An HONEST Christian/Atheist debate?
I have been on Yahoo Answers! for a few months now, and I noticed that the biggest fight is between Christians and Atheists. I'm a Roman Catholic on paper, but I got a degree in religious philosophy and believe that all faiths have a right in this world. I don't beleive in any one in particular, so I guess that makes me Athiests. My problem is, that there is almost a no tolerance law between the Christian faith and the Atheist belief. For example, the Bible thumpers are claiming that God is going to personally smite the Atheists either before the rapture or after. The hard-core Atheists claim that Jesus was a fraud. Being an educated human being, I can understand the Christian belief, but would think that they should pray for the Atheists, not ask God to kill them. Atheists abound seem to not realize that subtract the miracles, Jesus was still a good guy. Does anyone else see my point of view? I'd like to hear from both sides in an educated debate. Please don't use scripture.
Why do people on Quora ask you a question and then try to engage you in a debate over your answer?
Everybody has his own perception. Although most of them say they are un biased ,but it is a rare case. The person asking question expecting answer which suits his own perception.If the answer comes otherwise , he will engage in pointing certain mistakes according to his view and try to drag his own perception from the writer.But if the person giving answer is also firm in his perception, then the rally of comments flow from one end to the other umpteen number of times. Ultimately one of them get exhausted and stops the flow of rallies.Not that everybody is like that. There are more percentage of people seeking genuine answers and it becomes a pleasure to answer them. And they will seek further information on the above answer, which the writer is happy to provide. Or express doubts regarding some matters, the writer is happy to answer them.Also we see some people, whom I call them commentators. Their only duty is to comment, which way you answer. Those are the people who has no perception at all. I will recite an example.Suppose some one asks Whether Ravana in the epic Ramayana Is a good or bad person.Suppose if we say he is bad person, the commentator argues that he is shiv bhakt and also because of a curse by vishnu he has to take the avatar of Ravana etc.Suppose if we say he is a good person, then the commentator argues that how he could be a good person when he has kidnapped other’s wife etc.etc. This type of persons are also exist here, but in small percentage.For these type of persons, just ignore the comment or delete it.That is the only solution.Another type of commentators go away from the main question and comment on other related small matter. In the above example, if we quote a small reference about vibheeshana, the person is commenting him with number of examples how good or bad vibheeshana is, side tracking the main answer. Even some body comments on examples taken. So it is always better to take hypothetical examples of non existing characters to avoid that type of comments.I do not know whether all other writers are facing the same difficulties or not, but as per my view I think it is probable that they are facing.So that is the reason behind the people engaging in conversation over the answer.also I have explained in my previous answers what is opinion and how opinion can not be wrong.Samavedula Venkata Rama Sastry's answer to Can an opinion be wrong?Thanks for reading
What is the easiest way to engage in debate on Quora?
Here’s an idea: suppose someone answers Question 1 in a way that you think invites further exploration. You follow up by asking Question 2 as a separate Quora question (taking care to make it positive and constructive, aiming for a win-win outcome). Then you direct that question using Quora options to the person who made the first answer:For example:Question 1: Is the Moon technically a planet and why?Answer from Selena: “Yes, I think it might be, because X.”You ask Question 2: “Why would X mean the Moon is technically a planet?”Choose or indicate Selena as the person you would like to answer the question.
What is the best way to close an argument with willfully ignorant people without giving them the satisfaction of having "won" the debate?
Having been in this position on a few occasions, I'll share the strategy I use. Willfully ignorant people will avoid having to acknowledge aspects of the argument that they cannot win. Usually they will resort to ad-hominem attacks, straw-men arguments, or will simply repeat what they have already said, like a mantra.IF you have an audience, such as if you were in a debate and the primary goal is to convince the audience, the key is to call your opponent on his fallacies and attempt to force them to address the points you raise. If you do this a few times and you cannot get them to answer, your audience should understand what is going on, and you can leave it at that. IF you are 1 on 1, and trying to influence the willfully ignorant, just walk away. Such people are not worth your time, and you have nothing to gain from further effort.
How do you deal/argue with people who refuse to respond to reason, logic and facts?
Try emotion.For most of human evolutionary history, the ability to respond to emotion has been a much more useful evolutionary advantage than the ability to respond to data or facts, which are pretty recent in evolutionary terms. Emotions precede even language.Of course, the bedrock of a modern functioning society should ideally be rational public discourse devoid of any appeal to emotion but hey, natural selection couldn’t care less about any of that.There are tons of evidence that suggests that human decision-making is primarily emotional. The decisions can range from choosing what to eat[1] to even voting in elections.[2]So, to convince someone, you don’t just throw facts at them but also supplement them with emotional anecdotes. You follow up “Rigorous peer-reviewed research has conclusively found no causal relationship between vaccination and autism” with a story of a poor couple’s only child who succumbed to pneumonia because she wasn’t vaccinated, and talk about how the couple regrets not doing so.The key word here is supplement. One won’t do without the other. Facts don’t evoke emotion but anecdotes do, and we internally justify those emotions using facts. According to British psychologist Rob Yeung, fear, shame and pride are very persuasive emotions.[3]Sometimes, it helps to think of ourselves as just apes with an internet connection.Footnotes[1] http://people.hss.caltech.edu/~s...[2] Voting is irrational. Emotions always win | Eyal Winter[3] Keep losing arguments? A psychologist explains why emotions are more persuasive than logic
Is Judaism the true religion? Research proves to me Christianity and Islam are evil political pagan copycats?
