Christians: Charity in debate (moral, beliefs, atheist, POV, faith)

[Scott1]

As it happens sometimes, we post a message that shows the weakness of the atheist position and get a variety of responses:

• The debate is ignored... the poster just moves on to attack another Christian
• The debate is shifted to the inability to "prove" the existence of God
• The debate is tossed out the window in favor of attacks on our sanity (various personal attacks etc.)
• Rude and personal attacks being sent via PM (<--- really hate the bullies who do this!)

Do you find situations like this frustratiing?

How do you practice Christian charity when faced with an atheist bully?

I know I've struggled with attacks in the past... and I've been known to lose my temper.

Any advice out there from my fellow Christians?

[!Fluffy!]

Originally Posted by Scott1

As it happens sometimes, we post a message that shows the weakness of the atheist position and get a variety of responses:

• The debate is ignored... the poster just moves on to attack another Christian
• The debate is shifted to the inability to "prove" the existence of God
• The debate is tossed out the window in favor of attacks on our sanity (various personal attacks etc.)
• Rude and personal attacks being sent via PM (<--- really hate the bullies who do this!)

Do you find situations like this frustratiing?

How do you practice Christian charity when faced with an atheist bully?

I know I've struggled with attacks in the past... and I've been known to lose my temper.

Any advice out there from my fellow Christians?

*gasp* personal attacks via PM?! Sorry to hear it Scott. I would definitely want to talk to a mod about that one.

As for the rest... I do have some practical advice. Here ya go:

http://www.ex-atheist.com/

It is okay to sharpen one's mind on the debate stone. We should never be afraid of tackling the tough questions, not just for the sake of our opponent or audience but in order to be able to fully understand our own beliefs. After all, one can't defend or promote an idea not fully grasped.

Also there is nothing wrong with attacking an opponent's logical fallacies or ignorance head on. Though there are ways to do so which are less caustic than not. This is where addressing a post point by point even though it's time consuming and laborious, helps. If you are responding to a personal attack, quote them in bold and point it out, call the person on it and let it be known their ad hom tactics aren't appreciated. You don't have to respond in kind, just reveal their dirty tricks.

Losing your cool isn't so good in debate though. Preview and count to ten is a good rule. If you know your post was made in anger it may be best to revise the anger out of it (unless it's really funny - I'm a sucker for humor at someone's expense if they deserve it ). Try to remove the "you's" first, and insert "sorry, but" or "it appears" as necessary... even general statements like: while your pov (or comment) is not unpopular nor unexpected, I find it to be (biased, unsourced, morally insupportable) -- makes the point without being personally offensive.

And review again, you may want to just forget it if it's
A. personally offensive
B. not conducive to mutual understanding

Which is why I post approx. half or less of what I actually write!

And yes I do find it frustrating... yet always to be expected.

[Scuba Pete]

Scott,

it is incredibly tough to deal with. I am heading to a meeting, but I want to get back to this one!

[PureX]

Atheists, Christians, anyone is susceptable to attacking others when they feel they are being attacked, or insulted and ignored. Probably it's best to just back off and re-engage them later, when they're calm, again. And in the meantime, try to imagine how your words might be taken from the other person's perspective. Christians often have no idea how rude and arrogant they can come off sounding to non-Christians.

[Scuba Pete]

Some of us come for discussions... mostly that's what I am here for. I simply do not care to debate things though I am more than open to other's points of view.

However, there is a certain amount of bludgeoning done by those who simply come here to prove all other points of view to be false. Why this isn't seen as proselytizing is beyond me.

So I am trying a new tack... speak your piece once! Then shut up and sit down. This doesn't mean that you can't answer questions or clarify a point. But reiterating things over and over again just sounds lame.

[michel]

Originally Posted by Scott1

As it happens sometimes, we post a message that shows the weakness of the atheist position and get a variety of responses:

• The debate is ignored... the poster just moves on to attack another Christian
• The debate is shifted to the inability to "prove" the existence of God
• The debate is tossed out the window in favor of attacks on our sanity (various personal attacks etc.)
• Rude and personal attacks being sent via PM (<--- really hate the bullies who do this!)

Do you find situations like this frustratiing?

How do you practice Christian charity when faced with an atheist bully?

I know I've struggled with attacks in the past... and I've been known to lose my temper.

Any advice out there from my fellow Christians?

To be fair, I think I have seen that same behaviour even inter-faith. Certainly not the bullying PM's; I find that there are definite "No go" areas which, if I stray into, I see others purposefully ignoring....(at least that the way I see it).