This is for all you non-religious types out there: Be nice to the Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and non-mainstream religious folk on these forums and everywhere else. In fact, be tolerant and understanding if they are illogical, irrational, or downright rude. Here's why: Theists love nothing more than to practice their trade -- what better way to show that one is a true believer than to remain unswayable in the face of "oppression"? They enjoy feeling that they live in a world that really needs them (as anyone does) -- for a theist, such a world is one full of intolerant, belligerent atheists. Such enjoyment leads to reinforcement of their beliefs, not reconsideration. To an atheist, debate with a theist can be frustrating due to the common discrepancy in values (i.e. logic, oftentimes). To a rational person it is not a problem to inform others that they are a) illogical, b) confused, c) short on evidence, or d) not good debaters if such seems to be the case. However, to someone afflicted by these things, their acknowledgement does not come easy, and any direct attempts to show them their faults will backfire, anger them, and prevent objective discussion. Bottom line is, it's all a communication problem. I'm guilty of it, of course; I've had more than my share of overheated arguments that I started or could have prevented. Just keep in mind that the goal here should be to reach a common understanding or at least find your point of disagreement, not to show off your debating abilities or frustrate the other person. Nobody ever learned anything from a hostile opponent, other than how to beat him or avoid him. And besides, as an atheist debating a theist, you want to represent us well. If you are logical but not communicative, that theist is going to tell all the other theists how unreasonable and intolerant atheists are, compounding the problem. However, if you explain, for example, that you "don't personally think that scientology [or whatever] is the most immediate conclusion to be drawn from medical [or historical, etc.] data, but would be open to explanations to the contrary," then that theist is going to explain their viewpoint, and you can repeat the process to a much more civil end. Make yourself understood, don't just disparage your fellow philosopher. (P.S. This, of course, applies to you theists as well, but I feel that I have more right to correct or more sway in correcting those with my own views, since otherwise usually constitutes bickering.)
