Special guest debate idea

[otseng]

What do you think of having special guest debates?

I'm thinking of inviting people who are not members of the forum and to participate in a one-on-one debate with each other. It'd be a formal debate format and only for a limited time (perhaps around a week or two at most). Each side would post an opening post and they'd rebute each other for 4-5 turns. Then each would give a concluding post.

Who do you think we should invite to participate (and with a reasonable chance of them accepting)?

What topics would you like to see debated?

[Keef]

It's a nice idea, and the success or otherwise would depend on who you got to debate, and whether or not non-involved participants were allowed to join in during the debate.

For example: get Rowan Williams and Richard Dawkins, and it could be very interesting and insightful. Add into the mix a few extremists from different corners interjecting their views and "corrections", and it would descend rapidly into chaos.

I've been to several "staged" debates in University premises - including a series with Rowan Williams - and it was highly stimulating. There is usually a Questions and Answers session to follow, which mostly is good stuff. Once or twice there were "own agenda" questions (usually in the form of monologues) which the organisers cut short and moved on. That worked.

Have you any significant participants identified? I'm thinking of names like Stanley Hauerwas, Gerd Theissen, Marcus Borg, John Polkinghorne, Miroslav Volf, N T Wright, Richard Dawkins, and their ilk.

Once those names have had a meaningful debate, throwing it open to the remainder may be something of an anticlimax.

In short: might work, might not.

[Keef]

Subjects they might debate? Depends on who you get, but for example:
- Are non-Christians doomed to eternal hellfire?
- Should religious organisations be allowed to be tax-deductible?
- Can women validly be ordained to ministry?
- Is Genesis 1 literal truth or aetiological myth?
- Was the earth created around 6000BC, or billions of years before that?
- Did Jesus exist? Who was he?
- Why should I be a Christian?
- Is Christianity a positive or a negative influence in the world?
- Should faith be taught in schools?

'nuff to start with?


If you can get some of the major figures to join in, ask them to pick their topic!

[otseng]

Have you any significant participants identified? I'm thinking of names like Stanley Hauerwas, Gerd Theissen, Marcus Borg, John Polkinghorne, Miroslav Volf, N T Wright, Richard Dawkins, and their ilk.

I'm a bit less ambitious in my thoughts of potential candidates. But, if anyone has some string pulling ability to get dignitaries such as these, I'd welcome them to debate here.

[LiamOS]

I'd certainly enjoy seeing that.

[Keef]

Faint heart never won fair debating team

Pick a goodly selection and ask 'em.

[Cathar1950]

I like the idea and it sounds like fun.

[dianaiad]

What do you think of having special guest debates?

I'm thinking of inviting people who are not members of the forum and to participate in a one-on-one debate with each other. It'd be a formal debate format and only for a limited time (perhaps around a week or two at most). Each side would post an opening post and they'd rebute each other for 4-5 turns. Then each would give a concluding post.

Who do you think we should invite to participate (and with a reasonable chance of them accepting)?

What topics would you like to see debated?

Man, that's a class I would love to audit!

[Abraxas]

Unless we have some direct interaction with the participants, I don't really see how this would be different from me just reading a debate from another site. I would need to know more about the specifics of the structure of the debate before deciding if it was worthwhile from that aspect. Then again, the opportunity to draw more traffic to this site or have one or more of the participants stick around might be worth it.

[otseng]

Unless we have some direct interaction with the participants, I don't really see how this would be different from me just reading a debate from another site.

Some time will be opened up at the end for people to ask the debaters some questions. Perhaps at most 5 questions for each debater.

One goal is to time limit the debates. That way guest debaters would be more likely to participate if they knew that the debate wouldn't take up too much time.

I would need to know more about the specifics of the structure of the debate before deciding if it was worthwhile from that aspect.

I'm thinking of modeling it after a live formal debate.

The debate thread will be in a special subforum where only the 2 debaters and a moderator (myself) can post. A separate thread will be created for the audience to post and make remarks and submit questions.

In the debate thread, I'll introduce the debaters and the topic. The debaters will have an opening statement and then have several rounds to respond to each other. Then they will give a closing statement. I'll gather some questions from the audience thread and post them in the debate thread for them to answer. Then the debate will end.