I saw this earlier on but didn't have time to reply, I now come back to write a thoughtful response and you've deleted it, ah well
sorry. i posted it in the regular random and was attacked personally. i am calm now but i was pretty upset earlier. what basically went on was my husband and i got into a debate over gay marriage with a friend of mine's sister in law. she moderated and her sister in law is a very judging mormon. we stated our beliefs on the matter which somehow got into the existence of god. (we are atheists.) rather than stating her own words she used only bible quotes. i have no problem with others holding a faith because most of my friends are christian, neo-pagan, jewish or whatever. it is just that she was very single minded about the issue rather than looking at it from all sides which we were. i understood her perspective but i thought when debating one should try to understand both sides. that was all.
Heh, brave sir robin is an idiot... I've had debates with christian friends, and it's mostly impossible to talk to them sensibly, because their belief involves something other than reason and logical inference, which are prerequisites for the sharing of ideas about anything. Belief is a funny and tenacious thing, which is strongly associated with emotional states - once someone has made up their mind it's very difficult to shake that belief. I've thought hard about how to get through to someone like this but I think it just needs to come from within. It's practically impossible to convince someone that their belief is mistaken when they have such a strong emotional connection to it and "feel" that it's right. All you can do is provide a situation in which they have access to the ideas and materials like opposing evidence which would enable them to question their dearly held beliefs, had they an open enough mind.
