule you for making it and that is only going to push the people who are on the fence on to the opposite side.
Example: If you use the "if people came from monkeys why are there still monkeys?" argument. People who know a thing or two about evolution will point out how wrong the argument is, you will be ridiculed for making such a stupid argument and the people on the fence - the people who are in a position to be brought over to your side - will know you have no clue what your talking about and go to the other side.
3. What reassures your faith does not prove your beliefs.
If you already believe something it is easy to be convinced its true but if you don't believe something it requires allot more what would reassure your faith.
Pascal's wager is the best example of this. If you already believe then it would seem perfectly logical to you but if you don't its not going to work, it will not even plant a seed. Its a bad fallacious argument that only works if you already believe.
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[...] The first problem is: You do loose things. You loose 10% of your income, your Sundays, you have to follow meaningless rules that have no practical nor any real world value, you can loose your health by praying instead of going to a doctor, you can cause the deaths of your children by praying instead of taking them to the doctor you can loose your life in an exorcism, you can kill your children by taking them to an exorcist, you can loose your life savings and you can loose yore happiness by denying who you are (and thats just the short list). Second: Belief is not a choice. For five minutes believe there is no god, that you live in the matrix or that you are some one completely different. At the most you can put your beliefs aside and look at things from a different perspective but you don’t choose your beliefs. Third: Which religion and which version of that religion? There are many religions and many gods. Which should I choose? Well I live in a primarily Christian country and primarily deal with Christians so most would tell me “Christianity”. Which version? there are over 38,000 versions-oh I’m sorry, “denominations”. Which denomination do I choose? Forth: It is a completely fallacious argument. It is a false dichotomy by assuming there are only two possibilities when (as pointed out above) there are many and it is an appeal to consequences. Fifth: It violates two of the Three things to remember when trying to convince someone. [...]