The rules

Kenneth Hynek • 18th Nov 2009 • Religion, Catholicism, Religion, Christianity, The Sciences, The Interwebs
Catholicism, Christianity, faith, Internet, Patrick Madrid

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Debate rules, that is. I think Patrick Madrid raises a valuable and valid point in noting that, especially for Catholics who feel themselves moved to take up the cause of defending the faith from those who cast aspersions on it, certain rules must be observed if said defenders will have any chance of success:

Rule 1: Don’t be afraid to fight the good fight, but understand that, nowadays, it may become a street-fight.

Rule 2: If you’re going to street-fight, you had better know how to street fight.

Rule 3: Always adhere to the Pell Protocol — If you’re going fight, fight to win.

To which I might also add a fourth rule, derived from the fifth rule on this list of meeting strategies:

[Quote] your opponents more accurately than they can quote themselves…The original speaker is put on the defensive, forced to fumble and clarify, and in the process loses control. If you want to experience true schadenfreude listen closely to what your opponents say. Do not admit to enjoying this experience.

Let’s face it: this is the Internet. There’s only one kind of debate on the Internet: the messy kind. And in the messy kind of debates, winning is more or less the sole object. Having the truth on your side is powerful in its own right, but falsehood can still win out if it can fight for its case better than you can fight for yours. There aren’t really any such things as moral victories online; there are only real victories and real losses.

Compromising the truth for the sake of a victory is no good either, mind you, but the beauty of the truth of Christianity is that it’s a truth that has more than a few sharp edges to it.