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 Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 11:42 am
Welcome to the Question And Answer Sub-Forum!Purpose: This sub-forum is the only place where Theists can ask Atheists questions! This guild does not have a 'no Theists allowed' policy, however, as has been stated, this guild does see itself as a safe haven from Theistic ideologies. This is why we have this sub-forum. As per acceptance instructions, any Theist member must post questions in this forum and only in this forum. Theist members are allowed to post threads and post regularly anywhere else in the guild so long as it is not a direct Theist to Atheist question. If you are a Theist member and are unclear on the specifics feel free to PM me.  Follow general guild rules and Gaia T.O.S., as usual.
Asking questions is what this is about, so remember that and don't post if you don't want your own posts to be questioned.
No flaming or similar misconduct. That goes for all members! Ask questions and disagree, but don't just stop by this sub-forum for a quick flame.
arrow If you know of members that you think might like to participate in GAU and the Q&A forum, let us know in the invite sticky:
Who Would You Invite?
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Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 11:43 am
 Things to keep in mind when debating: Generalizations & Assumptions:People like to stick to Atheist v Christian. There's no reason to discuss everything in terms of disbelief in Christianity and there's no reason to generalize all people with faith or Theists as Christian believers. In other words, it'd be good to see the Q&A sub-forum contain a variety of topics.
Although sweeping assumptions about all Theists or Atheists don't help, being too forceful with your corrections of other people will only add to the problem. Reply, but don't flame back! Let people give their opinion and ask them questions too. People can't learn or add to a discussion if you don't give them a chance. Debating (paraphrased) by Sanguvixen
The difference between fact and opinion. Opinion cannot be used to argue opinion...it gets nowhere.
You cannot argue fact.
Fact: "The Sky is blue".
Opinion "The blue sky is pretty."
Fact: "Some Theists are zealots"
Opinion "Theists are all zealots and need to shut up."
Ad Hominem:
"A debater commits the Ad Hominem Fallacy when he introduces irrelevant personal premises about his opponent."
Basically it is when you make a personal attack upon a person to distract them, to discredit them or just to insult them. It is also when you bring up personal stuff that is irrelevant to the discussion in order to try to gain better ground.
Slippery Slope:
"If A happens, then by a gradual series of small steps through B, C,…, X, Y, eventually Z will happen, too.
Z should not happen.
Therefore, A should not happen, either."
A Slippery Slope argument involves claiming one thing leads to another, and then to another, and then to another, and thus one should prevent the first thing from happening just because one thing leads to another.
Hasty Generalization: (A.K.A The Grand Sweeping Generalization)
This is the fallacy of generalizing about a population based upon a sample which is too small to be representative. "
I call it the "Some equals all" or "Some equals most" fallacy. It is when you take an observation of a few, and then apply those observations to the entire group. Then you try to say "All of group A engages in so and so" or "Most of group A engages in so and so"
Be aware of this when talking about groups, and try not commit a Hasty Generalization.
If you ever get bored check out the sites I have listed, and look around. It's good stuff for those who are interested in getting into thicker debates because knowing how to not commit logical fallacies, and how to recognize logical fallacies will make you a better debater. Got something to say or ask about the sub-forum? Post here!
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