Why do you engage in debate?

i definitely am trying to convince people of my opinion. in particular, i think lots of people havent known anyone as rabidly atheist as i am, so i like to spread the good news.

mostly no, but it depends on the topic and the person talking. mostly i already know where i stand on everything and think my opinion is superior. there are plenty of topics i don't know anything about, but i rarely argue about them (for example this moussaoui and 5th amendment topic).

of course.

consider the cases when social welfare programs create a culture of laziness, that clearly is bad, or when people who need their money have it taxed away from them to provide for others, thats bad too. opposing social welfare programs isnt just good for the person paying into them, but often the person recieving them. plus, if we want to help people, private charities are probably more efficient. government programs are often counterproductive.

i didnt say that.

let me do the talking about what i think.

ok, well i probably did say that.

 

Hey, you do it to red and me. I think i did a good job so i will continue to do so.

You said the other stuff too, including condoning murder, except you hate to admit it because it makes you sound like the terrible person that you indeed are.

thanks for continually reminding me of my IQ. sometimes i forget.

 

i do condone murder, but only of babies and in other special circumstances. you like to try and misrepresent my opinion though, you have difficulties keeping a handle on the truth.

and i do not deny saying things i said, because i dont mind sounding like the terrible person i am. god says no one is without sin. but i sin like crazy!

write it down, then use your nearly photographic memory to take a snapshot of it.

 

Jeezus. You're still making this up? I thought we already had this discussion & showed that he's never said such a thing.

 

i don't think its being misrepresented at all really. there's not really a "but" phrase which sanitizes your condonement of murder.

woot!

consider it done.

 

:dis:

 

let me try:

well, since i am a bad person i do condone the murder of innocent babies.....BUT most everyone else i think shouldnt be murdered. if you think i said differently before (of course i didnt), then consider this my new opinion.


generally i like to hijack threads like a jerk (yunno..bad person). but cparso is a nice kid and i dont want to be on his bad side so i will forget our dumb dispute for now.

 

The debates do help me form my political opinions on most things because I am usually presented with my arguments weak points and that makes you think maybe the other side has better facts and is therefore inherently better. But like LSUdeek said, my mind is pretty much made up on religion and that's the one area you probably won't be able to convince me about anything differently. However, I say that knowing people change beliefs all the time, whether it be from atheist to christian, or christian to muslim, buddhist to hindu, and all vice-versa.

I've always been very argumenative and therefore debate has always been fun for me, all though a lot of times I get bored here at FSa because it is dominated by the conservative view on most things and it's harder to get a different opinion because you are hounded with the conservative stance.

Overall, I would say my views are closest to martin on the government side of things and more like salty on the religious side.

 

That's probably the most important reason I engage in debate, and not just on the internet. Debates usually won't change my opinions on most issues, but it certainly helps me understand why people view it differently than me. The only time debate shapes my opinion is when I'm on the fence or just ignorant of the facts.