I heard an interesting discussion at lunch today. The church I'm going to had a potluck dinner today, and a few people were rehashing the Colloqium we had Thursday on Young/Old Earth, etc. What frustrated me most was how Christians are apt to put up with all kinds of horrible debating skills as long as the speaker is saying things they want to hear. I'm a young-earth creationist myself, so I agreed with most of what Kent Hovind said. However, he presented it in the worst way possible. You can't just get off the hook by saying everyone who disagrees with you is stupid. It just doesn't work. It's insulting, and it never comes across well to intelligent people. Why can't everyone get this through their heads?
I said something to the effect that 'he has some good things to say, but he comes across as pretty insulting to his opponents in a debate', and immediately I got a reply which almost went as far as questioning the faith of anyone who isn't a young earth creationist. But that has nothing to do with what I said. Whether or not your opponent is a Christian has nothing to do with how you treat them in a debate. There are certain norms which have to be followed in order to keep things from denegrating into a mud-slinging match. And this is from a person who would say 'be careful when witnessing; you don't want to shove God's Word down their throats'. Forgive me, but I don't see why you can't shove God's Word down someone's throat when witnessing to them, but you can shove your interpretation of God's Word down the throat of an old-earth creationist. Something just doesn't add up here.
And thus ends my diatribe on my frustrations with speakers who don't use a little common courtesy. Come on, people, it's not that hard. If you can learn not to eat peas with your knife, you can learn to speak nicely to your opponents.
Posted by Ardith at March 30, 2003 01:46 PM