Quote:
Originally Posted by mordwyr
You mistake my meaning. I have no problem discussing Christianity with people, but when they say something disparaging and then ask me a question in the same breath, I wonder why I should answer. You cannot expect me to have a conversation with someone insulting what I hold dear. I have plenty of atheist friends in real life, but they never say my religion is creepy (to my face), and I never say anything to insult their beliefs, or lack thereof. It's about manners. If you want to have a discussion, then don't insult.
In short, I will acknowledge other opinions. Of course I will. Even if I don't agree. But I'm not going to continue a conversation with a guy who says, [insult] [question about my religion]. Would you engage someone who insults and then immediately asks you a question about the very thing he just insulted? Seems disingenuous to me.
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Yeah, probably. I'm used to religious discussions on forums where you're encouraged to look past the language of someone's post and concentrate on what their actual point is. The logic being that stepping on eggshells about someone's opinion A.) interferes with making an argument since you're pulling your punches, B.) discussions can be too polite, and therefore boring, and C.) it helped to distinguish those capable of intelligent, reasoned debate, and those who would inevitably end up being intellectually dishonest, lazy, and vapid.
That's not to say that we were encouraged to be
actually abusive (e.g. name calling, threatening, etc), but insulting the person's opinions while backing it up with a reasoned argument was perfectly acceptable. So yeah, feel free to bash my beliefs, so long as you do so while actually putting forth a counterargument with substance.
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