system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
All religious debate between atheists and theists is pointless. CMV

It seems to me that whatever the argument, the two parties clash on the issue of "faith". Atheists in general require some proof or logical set of reasoning that leads to a religious conclusion (which they haven't found), whereas theists don't - they simply "believe". Arguments boil down to people shouting "I need proof or I don't believe" at people shouting "I have faith, I don't need proof". Whenever I see the debate I find myself rolling my eyes, because the participants don't have a shared logical framework to operate in. It's like a hockey team taking on a football team with a shuttlecock. No one's scoring any goals.

It seems like if you can't agree on if there is/isn't a god, then there's no meaningful debate to be had. Meaning of life? Don't bother. Inherent moral values? Nope. Just accept that your if your belief values don't match, you can't get past "faith" to discuss second level questions.

To clarify, I mean specifically the debates held between people of different viewpoints on the "God - for and against" debate. I think that a lot of "what if...?" questions, if approached from a neutral perspective, can lead to meaningful discussion, because you're not dealing with the belief issue.

So change my view, is there a point in debating it?
gpt
These debate type things are about two things. 

1. hearing a new point of view or clarification on it. Maybe you will hear some thing that will stick with you or change the way you think.  

2. formalizing your view. If you have to explain it you start to think about it more. 


Either way if you are not open minded then yes it is a pointless but if you have even a crack of openness then its not an entire waste.