On 8/21/2012 2:55 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:35:52 -0700, Patrick Elliott wrote:
>
>> Actually, it depends on the moron. Some people don't change their
>> opinion,
>> and/or look for real facts, until ***after*** they realize that, "Yeah,
>> I guess a lot of people don't agree with my, I wonder why that is?" But,
>> its hard to tell the difference between a sheltered fool, and an
>> internet troll, since they both tend to babble the same BS, often even
>> persistently. Its not until weeks, months, or even years, later, when
>> one comes back and says, "You people where the first ones to really
>> challenge me, and come right out as say I was being an idiot.", that you
>> can tell which is which some times.
>
> Another circumstance in which to have a debate like this is when there's
> actually an audience.  There may be some in the audience who think "this
> guy's got a point" but who haven't spoken up.  By debating it publicly,
> you point out the errors not necessarily for the benefit of the fool
> taking the absurdist position, but for those who might be thinking that
> the fool has a valid point.
>
> Jim
>
Actually, most people who are serious about something that religion 
apposes avoid public "debates" like the plague. Why? Because they can 
trot out 500 bits of nonsense, and you have either a) no time to address 
them all, or b) to pick one, which you think is the most important, to 
address. After which, they can just declare that you failed to address 
the other 499 bullshit statements they made. There is no such thing as a 
"public debate" in such contexts, its virtually always a trap, to allow 
creationists, or the like to promote a long laundry list of gibberish 
statements and positions, and then claim victory, because, instead of an 
entire day to address everything that is wrong with everything they 
claimed, they only have the same 15 minutes the ass making the claims did.

That is the advantage to forums, instead of live debates. As long as the 
moderator is honest, and not deleting comments, etc., there is no time 
limits on how long someone has to spend refuting all claims, and people 
making them. In a public debate, everything from the time limits, to the 
audience, are often intentionally stacked against you, and the number of 
claim that must be dealt with, may as well be infinite.

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