I just had an half hour discussion with an Atheists. He said "Why does a loving God allow all the disasters and unhappiness in the world". I answered: "If everybody was happy, would anybody believe in a God".
I know and understand that there are many aspects. Nevertheless , this was the essence of our conversation.
Of course, I did not manage to change his mind.
Has anyone any suggestions as to how I should have managed this?

That tends to be one of their talking points for sure. That, and that the God of the OT can't be the same
God (who loves us) of the NT. And why did God need to send his Son to die, when he could just forgive
us all instead, and let no one go to Hell. The end of the argument tends to be along the lines that this is a
better world than it has been , and really there is no Hell (it's a Catholic construct) since there is no God.

Ed Feser once pointed out (and I agree with him) is that the argument goes the other way. It can be shown, logically, that God exists and that God is good. That means that there must be a good reason for disasters etc., even if we have no idea what it is.

This is not the right place to hold these kinds of discussions. For one thing, there are forums specifically set aside for these kinds of topics, and for another, few people ever look at this forum so it not exactly the best place to go if you want answers.

I look regularly. Being old, and all.

Not that that contradicts you.

fellowship can be shared in many different ways .... doesn't have to be complaining about aches and pains and young whippersnappers .... and if you are clicking on "view new posts" or "view active topics" , then you will see the name of the thread and decide if you want to investigate what it's all about (alfie) ... there's a geezer reference for you

Alfie could ask Georgy Girl.

Is that a tautology?

pretty much jack....pretty much

I am re-reading "Making sense out of suffering" by Peter Kreeft.

Suffering helps us to grow when we offer it up in union with our Lord's sufferings. That can be shared with an atheist even though he doesn't believe in God. Hopefully some day, with the prayers of others, they will think about what someone shared with them.

Also, the last disaster hurricane we had people came out and got to know their neighbors and help out in various ways. We can make some new good friends that way!

I learned a lot from Peter Kreeft's books that I have read...I haven't yet read the one you mentioned; I am sure it is good.

Come to think of it, what you said to the atheist made a lot of sense.