Debate

One thing that I talk about a lot is how good it is to debate things, and I firmly believe this. There is no question that people do not all agree on everything, if they did it would be a far more peaceful world, which would be really great, but it's just not that way. The fact is that many people have a lot of different ideas about just about everything. While there are clear cut right and wrong answers to some issues, others are not so. And just because there is a clear right or wrong, don't expect that you won't find people who will take the other side.

I'm not looking to get into any specific issues today, I'm sure you'll see I do that pretty much every post, but today, I want to talk about healthy debate. When we honestly disagree with someone about something, we need to feel free to stand up and say so. And if it is a friend that we find ourselves in disagreement with, we need to know that we are still going to be friends at the end of the discussion (or argument if it comes to that). We really need to bat around idea's. The sharing of idea's, and the debate of concepts and opinions is critical to the operation of a free society, and to maintaining freedom.

There is nothing wrong with disagreement. It doesn't bother me if anyone reading this blog feels that I am wrong, even if they disagree with me most of the time, what I strive to do is to encourage people to think, and to engage them in discussion or debate. I sometimes seek out what is being said on certain issues by those who usually come out on the other side, just because I think that considering differing opinions, and keeping an open mind, is good on it's own, but, if I end up not being convinced by those arguments, it only strengthens my original position, and gives me a better position to argue from in the future.

It's good to have strong opinions and to take strong positions, but you should always know why. You should not be offended if someone wishes to engage you in intelligent debate, it is a good thing. Unfortunately a lot of people do get offended when someone disagrees with them. And a lot of people do not disagree properly, choosing to attack you as a person, rather than try to present arguments as to why their position is the correct one. I do try to steer clear of those people, as being called names won't do much to further intelligent debate.

On another note, go ahead a vote in my polls. It is completely anonymous, I can't tell who has voted what, unless you choose to leave a comment on one of my blog posts, which anyone is certainly welcome to do.