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Posted by: Saint
The problem at the heart of this matter is that there can be no real debate about a Theistic belief, where all 'evidence' comes from scripture. Scientific debate is relatively easy: Person A believes one theory, person B, another. If person A can cite a piece of evidence that categorically confirms his theory, then B really has nowhere to go but to concede that A's is the correct position (if the evidence is to be found in a respectable journal).
Religious debate, on the other hand, basically comes down to: Person A's book says one thing, person B's, another. No evidence will sway either, nothing will convince either to change his or her point of view. Science is evidence vs. evidence. Religion is undeniable, unwaverable truth vs. everyone else.
There can be no religious 'debate', only argument and fighting. Thus even adding their side to a talk about evolution or the Big Bang is fruitless; the people talking doubtless know that there are some people who believe that a deity created us all from nothing, but those people have no evidence or reason to back up their claims and so won't be adding anything by weighing in with "God did it". Religious positions add nothing to scientific talks... Philosophical ones, perhaps, but scientific ones... No.
Posted by: UL7IM4 G33K
Most of the time they dodge and beat around the bush, usually attacking the basic structure of my arguments rather than debating the topic at hand.Hilarious, that brightened my day [;
You're essentially saying that if someone has religion, stating their opinions and beliefs are pointless.
Scientific debate is relatively straightforward, but if a scientific theory contradicts something in a certain religion, I don't see why someone can't interject and say that they think otherwise. If you ate salad for every meal for ten years to lose weight, it worked well, and then someone came in and said that studies show that salad is bad for you, wouldn't you want to say something so that others will know that they should choose whether or not salad will be good for them? I know, bad example. What's a point without a counterpoint? There actually can be effective religious debate, and there can be debates between religious view and scientific ones. Just because no one can win the debate doesn't mean that it can't happen, and although they normally turn into a big argument, sometimes they don't.
I completely respect the views and beliefs of Atheists. At the same time, i don't think it's right that you can tell me that I can't express my beliefs on a subject, but you can, because your views are "scientific" and mine are religious.
Plus, are you in the same forums as I am? There is never a situation where Person A convinces Person B that Person B was wrong, no matter what they're talking about. Everyone is stubborn about everything. Discussion here is basically everyone stating their own opinions, and eventually someone comes in and attacks one, pisses everyone off, and the thread gets locked. That happens no matter what the thread is about.