@tec0 - I've learned to consider this forum to be like a great hall of debate:
1. Each person gets to stand up on stage behind a curtain and say their piece.
2. The audience can't see the person and the person can't see the audience.
3. The person that has the stage speaks to the entire audience.
4. Each person who chooses to do so gets to have the stage and they then have to follow the same rules.
5. The most important rule is that one should not address the character of any person but rather that one should debate the topic at hand.
Another analogy is that of a courtroom - Lawyers get to make up all sorts of stories and tell them as the "truth as they see it in the best interest of their client" - The lawyers own character is not at play. The opposing lawyer gets to answer with their version of "the truth as they see is in the best interest of the client" - The debate is between the two "truths" - the character of the lawyers is not important.
The bottom line, as I've learned, is that we should debate without attacking the other person's character but rather debate the topic at hand. We can only learn and teach if we are willing to throw ideas around - no matter how unsavory those ideas might seem to us.
Did you like this article? Share it with your favourite social network.