#1. Attack the individual.
a. Ridicule
b. Belittle
c. Insult their intelligence
#2. Obfuscate.
a. Misdirect the course of the discussion
b. Get off topic at all costs
c. Dodge the point
d. Go back to #1
#3. Do not have a sense of humor.
a. Be angry at those of faith because they are the cause of all the wars
b. Do not use smiley faces
c. Say it so there's no doubt that you hate it
#4. Admit nothing.
a. Never say what you really believe.
b. Go back to #2
#5. Do not have a sense of humor.
a. Go back to #3
Originally posted by josephw #1. Attack the individual.
a. Ridicule
b. Belittle
c. Insult their intelligence
#2. Obfuscate.
a. Misdirect the course of the discussion
b. Get off topic at all costs
c. Dodge the point
d. Go back to #1
#3. Do not have a sense of humor.
a. Be angry at those of faith because they are the cause of all the wars
b. Do not use smiley faces
c. S ...[text shortened]... hat you really believe.
b. Go back to #2
#5. Do not have a sense of humor.
a. Go back to #3
This is all that's left for theism on the RHP Spirituality forums; a bunch of hypocritical candy asses who try to dish out the insults and then get all butt-hurt when they get it paid back with interest.
I feel like 90% of my interactions here with theists aren't of sufficient interest to even be called a 'debate'. The positions taken by RHP theists seem like they can all be refuted [and usually, all of them have been refuted, dozens of times already] with a simple one-sentence riposte.
Wonder why you're not getting any serious responses? Try actually making a serious argument for a change.
Originally posted by josephw #1. Attack the individual.
a. Ridicule
b. Belittle
c. Insult their intelligence
#2. Obfuscate.
a. Misdirect the course of the discussion
b. Get off topic at all costs
c. Dodge the point
d. Go back to #1
#3. Do not have a sense of humor.
a. Be angry at those of faith because they are the cause of all the wars
b. Do not use smiley faces
c. S ...[text shortened]... hat you really believe.
b. Go back to #2
#5. Do not have a sense of humor.
a. Go back to #3
The problem with point one is that this is an ad hominem attack. With point 2 discussions do that anyway. Point 3, maybe you missed the joke. Point 4, only works if the people who claim to be atheists are secretly believers, in which case your accusations are misdirected. Point 5, return to drawing board.
Originally posted by josephw #1. Attack the individual.
a. Ridicule
b. Belittle
c. Insult their intelligence
#1.
I never resort to these tactics to win an argument.
Ridicule and insult are used when one is frustrated by the stupidity of one's adversary.
For example: (from "Adieu" thread)
Originally posted by DeepThought
So you agree with the logic behind Pascal's wager? [b](reply from josehw)
No. I agree with God.
Originally posted by josephw #2. Obfuscate.
a. Misdirect the course of the discussion
b. Get off topic at all costs
c. Dodge the point
d. Go back to #1
Originally posted by josephw #3. Do not have a sense of humor.
a. Be angry at those of faith because they are the cause of all the wars
b. Do not use smiley faces
c. Say it so there's no doubt that you hate it
I don't think that a sense of humour is necessary to debate, but the atheists
seem a much more laid back, fun bunch than most of the theists. 😀
Joseph, I like to think that within a couple of years you will be one of our most valuable members at debating against theists. 🙂
How does your blood pressure do when you are listening to arguments made against belief systems that are not the one you have committed yourself to defending?
Take a moment to read this Islam deconversion story, and listen to this Scientology deconversion story. Both are brief. Let us know what you think.
Originally posted by josephw #1. Attack the individual.
a. Ridicule
b. Belittle
c. Insult their intelligence
#2. Obfuscate.
a. Misdirect the course of the discussion
b. Get off topic at all costs
c. Dodge the point
d. Go back to #1
#3. Do not have a sense of humor.
a. Be angry at those of faith because they are the cause of all the wars
b. Do not use smiley faces
c. S ...[text shortened]... hat you really believe.
b. Go back to #2
#5. Do not have a sense of humor.
a. Go back to #3
If this is supposed to be in the form of a computer program, then the atheist will never get to #3, #4, or #5, because there is a loop formed at the end of #2 that keeps going back to #1 to start all over with ridicule, belittle, and insult their intelligence.
But I do agree that those are the tactics of atheists and even so-called non-atheists, like sonhouse. Of course, I guess he doesn't consider himself an atheist because he has made himself his own god.
Originally posted by josephw #4. Admit nothing.
a. Never say what you really believe.
I have been accused of this by sonship. He made the accusation a number of times over the course of several months with me offering to answer his questions each time, and each time he had nothing to ask. Eventually he did ask a few questions, which I responded to to the best of my ability, and he went silent. He didn't even acknowledge the responses.
What about you? Which atheist do you know who does not say what he really believes? Have you tried asking? Did they actually refuse to answer?
If you feel I am one such atheist, please feel free to ask me any questions you like and I will do my best to tell you.
Originally posted by twhitehead What about you? Which atheist do you know who does not say what he really believes? Have you tried asking? Did they actually refuse to answer?
If you feel I am one such atheist, please feel free to ask me any questions you like and I will do my best to tell you.
Originally posted by wolfgang59 Good challenge.
Ditto for me.
Likewise for me too.
Though I suspect that all these charges could easily be levied at the theists, sometimes more so that the atheists (but that of course could just be my own confirmation bias working).
I would certainly like to see a few examples of each of the methods. As it stands, the OP is just flamebait, please back it up with some evidence JosephW.
We are all guilty of #1, atheist and theist alike. I see #2 all the time from theists and very rarely from the atheists, could this just be a symptom of our mutual lack of understanding I wonder? #3 is definitely there on both sides. #4 is simply not true of atheists in my experience. #5 is definitely there on both sides (see, I can repeat myself too 😀 ).
First let me note that this only applies to some theists, as I recognize that we have a whole range of very different theists on this forum.
#1.
Logic doesn't apply to us.
#2.
Its true because the Bible says so.
#3.
Never admit to being wrong, even if you don't actually believe the point you are arguing.
#4.
Rather than stoop so low as insulting your opponent, make sure you hide behind an appropriate Bible verse that insults them for you. Then you can always say 'it wasn't me, it was God'.
#5.
Quote mining. Quote out of context someone you think your opponent holds as an authority, or if that fails, just look for anyone with some sort of university degree to their name.
#6.
When you loose every debate, announce that thats OK, because at least you know why you lost because you understand the tactics that your opponents are using. You may not have won, but at least you've got them figured out.
#7.
Tell everyone that they secretly believe as you do but are just lying to themselves because they fear the consequences of believing as you do. You of course are the brave one who faced your fears and believed.
#8.
Play the victim.
#9.
See the enemy around every corner. There is no such thing as friendly discussion. Everyone is out to get you. Pre-empt them whenever possible.
Atheists Debate Tactics
25 Jun '14 23:40
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