Welcome to Gaia! ::

Obviously we consider Creationists understanding of Science, and of what Evolution actually is and means, inferior. And we consider the vast majority of illiterate Gaians who flame and troll on the subject to be simply inferior.

We don't tar all of you with the same brush however. In this we are speaking of generalities. Individuals are taken as they come, but prejudging people based upon what we know of them is... simply human.
We can't help that.

As we get to know you we will gain a proper measure of you, but your association with the trolls and illiterate n00bs will influence our initial impressions slightly




That particular part of Christianity dealing with creationism is the only part we usually discuss. And then only against creationists.
Christianity as a whole is not really in question by the guild, though it may be by individual guild members.

Most of what we discuss here is science.

I would like to make a couple of comments.

Firstly, I like posting extensive, scientific counters, but like you say, they can take a while to write out. So, I prefer to use a pre-made one. There are a few that I have in my Journal or other threads for just this purpose. If they are not willing to read your post and argue against it, instead ignoring it and debating around it, keep refering them to it or points from it, stopping any arguments from ignorance from developing.

Secondly, one of the best ways to debate is to find out what your opponent does and doesn't know. Often turning a creationist is simply a matter of educating or clarifying them on a certain point or two. Don't be afraid to make friends with a creationist you are debating with. I have ended up with a few on my friends list after offering to explain certain scientific facts to them in ways they can actualy understand.

Next, and related to that one, always be the nice guy. I have dropped in insulting comments in the past, and only once it has helped my case (when she was insulted and PM'ed me, so I apologied and gave her in depth answers to her points in a PM). If lots of people are flaming and you are just sitting there making relevant and neutral comments, people who still want to debate are more likely to read your post than those filled with poison directed to their friends. Also, if someone is flaming you, post against them with a quote, cutting the flaming out of their post and ignoring the insult totaly. This can stop flame wars from developing.

Finaly, counterquoting can be useful, but only in certain circumstances. I use it when debating with inteligent people, who formulate their arguments in points or in sections. Often you can carry debates about a few minor points below the main point in the same post. But don't bother counterquoting whole posts, just quote the actual arguments they used, followed by your rebuttle.

BAD COUNTERQUOTING;

Here the evolutionist is treating each section as a seperate post, and therefore tries to construct a dialogue where none exists. Given the same argument, a more effective counter would be;

GOOD COUNTERQUOTING;

In this method, you treat related points as a single argument, while keeping the arguments easy to follow and not using too much space.

I would normaly use this method to reply to an older post, where I have been away for a while, or to reply to part of an argument where I don't have the time for an extensive and full reply at that time, or simply can't think of a responce for the rest.

Man you peeps sure have a some bad sterotypes of us. I'm a Creationist and enjoy all of the interesting stuff you post here on your guild, informative or just for kicks.
But not all Creationists are retards who can't write a paragraph or give a decent arguement, those are just the spammy ones. Most Creationsts are well educated individuals who know how to give a good arguement.
I admit we do have a high tendency to get a few nuts in with the bunch overall were nice people smile .

I tend to disagree. I think it has less to do with lack of education, and more to do with tradition.

If you study world history, you'll find that ancient tribes and civilizations imagined gods and deities in order to explain what they could not. Natural phenomena beyond the scope of human knowledge during that period were explained through gods and folk lore. An example of this is Zeus' lightning bolts, an ancient way of explaining a phenomenon we now know to be caused by positive and negative electrical charges in the sky and ground.

This, of course, leads to my ultimate question: Why are people so defensive when it comes to their religion? I believe the answer to be quite simple.

Humans are social creatures, and we work at our best when there is someone telling us what to do.

(I'll finish later)

I can call the likes Bin Laden, a screaming zealot with the Koran in one hand and a bomb in the other. Not necessarily true, but accurate enough for my purposes.

It's called hyperbole, or extravagent exageration. And I'm kinda addicted to it, biggrin .
Especially when spoken deadpan.

Besides which it isn't entirely innaccurate, I can think of no better description for people like Jack Chick. Google him, or Chick tracts. You'll see what I mean.

As to whether I would like to be called such a thing, of course not. Screaming is so vulgar, I prefer undermining with sarcasm.

Look around on gaia, you'll see plenty of posts that are from zealots, on both sides of most arguments.

Also foaming at the mouth does not necessarily result from illness, to the best of my knowledge.

You cannot use science to argue with creationists, its just useless. They won't change there opinion if they have faith. Thats there excuse. Its not a good one, but to them it is. That goes for pretty much any religious arguement. =/

to me, since i have a fairly open mind on things, i have the ability to enjoy the idea of the existence of god, but if you are a person that is grounded firmly in your faith in god, how much can you enjoy that you came from a monkey? xd

just kidding. i know that we're more like a chimp's cousin rather than a monkey's uncle. rofl

in all seriousness, it's good to be able to understand a subject from all perspectives. i know that it's a good way not to just approach religion or evolution, but also life topics. i know an open mind has helped me in life to grow and not be a stagnant imbecile. heheh.