i sincerely apologize....

Yes, I believe that we will all be surprized someday, and notice that we will all be together in the end. And all that debating will have been for nothing. lol

I could not agree with you any more!I also have some embarrasing moment like you!
like what you said,I had a discussion with my roommate,but which result in the sarcasm and anger acccusation,hatred...not talking to each other!
we all have falws,big or small,we do not others to display or point out our weakness!so this also lead to some doubt,anger,and not having the courage to acknowlege our mistakes and flaw!we always rekon we are right!
i also had a disccusion with my another frind about how to study another language,finally we have a good result! he get what he wants,either did i!
after that,i think a lot about the two,why it led to different result!
because the purpose is different and the attitude is not same!
so when doing something,we must use right attitude towards the thhing you r debating on!
we must learn to be modest!

debating can be a fun game, but a discussion should only be entered into with an open mind, if you cannot see the other person's point of view you end up with an argument and bad feelings all around.

I agree with the point you make about keeping an open mind in these sorts of discussions.

In my first profile I did a discussion on religion and as I got banned I think that the discussion was removed, along with my account, so I may repost it as I found it very interesting.

What I discovered from that discussion was that the people ( in my opinion ) who appeared to really give a positive example of their particular faith, were the people whose faith was internal rather than external.

By that I mean that although they may have had some form of structure to their religion (the Bible for example) if that was removed, or the actual texts were proved (this was a hypothetical situation) to be less than genuine for some reason, they would continue to believe in the core elements of their religion/faith as it came more form inside them than from external teachings.

They appeared to be less closed in their thinking as they seemed to follow the spirit of the teachings rather than stick exactly to the words and be closed to the meanings behind them.

The arguments appear to come when someone in a discussion won't even attempt to see another point of view as it may be at odds with their particular written teachings.

I don't think it is the religion which causes problems as such but more the way the individual chooses to interpret the written teachings of that religion.

My own opinion is that we were all made by aliens and the written religious texts are all mankinds way of trying to make sense of something which we are currently incapable of comprehending.

Therefore I prefer to ignore the religious texts (I have read most of them though) and concentrate on the core of each religion and I choose to see the similarities in every major religion rather than the differences.

They are all peaceful and it is just the minority who use religion to justify their less than peaceful views or/and actions.

Sorry about the spelling and slightly rambling words I'm a bit tired

I agree with you that debates are good, and rather fun, until someone enters in with an arrogant and sarcastic comment just to rawl people up...or when someone posts a response or discussion that denotes an attitude that seems to say all other responders are nuts, in what they had to say.Those are the kind of posters that do not do any good in a debate. I, too, have been guilty of putting on the boxing gloves when I see such a response or discussion, because it would inevitably get me rawled up, which is what the poster wanted to do. I fell into the trap.

So, my reason for this discussion is to set myself on track, and set guidelines for myself. Heated words, sarcasm, arrogancy, is certainly not what I want to betray for myself, especially in a subject that means much to me.

Thanks, Mike for your input.

Mike...in regards to your other response:

I don't think it is the religion which causes problems as such but more the way the individual chooses to interpret the written teachings of that religion

I agree with you completely. Many religions believe in the same fundamental basics, which is why we have many religions that are considered "Christians", because the center or core of these religions are the same. We all believe in the Trinity. It is in the interpretation of the Bible, that separates one from the other. It is both the Bible and history of the Church that defines each religion.

Others also allow themselves to be labeled by a particular religion, only because they know nothing more. Some go thru the practices and footsteps without knowing why... and just going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car . Therefore, that is where the big problem arises.