Important Debate Question

[SteelCurtain]

So he's allowed to call you simple and stupid, and you are worried about offending him?

I like Pinsir's advice.

Call him out on it. It seems like all he has is to attack the simplicity of the argument. Since when are arguments required to be complex to hold any truth? Introduce him to Occam's Razor. Make him come up with an actual argument.

[ThePinsir]

Ooooh! Why didn't I think of Occam's Razor!?

Sounds like he has some superiority complex lol

Maybe you can reverse it on him!

"God just popped into existence, then made everything else simply pop into existence? Then made a dirt-man and rib-woman? This is too simple; stop insulting my intelligence!"

-edit-

Show him this thread lol. That is, if he's brave enough to venture into the lion's den

[Ksa]

I decided after a couple of debates with my dad about god that I won't do it anymore. I think it is better to just show him respect and not bring the subject up.

They are calling me onto it. Like, my mother found a YouTube video of a scientist talking about the Earth and God and invited everyone for a family discussion following the video. My mom also asked me to download movies with Jesus Christ. So they regularly bring up the subject, a lot more than me.

If I try to dodge the subject and not talk about it, they blame me for not having an opinion, saying only morons don't have opinions. If I keep quiet, they tell me how my Dexedrine medication I take for my ADD is destroying my personality and my life in general. So far my parents have laid over 10 diagnosis on me, including depression and schizophrenia. Telling them that my serotonin is high and I never had psychosis symptoms is regarded as defensive behavior "Your grandpa defended his bottle his entire life too, I guess you're walking in his footsteps."

You get the picture lol.

[Silver]

You have some messed up parents who are quite into emotional and verbal abuse.

[SteelCurtain]

They are calling me onto it. Like, my mother found a YouTube video of a scientist talking about the Earth and God and invited everyone for a family discussion following the video. My mom also asked me to download movies with Jesus Christ. So they regularly bring up the subject, a lot more than me.

Make it clear to them that it is a two way street. If you are to be open minded and watch these videos, then they should be open minded and watch some videos from another perspective as well.

If I try to dodge the subject and not talk about it, they blame me for not having an opinion, saying only morons don't have opinions. If I keep quiet, they tell me how my Dexedrine medication I take for my ADD is destroying my personality and my life in general. So far my parents have laid over 10 diagnosis on me, including depression and schizophrenia. Telling them that my serotonin is high and I never had psychosis symptoms is regarded as defensive behavior "Your grandpa defended his bottle his entire life too, I guess you're walking in his footsteps."

You get the picture lol.

Woah. This is a situation I think that goes beyond this particular argument. How old are you? You need to learn to stand up for yourself. Don't allow people to talk to you like that. Make sure they know that these words and accusations are not helping anyone and are hurtful. You can have intelligent debate without attacking another person, in fact that's the only way to have intelligent debate. Don't let them bully you. If they want to talk about this stuff, you are allowed to have your terms. If they continue abusive behavior---don't engage in debate with them. Who gives a shit if they say you don't have an opinion? Let them wallow in their ignorance.

[JesusHChrist]

Regardless of this person being your dad or not, calling you names (especially from your dad!) is unacceptable. He sounds like a bully.

You could respond back with, "if you have to resort to name calling, you've lost the argument and I'm done discussing it". Or some such approach. Name calling is an intellectual approach? Hypocrite.

I wouldn't discuss it further until he gets off his high horse and apologizes. If not, defer having the discussion in the future and reference the prior name-calling. If they don't shut up, leave the room. Eventually, they'll get the message. One would hope.

My suspicion is he is having his own internal struggles/doubts and you are making things worse. Cognitive dissonance...

[ThePinsir]

They are calling me onto it. Like, my mother found a YouTube video of a scientist talking about the Earth and God and invited everyone for a family discussion following the video. My mom also asked me to download movies with Jesus Christ. So they regularly bring up the subject, a lot more than me.

If I try to dodge the subject and not talk about it, they blame me for not having an opinion, saying only morons don't have opinions. If I keep quiet, they tell me how my Dexedrine medication I take for my ADD is destroying my personality and my life in general. So far my parents have laid over 10 diagnosis on me, including depression and schizophrenia. Telling them that my serotonin is high and I never had psychosis symptoms is regarded as defensive behavior "Your grandpa defended his bottle his entire life too, I guess you're walking in his footsteps."

