The ad hominem fallacy is one of the strangest fallacies people can make. Our kind is no stranger to arrogance. Indeed, it was the very lie "you shall be as God" that caused us to fall in the first place. To this very day, we act as if truth is somehow dependent upon status. "I'm greater than you, at least in this regard, therefore my view is right". "You're lesser than me, at least in that regard, therefore your view is wrong."
We see this expressed in a number of ways. On the one hand, there is the age old battle over wit. We often appeal to each other's intelligence, or qualifications/lack thereof, or even our ages. In an ideal world, we would leave such pitiful debate tactics in the playground. For an adult, or even a teenager, to resort to such childishness is nothing short of embarrassing. Yet, we continue to see it. We see it on social media, we see it on the debate stage, we see it in the classrooms (from the teachers vs. the students), we see it behind closed doors. I remember one particularly frustrating example: A Theistic Evolutionist who, whenever he was taken to task, would throw a tantrum about how he hates when people think they know more about science than him. Literally his only argument was "I help cure cancer".
But the ad hominem fallacy goes beyond simply belittling your opponent's intelligence or qualifications. See, ad hominem literally means "to the man". That is, instead of attacking a person's beliefs, or the arguments they use for them, you are attacking them. This can be a petty insult, such as "you're stupid". But it can also be something that is entirely true, and completely non-insulting, such as "you're a white man". There is actually nothing wrong with being a white man. Yet, still, there are people out there who will try to cast doubt on your beliefs or arguments if you are a white man, or even if they think you are a white man. I remember once hearing a woman on a radio show trying to belittle the host for being a white man, only to be blown away when she found out he was black. (If anyone knows where that clip can be found, please contact Bible Brain so I can link it here).
Psychology is another thing that is often appealed to, most commonly by atheists. I like to say that psychology is the last desperate ad hominem reserved for when someone runs out of valid arguments.
The thing about truth, however, is that it stands regardless of who believes what and for why. It may well be true that you have many qualifications. It may well be true that your opponent does not. It may well be true that your opponent is a different shade of brown than you. There may well be a number of psychological reasons your opponent believes what they do, or doesn't believe what you believe. In the end, none of that matters, because the only truths that depend on you are truths about you. Your date of birth is the obvious example. It is a fact that you were brought forth from the womb on that specific day, whereas if you did not exist, it would no longer be true. But does the truth claim that 1 + 1 = 2 also depend on your existence? Evidently not. 1 + 1 = 2 was true before you were born. It was true before you learned how to count. It was true before you learned how to add. It is true now, and there is nothing you can do about it. It will be true long after you have died. The truth of the equation 1 + 1 = 2 does not depend on you.
The same is true for any objective truth claim you might reasonably debate. In the flat earth debate, for example, it doesn't matter who takes what position, the fact is there is a right answer. The flat Earther could have worked for NASA, and the round earther could be a 4 year old with a cheap telescope they got for Christmas last year, the fact remains the Earth is round.
Religious discussions are no different. It doesn't matter who you are, what position you hold, or what your peers might believe, there is only one truth, and it does not depend on you, or on them. If you're right, you're right, and if you're wrong, you're wrong. You don't matter, and they don't matter. Thus, if your position is true, it should be able to stand without you. You should consider yourself, at best, a mouthpiece for truth.
The irony here is that Christianity in particular sets forward this very fact in no uncertain terms! Take, for example, 1 Corinthians 1:27-29: "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence." You see, then, how God pays no mind to the weakness of His vessels. Indeed, if anything, He seems to find glory in it.
This makes Christianity almost uniquely suited to the reality we observe. Only the absolute greatest of fools will genuinely believe the greater man automatically wins a dispute. If you rely on your greatness, or your opponent's weakness, to "win" a debate, you are quite literally a fool, and it is utter shame upon you to have such a haughty attitude. Yet, Christianity is the only religion I am aware of that explicitly condemns the might = right mentality, both by word and by deed. Both on paper and in practice, Christianity is the only faith that actually boasts of the weakness of its members. Other religions either explicitly set forward its greatest men, or at least allows for the possibility, whereas Christianity says that truth is true no matter whose mouth it proceeds from. Why? Because we follow the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Therefore, we have no need to boast in silly things, which will only come to ruin. We have no need to belittle our fellow men, because our belief stands the test of time itself.
Whatever your beliefs are, it is important to test them. One must ask a number of questions, starting with "is my belief bigger than me?" Truth, of course, is, and so if your worldview is true, you should be able to defend it without appeal to either yourself, or your opponents. If you cannot do this, you must consider the possibility that you are wrong.