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Shotgun Apologetics...

Discussion in 'Other Christian Denominations' started by Living_stone, Apr 23, 2006.

  1. Living_stone

    Living_stone New Member

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    Okay, I'm new to this board, but not new to boards in general. I just wanted to comment on a trend I see going on here. That trend is: Shotgun Apologetics.

    Shotgun Apologetics occurs when person A, who disagrees with the position of person B and wishes to convince person B against his or her current position, decides to list an all out barrage of claims and problems. With such a lengthy list of objections, quotes, citations and verses, they think, surely this person will see the error of their ways.

    The problems are these:

    1) The post is so lengthy that often the person doesn't know where to begin or doesnt have the time to adequately respond. - This doesn't mean the arguement is won or lost for either side...it's just dead.

    2) The post has so many topics which could each be given pages and pages of debate, that by squeezing twenty of them into one post Person A forces Person B to give only a vague rebuttal to any given point, instead of being allowed to give the proper ammount of time to each subject.

    3) The post has so many lengthy quotes that the person is force to wade through another bonus hour or ten of reading if one want's to get the context proper to the quotes given.

    Sometimes a post just needs to be long, and that's acceptable and good. I make long posts, others do too.

    However some people make a rediculous ammount of posts (sometimes 5 or more in a row) each one of a moderate to large length. It's unfair. It doesn't mean they're a better arguer. It means in fact that they are worse, for they do not wish to participate in an discussion, but merely to vent.

    ...Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong - but if I am, tell me in 250 words or less!

    Pax,

    -J
     
  2. BobRyan

    BobRyan Well-Known Member

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    Depends the purpose of your participation. If it is merely to put a public spin on something you believe (make it look good) then you are right - having a lot of objections to answer makes the task almost impossible.

    But IF you actually "cared" about the issues connected with a given topic - THEN all the related data becomes "helpful" and everybody wins by learning more about the subject.

    Admittedly - there is a lot of participation along the lines of the first model. But now and then someone cares about the "details" in the entire topic.

    In Christ,

    Bob
     
  3. BobRyan

    BobRyan Well-Known Member

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    BTW there is "another benefit". Write down the objections and study them one by one - offline. Build your own file of "facts" for the topic AND don't forget to INCLUDE your OWN RC sources (provided for you here) since that same quote will just come back the next time you see the subject surface.

    Use this as an opportunity to understand the subject and build a file of "knowledge" rather than just "forgetting" everything you learned on a given round of exchanges.

    In Christ,

    Bob
     
  4. JFox1

    JFox1 New Member

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    Living Stone, I think one of the reasons why there are so many very lengthy, sometimes repetitive, posts is for propaganda purposes. They have a religious axe to grind to push a particular point of view.
     
  5. Jim1999

    Jim1999 <img src =/Jim1999.jpg>

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    Bang on JFox.

    Frankly, I don't trouble to read most posts which iclude copies of who said what followed by the usual diatribe, which takes you nowhere and leaves you there.

    Nice terse statements are adequate. Some of us have studied in the various areas, and some of us over many years.

    I now read RC as Royal Cola.

    Cheers,

    Jim
     
  6. SpyHunter

    SpyHunter New Member

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    Call me a dilettante, but what is RC?
     
  7. JFox1

    JFox1 New Member

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    RC stands for Roman Catholic.
     
  8. BobRyan

    BobRyan Well-Known Member

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    As it turns out - everyone here has taken a doctrinal position on most topics. nothing new there. The "new thing" is wanting to know more about some given topic and being willing to "pay attention to details" even if they involve "inconvenient facts"
     
  9. JFox1

    JFox1 New Member

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    As it turns out - everyone here has taken a doctrinal position on most topics. nothing new there. The "new thing" is wanting to know more about some given topic and being willing to "pay attention to details" even if they involve "inconvenient facts" </font>[/QUOTE]I've been with this board since September, 2005, and have noticed that whether the posts have "inconvenient facts" or not, the content of many of these posts still amounts to propaganda.
     
