A thought experiment
This is my take on how region got going. It's here to be criticized so don't hold back. I'm always up for free education.
I'm puzzled as to why some people believe in god and some don't. Brain washing doesn't quite do it for me; wouldn't the first believers have had to have been brain-washed by believers? I feel strongly that all people have a desire for there to be someone who is ultimately responsible. I think, also, that most people have trouble with the idea of death being just that, final.
In ancient times, as soon as some people were able to communicate these feelings amongst themselves, they did. Having imagination, they made up stories. Some of these stories, those about supernatural beings, became a possibility during times of deprivation.
When things seem hopeless, and you know the end is nigh, you may as well appeal to a fictional being as not. It can't do any harm. After all, no-one has ever proved they didn't exist.
For those who survive the bad times, especially if the "prayers" seem to "work" more than once, it probably looked as if the the stories could be true.
If you can convince most of the tribe of your revelation, and the wish for a higher being is strong enough in these others, then you have the seeds of a religion. If this religion fosters a spirit of cooperation within the tribe, and astute leaders would encourage it, bigger and better community projects become successful, including the elimination of rival tribes. So religion arises out of insecurity in hard times.
If this is roughly how religion arose in a rational being, then perhaps we can't ever eliminate religion until we eliminate poverty and strife. And if we do, then as soon as bad times come round again, religion will return.

I presume that by this you mean that we should encourage those who believe in a god or gods to think more critically about it. To those of us who think rationally, the application of critical thought would immediately debunk the nonsense in these religious tomes that believers hold so sacred. However, having been brain-washed from birth they are usually quite resistant to logic. Just when you think a believer is coming round to a more rational point of view, they play their trump card.....Blind faith ! It is a winner every time.

Gods seem to pop into and out of existence quite often. Mythras is sadly ignored. Do I care?

Hi everyone. Just to say hello. I am a Brit living in Australia for 11years. Lovely people, lovely country but I do miss the stealthy sardonic wit that made me what I am today!!! I hope it's okay to hang out with you guys from time to time for some good old home-spun cynicism! Oi, don't worry about dryin' the dishes ma, I'll get the kettle on.

Is it the job of atheists to struggle against religions? I fully accept that religions produce as much damage as good, maybe more. However, the fact that I don’t believe in Jesus, or whoever, is a negative. It doesn’t follow that I need to oppose their beliefs. That is a very different position. By the way, I also categorically refusecto oppose unicorns or the belief in unicorns. That way lies the risk that I may have to burn short horned unicorn believers at the stake.

The only way to confront the absurdity of religion, is to actually know the absurdities and inconsistencies in the actual books of faith.
Then we have to confront the influence and insidious impact that religion has on our daily lives, through laws, institutions and structures.
The Church (Anglican) is attached to our own state structure and numerous laws have initiated prejudice and oppressions on the citizenry (In the UK, you are a subject).
What we are discovering, is the last groans of the dinosaurs who are confused by a changing world. A world that is growing in science, technology and environmental awareness that brings the visible absurdity of our Judeao-Christian religion a clear absurdity. Once the absurdity is clear, Islam will be in visible trouble, as the Koran rests on numerous assertions and theological influence from both Judaism and Christianity. Hence the resort to violence, intimidation and threats from its quarter. Christianity can so easily go the same way, as the conflict in Northern Ireland demonstrated, when political issues are fused with religion. The most toxic of brews but should be seen for what it is. Desperation. Which neatly sums up the abnormality of our current times, as Britain prepares to exit from the EU and America hunkers down into an isolationist delusion from Trump.

How can something that doesn't exist in the first place, be thought out of existence. I don't think we need to attempt a mirror reversal of Anselm. I think the best that we can do is demonstrate the logical weakness of the theistic system, and press the apologists to the point of crushing them if necessary to give evidence for their assertions. Since they cannot, RIDICULE is our strongest weapon.

Thinking god out of other peoples heads is going to be the tricky part. How do we go about that?