For those of you who love an argument.

[Number8]

Understanding the 'other side's' position on an issue is important to any good debate. In this thread, attempt to defend a position that you don't agree with. You know, for shiggles. Preferably one that is argued over frequently on the ning.

Ideas:
-creation/evolution
-abortion
-twilight
-death penalty
-john vs. Hank

[broelle]

lolz shiggles. sorry, that is not good participation, but it made me lolz.

[Zach Attack]

i believe in evolution, rather to creation to get this started. Buuuut, if i was needed to defend the side of creation for someone, or for myself for some reason, then this is how i would look at it. There are two beliefs as far as I'm concerned, and creation is a very strong passion to believe in on how we got on Earth. Creation is just as valid as evolution if not greater. God put us here, and gave us told us how to survive. not very compelling argument, but i'm trying.

[Number8]

It isn't easy, especially if you're really opinionated on the matter.

[Alan]

You can't make logical arguments or even ethical arguments if you want to defend this... so what reason is there to try this on for size. Your not really learning anything.
Other topics, yes... but this one. No.

[Lindsay Swarthout]

There are logical points to creation. I read a book about it called A Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel. And I did learn something by reading it - that Darwinian evolution is not a 100% proven theory and that there is more to creationism than blind belief.

[Chaylee]

I'll argue that I'm pro-life, although I'm strongly pro-choice. Hm.

Everybody deserves a chance to live. There is no reason why anyone should be denied the full experiences of life, it is the greatest gift anyone can be given.


Man, I can't think of what should go next. This is hard xP. My brain is just too transfixed on why abortion should be allowed.

[Alan]

1st few paragraphs of the paper I just wrote for my Criminal Justice writing class. It's all on an opinion I do not have, but is quite valid. I had a lot of fun writing this paper, though I had to rely upon a few logical fallacies.

The government should reflect the communities’ norms and values that it governs. Government control should never step further over the line and try to impose standards or ideas that the community does not wish to follow, and should let up on laws that the community as a whole is no longer following. Government when it was created was made to help protect and enforce norms that social situations could not, it was never meant to regulate morals and hamper a population’s growth. The few times that the government tried to create laws that were against what the population wanted, it caused server blow back and made more problems then it helped. When alcohol prohibition was created it helped organized crime flourished within the country. These laws no longer let the population work with the government, but it put the people and their government at odds.

As proved throughout history, the system that we have now is fully functional and keeps most of the problems that come up in check. The only problems that are not under control are the ones that cannot be handled by social norms or those that need money to help the needy. Laws and regulations are not necessary to step in and solve these problems with an iron fist and shackles. We need structure yes, but a structure that helps people who ask for it, a structure tailored to those who have problems and can get the help they need. This structure would resemble the structure in programs like Alcoholics Anonymous. A program scientifically proven to help those who need it.

Today we encounter many problems that involve the community being at odds with the government, drug laws, downloading of music and entertainment, and gay rights. Some of these arguments are over moral decisions and some are over ideals that shall govern our country, but when a government enforces a law that a large enough population of its people does not wish to follow, it creates hostility and can cause harm to the country as a whole. At the very least it creates a barrier between those who break the laws and the people that must enforce those laws.

[Heather Rose]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBu8CWsBJys

Stephenie Meyer and the Domestication of Vampires.
I think my video makes a few good points about the lack of validity to most of the haters arguments. That being said: I still don't like Twilight.

[Tova C.E]

I dislike arguing in favour of something I don't believe in even more than I find it difficult.
I guess I could talk about death penalty and say that if you take another person's life, ignoring their right to live, that means you have no longer the right to live yourself... You should be kicked out of the club and lose your life membership, basically.

Urgh. I feel sick.

[Mina]

One of my old history teachers once said "You don't fully understand an issue until you can successfully debate for the other side and win." And I find it a great virtue to understand the arguments you will be countering, so yay!

I think I'll argue for Creationism, since I am rabidly pro-evolution.

Ahem....

It's silly to argue that Creationism and Intelligent Design are not based in Christianity, but it is also wrong to argue that Christianity and its origin story have no place in American schools. Whatever we may think about ourselves, we are a largely Anglo-Saxon country, with a largely Anglo-Saxon population, and the majority of students statistically are from Christian families. This is a part of our culture, and while the scientific community has a theory that they find more valid you cannot use that as a basis to remove the Christian viewpoint completely and pretend that it's some silly superstition that no one puts stock in anymore. It's the widely held, deeply seeded belief of many Americans.

I would further make the point that Creationism, Intelligent Design and the like are woefully under-researched. There are some studies that have been done looking into the validity of creationist claims, and all have been inconclusive or damning, but the studies themselves are alarmingly few in number and the reason is not because no one is interested. It's because they keep getting quashed. There was a huge expedition last year looking for Noah's ark in the middle eastern mountains, but we can't allow a look or two into the Young Earth theory? While the idea that God made the earth in seven days will never be completely scientifically proven or, some would argue, valid, the research we glean from actually treating Intelligent Design as a legitimate hypothesis could lead to discoveries that we can not currently foresee. By barring ourselves from entire fields of study simply because the basis of that study is a hypothesis that contradicts the current most agreed upon theory is narrow-minded in and of itself.




...

Ok. So not the best or strongest argument, but it's gettin' there.

[Elijah Joseph Donnelly]

Well...I believe in Creation and Evolution... (God created everything through the big bang,evolution,etc,.)

I both do and do not support Abortion depending on the situation

I don't like Twilight, but I don't Hate Twilight

Depending on the crime, I'm Fully Pro-Death Penalty

I like John and Hank pretty much equally

I think you need better topics...

[Olivia]

I am arguing that twilight is the greatest book ever. It has grossed loads and loads of money. It's gotten lots of teenage girls into reading that otherwise wouldn't have. For those that say that "Harry Potter is WAY better," why bother making the argument if you don't feel threatened by it?

(Don't worry. I adore Harry Potter and dislike Twilight, but I don't care to argue about it.)