  10. SpyHunter

    SpyHunter New Member

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    I'm very new to the board, but so far I have to concur with JFox1.
     
  11. Claudia_T

    Claudia_T New Member

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    Maybe some people think the "answers" they get to their objections will be just a new round of "Papal Bull" and so the things they post are geared more towards protecting the innocent on here so they are not deceived.

    ...in some cases, I mean.


    Just an observation.
     
  12. Claudia_T

    Claudia_T New Member

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    Or maybe its sometimes that they just want to try and counteract the propaganda they already see being posted on here.

    Its really hard to tell what people's motives are, actually.


    Claudia
     
  13. Claudia_T

    Claudia_T New Member

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    Maybe this will help lighten things up a bit... here's some of my Pope Jokes I made up one night...


    What does the Pope eat at the theater?

    Pope Corn

    What kind of Air Freshner does the Pope use?

    Pope-ourri

    What does the Pope drink?

    Soda Pope

    What does the Pope have for breakfast?

    Pope Tarts


    Where does the Pope go swimming?

    In the Holy Sea


    Where does the Pope go to the bathroom?

    In the Vati-Can


    What do you call a thousand pound Nun?

    a Catholic Mass


    ...that was just when I had alot of extra time one night and nothing else to do.
     
  14. Claudia_T

    Claudia_T New Member

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    I forgot one of them...

    What does the Pope use to take a bath?


    Pope Soap on a Rope
     
  15. Marcia

    Marcia Active Member

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    I think the best response to such posts is to ignore them, or to choose one or two points and address those. I usually don't real extremely long posts, especially if they have a lot of quotes. And I don't feel a need to respond to 20 points, either. I might pick one or two and ignore the other points.

    I agree with what you said about this.
     
  16. D28guy

    D28guy New Member

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    Its just different strokes for different folks.

    I personally try and always put as many direct quotes in my posts as I can because that is precisely how I like to read others posts. I like to know what the 1st person said so I know the context of what the 2nd poster is responding to. Its just the better way to go, imo.

    And I generally like long posts because christian teaching, theology, etc is worthy of long posts.

    God bless,

    Mike
     
  17. Petrel

    Petrel New Member

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    Nothing wrong with long posts, what they're complaining about is when one person spams several very long posts in a row, often bringing up issues that haven't been discussed yet (although sometimes this is necessary!) Usually when I see these posts they contain a lot of copy-and-paste from another source.

    It's typically counterproductive because it makes it impossible to have a discussion if suddenly one person brings up a dozen new topics. A forum is like a conversation among a group of people. If you monopolize the conversation and bring up so many new topics that none of them can be adequately addressed you're essentially shouting down the people you're debating with.

    Long posts are great, but it's best when a person sticks to one point or to a chain of closely related points and keeps it to a length that can be reasonably responded to.
     
  18. JFox1

    JFox1 New Member

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    Claudia, you're one of the propagandists.
     
  19. Doubting Thomas

    Doubting Thomas Active Member

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    No, you are absolutely right on everyone of your points, which is why I'm going to try to not get sucked in to any more of these endless "arguments". It's not because I think truth is somehow, unimportant; it's because with family and work responsibilities (and other reading interests) I don't have endless time to adequately address the crucial subjects being debated. I'm convicted that right now God is calling me to be a better Christian in my daily life; not to win debates (of which the same ones are repeated ad nauseam) on the Baptistboard. Therefore I'll no longer be participating in any of these "discussions".

    Thanks for succinctly expressing what I've been thinking the past couple of days. [​IMG]
     
  20. Jim1999

    Jim1999 <img src =/Jim1999.jpg>

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    I everyone stuck to the original op, the repeating of quotes would not be needed. My attention span is limited due to age and strokes, and frankly, I can't follow lengthy posts anyway.

    Cheers,

    Jim
     
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