thanks for the question and sorry for the long delay on this response. The approach I’m using lately is more in the lines of skepticism. My friends are well aware of my positions regarding religion and gods. So they usually avoid talking about them around me, but they do talk about the “supernatural”. spirits, ufos, hauntings etc. Letting them know I don’t believe in those things is usually much less problematic than talking about religion, plus it serves as a good anchor to help them realize the futility of the god argument without going for the kill directly if you know what I mean.

If one of my friends stands by me and says “I don’t believe in unsubstantiated woo woo” Then I say “so why do you believe in god?” sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, sometimes it gets a good laugh, but overall, I don’t like to argue about this with my friends. The subjects is very important to them as it is to me, but our friendship is fa more important, so if I realize that there is no point (AKA they wont listen) I try to remember that they are my friends for a reason. 

Hope this helps!

Be reasonable

Fight the faith