Based on the brief amount of time I've spent on this forum and that I've spent involved in/looking at debates with others concerning matters of religion, faith, metaphysics etc away from this forum, it seems to me that these discussions make no sense since the participants involved don't enter into it with good faith ie. a willingness to be open minded and change one's mind or position if shown to be incorrect. Both believers and non believers alike, including myself, it seems, only want to demonstrate why they're correct and the other person is wrong rather than genuinely wanting to listen to the other side and change one's mind if they're shown to be wrong and so I ask what's the point in discussing and debating if everyone's just out to prove how right they are and how wrong everyone else is? Heck even on this forum, some believers' only purpose seems to be proselytizing or proving that their religion/faith is correct while tearing down any religion that disagrees with their own whereas the purpose of some non believers seems to be to prove that religion is false or God doesn't exist or is imaginary and that anyone who believes any of it is foolish... with all this, one has to wonder what's the point?
I have discovered that in the two years I have been on here, that there are a number of posters that I cannot discuss anything with. Their minds are so narrow and closed that their thinking approaches indolence. Couple that with a sort of deluded sense that they constantly have the upper hand in any debate or discussion and it can be very frustrating. I have gotten to the point that I bite my tongue and avoid responding to most of them, but sometimes they post something that is so off the wall, it begs to be addressed. I bow to my weakness and respond, but the result is pretty much, always the same. Pigeon chess.
But these types do not control the board and are not the only people on a thread discussing the topic. There are plenty of posters that do not fit the description above that are posting here. Lots of ideas to get tossed around. There is humor and personal stories that are often moving. There are good examples and bad examples of how to behave here. There are people that pose tough questions or provide very insightful answers that I would not have come up with. And even from the intellectually indolent and closed-minded, there is something to be learned. Sometimes, even the most dogmatic person has an original thought or relates something of value. At the very least, I learn what it is that they are using as evidence and the state of their arguments.
Then there are people that have experiences or backgrounds with an entirely different nature and emphasis from my own. Even if they and I will never walk the same path, it is enlightening to learn how they have arrived where they are and why they conclude the way they do. This is a place where those different paths can converge long enough for us to talk and share ideas. To learn about each other and find where there is common ground and where we will never agree. This brings me back to the perspectives and ideas I would never have thought of. They may not change me, but they might make me think, reconsider or just put myself in someone else's shoes for just a moment.
