Here's some more things to keep in mind, not just for you, but for everyone.
This board provides a venue for discussion and debate between evolutionists and Creationists. The discussion is moderated in order to keep discussion from becoming unproductive or stalemated. There are four moderators at this time, two evolutionist and two Creationist.
The
Forum Guidelines are a general outline for member conduct, but in keeping it to a readable length it is necessarily incomplete. A complete list of all the ways in which debate can go bad would be much too long, and each month I see something new.
I occasionally add clarifying posts like this to ask that people follow the spirit of the guidelines in addition to just the letter. The guidelines are intended to make productive dialogue on complex and potentially emotional topics possible, but it is not and could not be a complete list of debate stumbling blocks, so members should not conclude that anything not explicitly mentioned is okay.
Moderators will step in whenever they think they detect an approach or style that is hindering rather than helping debate. The particular position is irrelevant, only the approach. As long as the position is supported by argument and/or evidence, and as long as the substance of rebuttals is addressed rather than ignored, then there is no position not allowed here.
There are literally dozens and dozens of ways to avoid addressing the issues. I'm reminded of the presidential debate between Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale in 1984 when Reagan was asked about the "age issue". Reagan, who was 73 at time, replied, "I have no desire to make an issue of the youth and inexperience of my opponent." Everyone got a good laugh and the debate moved on. But Reagan never answered what most would agree was a very important and relevant question.
Had the debate taken place on this forum, Reagan would have been required to give a serious answer to the question.
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--EvC Forum Administrator