You get the picture lol.

Holy crap, yo. Tell her to watch some Dawkins/Harris/Hitchens interviews lol. After all, one must have an open mind


I'd consider printing a long list of logical fallacies, highlighting ad hominem and handing it to yer pop.

Or, send him a link to this thread lol

[CapnAwesome]

The whole conversation seems rather stupid to me. Why was he upset? Hint: People get irrationally upset over politics and religion.

[Clueless Morgan]

No use. He just says that such a simplistic way of viewing life is too stupid for him to grasp and that, for him to take the time of the day to address it, it has to be more elevated and intelectual, that would "better reflect my university studies". He then tells me that it was a waste to send me to university for me to talk like a redneck countryman. Very insulting indeed lol. Both my parents proceed in saying that they will not tolerate me talking like an idiot in spite of my university studies.

It's basically just ad hominem after ad hominem. Non stop. I don't get what the problem is, can anyone spot it? Does it go beyond their refusal to accept my argument?

So... he's too stupid to grasp a stupid argument? And he wants to have a "more elevated" one? How can he grasp a more elevated argument if the simple argument is too stupid for him to even understand?

But let's be overly generous and say that that was unfortunate wording on your part and that he actually does understand the simple argument - he's still deflecting the conversation and blaming you for having "simple arguments" when he (and your mother) are the ones bringing this up! Ad hominem is right, yeesh!

Anyway, I would still keep on the "if it's so simple than refute it" line, and you can even start following it up with jabs like "the fact that you are refusing to refute the simple arguments leads me to conclude that you have no refutation to give" and "if you can't refute a simple argument, how do I know you're even capable of having a more elevated conversation?" Point out to him (and your mother) that refusal to engage in the simple discussions is as good as conceding that they have no argument to make and you win by default.

They are calling me onto it. Like, my mother found a YouTube video of a scientist talking about the Earth and God and invited everyone for a family discussion following the video. My mom also asked me to download movies with Jesus Christ. So they regularly bring up the subject, a lot more than me.

If I try to dodge the subject and not talk about it, they blame me for not having an opinion, saying only morons don't have opinions. If I keep quiet, they tell me how my Dexedrine medication I take for my ADD is destroying my personality and my life in general. So far my parents have laid over 10 diagnosis on me, including depression and schizophrenia. Telling them that my serotonin is high and I never had psychosis symptoms is regarded as defensive behavior "Your grandpa defended his bottle his entire life too, I guess you're walking in his footsteps."

You get the picture lol.

Ask them point blank why they are being so abusive toward you.

Seriously.

Call them on their shit.

"You confront me with an argument, then call my responses stupid and simple, and then say that not to have an argument at all is the mark of a moron. Do you think this is an acceptable way to talk to your child?"

Or turn that language around on them in an unexpected moment of conversation like when they're ordering a hamburger. "Only morons order hamburgers with mushrooms, dad." And when they tell you that that language is disrespectful ask them why they use that kind of language with you and why it's acceptable when they do it but not when you do it? "Treat others as you would want to be treated."

Make them aware that their behavior is abusive. If they are stunned into silence it'll tell you that they either didn't realize their behavior was abusive or never expected you to call them on it. If they think it is acceptable it'll tell you about their attitude toward raising children.

I get the idea from your statements regarding having a university education that you're not a minor. How do you think they would react if you told them you wanted to stop seeing them until they decided that they could interact with you without being abusive or bringing up contentious topics?

Of course, you could be dependent on them in some other way.

[pocaracas]

Your friendly dad sounds like a real keeper!

Personally, I wouldn't have said "there is no god", as it puts the burden on you.
I would have gone with "there doesn't seem to be any god... if you wish me to acknowledge any god, then you need to present me with some decent evidence for it." yatta yatta, blah, blah, blah... bible - not good, come on dad, you can do better than a dusty old book of dubious origins... oh, what's that? you didn't know it's dubious?... perhaps you'd like to watch this little video:




And learn a bit about the gnostic movement that happened before your book was compiled: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Gnosticism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcion

So, dad, do you still think that book deserves any credence?