Arguments With Creationists

Before I go into this, realize that this is NOT a rant against Creationism, and that I know not all of you who happen to be Creationists operate in this fashion.

I'm really starting to get frustrated when I get into debates with some Creationists. At first the debate is fun, and through research you get to re-examine your stances on things and increase your knowledge. Rarely however, does a debate end, at least in my experience, without a reference to a particular passage in the Bible. These completely ruin the debate, and even though you still learn something from it which is great in itself, it's frustrating to put THAT much time into research and writing a convincing argument only to have someone totally ditch the 'debate etiquette' and resort to using their own unfounded beliefs as proof that they're right. You cannot argue with someone when they say "well, in genesis, it's mentioned that the Earth was formed in 6 days". After a statement like that, the debate comes to a screeching halt. I just ask myself, "Why did I waste this many hours of my life? Couldn't they just admit from the start that there was zero possibility of changing their mind?"

Having a belief system is great. I never start an argument with a Creationist if they don't want to hear it because that's just plain rude. I also believe in some sort of a God, share a few beliefs, and I'm open to anything. However, if you plan to enter into a debate, at least stay with it until the very end, or if you are stuck and can't offer a counter argument, agree to look into it in the future and end it right there. That goes for people on both sides of the argument, but the reason you won't see me making this mistake is because it would sound downright stupid to make a comment like "well I believe you're wrong, so I win!". Anyone who enters a debate should also be open minded. There is no point in having a debate if you don't have a chance of convincing the other person that you're right. It just becomes a monumental waste of time and creates a lot of frustration and needless anger.

I like the idea of a separate board being created, devoted to this kind of debate. It purifies the other boards, but it better be heavily moderated. There's gonna be a LOT of frustration there for the very reasons I'm writing this rant for.

This should be in ATS, and there are more forms of creationism then the 7 days concept in the bible.

The reason people get hard to deal with is because they run out references or justifications.

I hope you don't think all people who subscribe to creationism are impossible to deal with.

Just ignore them and if you get frustrated convince your self that they are little kids who are babbling of wonderland or some aliens...This goes for anything in the world that frustrates you

I'm not posting this is ATS because its a Rant, and would have nothing to contribute to the new board besides my opinion. As far as the 7 day thing, yes, I know there is much moe to it than that, I was just giving one specific example.

EastCoast, I definately know what you're saying. In my 'disclaimer' above I mentioned that I realized there are some Creationists who aren't frustrating. Some members of my own family suscribe to Creationism after all! . I really hate to generalize, its just that with my experience, these aggravating people are the ones that I seem to run into most often.

[edit on 29-6-2005 by zhangmaster]