www.You SUCK at Being An AMERICAN.com
Is this or is this not a debate club?
95 Theses = Debate
Iron sharpens Iron = debate
We're not here to debate arcane theories. We're not here to survive paranoid conspiracies. We're not here to ensure that one political party gets elected or the other political party is kept out of office.
We're here to lay a foundation that will last for generations.
Yes, "Iron sharpens iron," and all questions are appropriate. I cut my teeth on academic debate, defending both sides of a proposition just for the sake of developing certain skills. But not here.
Sincerity is key. Sincere questions, honestly-held disagreements.
Some people believe they get credit -- diamonds in their crown in heaven -- when they "denounce" something.
When Smith says something new or perhaps genuinely heterodox (not orthodox), Jones "the Denouncer" springs into action, and DENOUNCES what Smith says: "That's heretical!" "That's a violation of the Reformed Principle of Regulation!"
No argument, no evidence, no persuasion even intended. Just a denunciation. Like holding up a silver cross in front of Dracula. Like Smith and his belief will go away once Jones denounces them. Jones acts like he speaks "ex cathedra." Then Jones basks in the rays of his own superiority.
If Smith voices a truly heterodox opinion (and he's doing so sincerely, not simply to get a rise out of his audience), that's a dangerous thing, and the true Mentor seeks to persuade Smith using reason and evidence (especially Biblical evidence). Not just denouncing Smith's proposition, but genuinely desiring to build a relationship with Smith which builds trust and a bridge to Biblical orthodoxy. And a truly Berean Mentor is willing to admit that his own opinion may be exposed as the heterodox one.
This is for people who are open-minded; willing to listen respectfully to the ideas of Samuel Adams, Adam Smith, George Washington, America's Founding Fathers, colonial America, and the five great works that you will be reading in the next 365 days. You don't have to agree with every detail, but your goal must be to help yourself and others become:
If you're an atheist, your goal must not be here to get Christians to renounce their faith, but to help them become more like Jesus Christ -- even if you don't believe He existed. You must agree to be in pursuit of the character qualities listed above.
In his "Farewell Address," George Washington warned against excessive allegiance to any political party:
Benjamin Rush signed the Declaration of Independence and served in the Presidential administrations of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison -- each of whom came from a different political party. And of what party was Rush?Let me now . . . warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party. . . . The common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrict it. It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another . . . . In governments purely elective, it [the spirit of party] is a spirit not to be encouraged.
I have been alternately called an aristocrat and a democrat. I am now neither. I am a Christocrat. I believe all power. . . will always fail of producing order and happiness in the hands of man. He alone Who created and redeemed man is qualified to govern him.
This coaching program is not about politics. Politics is the problem, not the solution. Don't even bother talking about any political candidate unless s/he is enrolled in this program.