lionontheprowl gave a good answer, but I'm still going to give my two cents. Because you have found fault with Christianity and Islam, does not mean that by default Judaism is the path for you. You must both study and apply the lessons learned to how you live before you make a decision to begin a conversion process. I am Jewish and of course believe it is the right religion for me. I don't claim to tell others it is the right religion for them. Judaism doesn't teach us that all must be Jewish to know God or merit blessing and atonement. Judaism sees all humans as of equal worth before God.
Is it childish to ignore someone who wants an argument ?
Of course this isn't childish. It's actually the most mature and sane way to handle it. Stop and think! You say you don't want this friendship to "end on bad terms"...but how could it be any other way? If you attempt to explain she's annoying and argumentative, do you think she'll apologize and thank you for your feedback?! Uh, no. The other option is a huge blow up. It can be tough when one friend outgrows the other, but that's what's happened here. It doesn't require a drama filled confrontation. The only way I'd stop ignoring is if she goes off the deep end and starts texting you hourly. Then you may have to kick some butt.
When people are rude, condescending, or sarcastic on Quora, do you block them, or mute them, or what?
Block. Always block.I used to see popular people on Quora talk about active blocking, or blocking someone who is being nasty in a way not directed at you.How silly! That person hasn’t harmed me. They should give people a chance.Then I gained about 1000 followers in a month and I realized exactly what they were talking about.I would see someone comment something like “feminazis always…” or “women are manipulative by nature” or “the OP is ugly and stupid”.Not only would I report them, I would block them before they even had a chance.Because, though they hadn’t interacted with me, they’d proven that they wouldn’t BNBR and I didn’t want to wait for them to direct that malice at me.At my most active, I may have been blocking 10+ people a day. Many of them had probably never heard of me.I also very actively block people who are rude. Any personal attacks on me are responded to with deletion of the comment and a block on the user.If you can’t contribute to my Quora experience in a positive way, you can leave. I don’t want you.I will block people who continue trying to debate with me after I disengage. I had a guy leave 5 comments on one answer, trying to get me to respond. He wouldn’t respond to one of my replies before he’d written another comment, so I blocked him to make him stop.I’ve said it before— I’m not on Quora to debate. I’ll discuss and I’ll respond, but I’m not going into full-on debates. It doesn’t interest me. I don’t mind people leaving comments trying to debate, but when I don’t respond, leave it. Pressing the issue rolls quickly into harassment and I’m not okay with that.People have told me that if I don’t want to debate, I shouldn’t use Quora because Quora is that kind of platform. It’s a question and answer platform, not a debating one. You can debate on Quora, but you certainly don’t have to and I certainly don’t want to. I love feedback and engagement, but not full-blown debates.Condescension is a block and a flipping-off of the computer screen. Any comment that starts with “sorry to burst your bubble” or “you clearly aren’t aware of the fact…” is automatically deleted. You can correct or question someone politely without sounding like a jerk.I love disagreement on my answers and I love being able to make my work better. I love reading answers I disagree with, and I love interacting with people of many different backgrounds.But I don’t like people who are assholes.BNBR, guys. It’s that simple.
How should one deal with the hate comments on Quora?
Been there, through that! And after spending a lot of time on Quora, I found out certain things-Most of the hate comments on Quora will be from a few people who have this inherent rage against your answers (or you) for some reason. If you block them, they’ll resurface with a new name and will simply follow the suit.They’ll try to bait you into coming on the offensive and as soon as you unleash your angst, your comment will be reported and you’ll get a message from Quora moderators for violation of BNBR policy. And they won’t listen to your plea.The next time it will happen is when you write an answer on a question that’ll attract extreme reactions (read politics, religion etc.) Now since it is obvious that people will have differing opinions in such matters, hate comments will flood the comment section definitely. And your answer will be reported and collapsed.Then there will be the ones who’ll morally correct you, telling that you should do this and should not do that in your personal life, and that you’re shaming your country or culture or promoting westernization on Quora because you don’t ever write about daily Indian soaps but keep on promoting foreign shows like Sherlock.Then there are the ones who’ll copy/paste your answer on the same thread, then report you for plagiarism and then you’ll have to explain it to the mods for the next two days to kindly compare the dates of both the answers first.And then there are the ones who’ll pick up your answers, post them on Reddit or other such websites where anonymous creeps will bombard you with a sludge of swears, because well… anyone can insult you behind their awfully unimaginative usernames, right?So the best way to deal with hate comments is to just ignore them— or upvote one or two and comment— “Bro! Thy wisdom exceeds morally allowed limits for human stupidity. Now imagine I pointed a finger at thee, and use thy imagination to know which one.”