Over the past few years, I’ve been known as “that guy,” on Facebook. That one guy
who always has to go against the grain of facebook statuses. Don’t get me wrong,
facebook is a great tool to tell the hundreds of people that you barely know about what
you had for lunch, or how terrible your day at work was, but is it not also a great tool to
stir up arguments? While starting arguments is something most people hate to do, I
welcome it with open arms. Arguments, rather, “debate,” has such a negative
connotation. Many view debates as people mindlessly fighting with each other trying to
get their ideas to be proven correct, which in a sense is true, but when you do it in an
educated and mature fashion, it’s a great thing. Someone once told me, if nobody
disagrees with you, you’re not living correct. If your ideas and beliefs are not being
challenged, are you actually proud to stand up for your beliefs, or are you just keeping
them to yourself so nobody even knows about the beliefs you possess? Standing up for
your beliefs could be anything from political views to philosophy. If there is one thing I
know that I am proud to stand up for, it’s my religion.
So yes, I’m a Christian. Not only am I a Christian, but I’m also a preaching, biblethumper. My faith is the one thing I have the strongest feelings for and am most
passionate about. One of the things I think people of Christianity should do is tell others
about your faith. I mean, it literally tells you to in the Bible. That seems like such a
simple thing, but many people are afraid to do it. They think they will be judged, or that
people will look down on them, which is true actually. I’ve experienced these fears and
approached them boldly and publicly. Doing just this has caused me to have some of the
most intelligent rewarding conversations with people, people of faith and people who
don’t have religious beliefs.
“Like my status if you need prayer, and I will pray for you.” It seems like such a
simple status. You would assume that if people don’t like it, they would just keep
scrolling. Well, some people were highly offended and felt the need to comment and
debate. I was totally okay with debating such a personal topic, because as I said, I am
very passionate about this. The only way I can go into the debate is in the mindset that I
am not trying to win the argument, but to just have the debate itself.
If done in a mature way, religious, or any personal belief, debates are extremely
educational. These debates are great way to practice having good character traits such as
patience, self-control, and having respect for others opinions. If you don’t show these
traits, then what is the point of the debate? Your only focus will be winning the debate,
which is the least important outcome of the whole thing. When I debate, the important
part is for both parties to get their ideas across. This engages educational debate where
people are forced to using logical thinking and facts. Also, you are constantly getting
your personal ideas and beliefs challenged. This is the most important part of these
debates. When your ideas are getting challenged, you have to come forward with why
you have these beliefs. Having to back up your own beliefs shows that they are your
choice to have. When you believe something because you are forced into these beliefs or
it’s just the normal thing to believe, you don’t always ACTUALLY believe it. You claim
to believe something you know nothing about. If nobody challenges your beliefs, you
will never learn or educate yourself on that topic, and in turn, you will never form your
own personal beliefs. It is also okay to not have an answer for everything the opposite
party questions about your beliefs! If someone challenges something, and you don’t
know the answer, it just means you have more to learn. Neither party has to change their
opinions or agree with each other either. Even if you do not agree with anything the other
person is saying, you are getting there opinions and you must base your rhetoric off of a
combination of both of your thoughts.
Using rhetoric is one of my favorite things to do in religious debate. Not only
does it help argue my views and perspectives, but also it identifies me as a person. The
way I talk in public and on social media shows who I am. The vocabulary and language I
use rhetoric effects how people will perceive me as a person. If you are using very hateful
language and just being a bitter person, people will lose respect for you and in turn, not
even bother reading your posts. If you’re respectable and are open to other people’s
opinions, people are more likely to listen and take in to account what you are saying. That
being said, I think the subtle use of rhetoric is also sometimes the most powerful. Using
things like listening rhetoric, rhetorical questions and logos rhetoric, while obviously not
as bold as things like red herring or amplification, are more respectable and intelligent
ways of going about using them. Simply calmly listening to the other person’s opinion is
rhetoric in itself. It shows that your respectful and aren’t fighting for the last word. Also,
another way I am subtle is to not focus and put all my energy into the debate. I may type
a comment and look back every 20 minutes or so. This will give me time to think about
what we’re discussing, rather than rapidly typing the first thing that comes to mind. Also,
you are more likely to only focus on winning because you are so absorbed in the debate.
“I don’t want your prayers and I don’t need them, God IS NOT real.” This was
before the debate, and after, he feels the same way. Am I mad we didn’t come to an
agreement? Not at all. We went back and forth for a while, and nobody got angry. We
both got our points across and we continually challenged each other’s beliefs. This
caused us to be prepared to defend our beliefs and actually know why we believe it.