My hesitancy about The debate forum

[Mutanatia]

I'm extremely hesitant to voice my opinions on here for a few reasons. Let me list them:

A) I feel outnumbered. Whether this is due to political views or others, I feel as though if I post something that disagrees with the conservatives here (most noticeably the health care bill), I feel I will get shouted down.
B) I feel awkward to respond to things here, mainly because either A) I feel like I will come across as a total and complete idiot, or B) will be treated as such.
C) I (apparently) have a tendency to make people feel stupid when I disagree with them. Though I do not *want* to come across this way...it's kinda how I do come across. Thus, I am afraid I will offend people unintentionally.
D) There are a LOT of strong voices here, both conservative and liberal. I basically feel as though I am one of the "minor leaguers," as it were, and as such feel like I "do not belong here"

That being said, I'd love to reply to several things that Grub has said about the healthcare bill, but I don't because of the above reasons. I love political debates, but I'm afraid of how my opinions (either "pro" health care, impeaching obama, what have you, or ANTI that stuff) will go over.

(please tell me this isn't so and we can "disagree respectfully" here )

[Klington]

Go for it. Debate only helps to strengthen a person's positions. It rarely opens the eyes of the individual you're yelling at, but at the very least it makes their philosophy more feasible, which is always a plus. Rationality is something we need more of in this world.

Plus, you can't be much worse than I am, I usually just talk and talk until I say something that has some striking relevance and gets the point across. I call it in the shotgun effect, one of those little buck shots has to hit. hahahahaha

[Grub]

Sorry if my posts are too harsh, I am just passionate about this stuff. While there are definitely conservatives here, I actually think the liberals outnumber the conservatives in the 10000 Islands. Feel free to post whatever you like here, but I hope you don't take it personally if I or others don't agree with you, etc.

[Enigmatic]

How do you think I feel? I guarantee I am the only pragmatic idealist on the forum. All the conservatives and liberals have me way outnumbered.

[Bad Infinitum]

There certainly are a lot of opinions flying around here.

Think of it less as a competition and more of a learning opportunity. My advice is to study the strongest speakers and learn from them. I was captain of my high school debate team, and even then I have to admit I've picked up a few tricks from some of the more outspoken characters on this forum. Not only debate tactics, but there's also a lot of well-informed people here. You can pick up quite a lot from observing the debates, whether or not you participate.

[Markanite]

I think its fun to watch people debate, aslong as it doesnt get too offensive and not offend people. Everyone has opinions and its nice for others to hear them.

I think thats why bi-partisan bills that take positions from the left and right can sometimes be the most successful.

[Pessimistic Sarcasm]

plus, people won't go hunting you down for voicing your opinions. Even if they will, this is why we have nicknames~XP not that they will, of course

[McMulliness]

I say just go for it... it cant really hurt to get your opinion out there. You never know, maybe you have thought of something in such a way that makes others change their minds on certain topics.

I know I am always open to new thoughts and such...

[Cerb]

I love a good rant, whether I agree with the ranters opinion or not.

The fundamental rule of any debate:
Attack the idea, not the person.

Let fly. I want to hear all sides of any story.


I try and take the approach of avoiding agreeing directly with a group of individuals. It can feel like a pack forming against you if you feel that this is happening.

Voice your opinion and let it stand on it's own merit.