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Guys, I’ve seen a lot of people yelling “STRAWMAN” and then running away lately, but a lot of the time, the term is being applied incorrectly. Someone commits the straw man fallacy when (and only when) they set up an obviously weak argument and falsely ascribe it to their opponent. The person...

I'm giving up Christian Forums until after my final university exams are over. Until July, if you see me here, please tell me to stop messing about on the internets and do some work. You guys have been great fun, and some of you have actually helped me with my course quite a lot, but I need to...

In the US (and possibly in the UK, I don't know), if a baby is born with a phallus that is considered "too long" to be a [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] but "too short" to be a penis, quite frequently surgery is recommended to parents to "correct" the "deformity", i.e. cut off the "overlong" "[bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]", and hey...

Argument about whether established gender roles are important is pretty common on Christian Forums, but I'd like to address this question specifically to those who think that adherence to these roles is important. I want to ask you whether you are inclined to draw a distinction between elements...

Faith is a strange concept, and I won't attempt to tell you guys how you define it, because as I see it there are several possible definitions. There is faith as in mere belief. I guess if you like you could say that I have faith in the theory of general relativity, because I believe that the...

I'm one of those people who gets accused of excessive political correctness. One reason for that is that I call people out on language that I think is inappropriate or insensitive. Maybe it's because I was cut pretty deep when I was younger by people using "gay" as a derogatory term, but I am...

Now, I don't want you all to go away thinking that I'm a Kantian. I'm categorically (lulz) not. However, it ticks me off when people misrepresent brilliant thinkers like Kant as making elementary mistakes. For example, someone in another thread seemed to be saying that Kant's categorical...

Is sin a result of human beings' estrangement from God? Or is human beings' estrangement from God the result of sin?

Here's another housekeeping sort of thread. I just wanted to remind everyone that most people are not malicious. Here in E&M, we talk about big, controversial issues every day, and blood pressures run very high, which is understandable. When we're having discussions about what some people...

Every so often, we need a thread to remind everyone of something important. Being a victim does not make you an expert. Having suffered discrimination does not make you an expert on discrimination. Having been in a rail accident does not make you an expert in train safety. Having had a family...

I'm going to quote myself from another thread, because I think this is actually an important question. Why is it that people on both sides of an argument frequently assume that the people on the other side are not only wrong in their views, but that they have a malign intent? Why do people...

If someone is made to choose between severe physical torture for themselves, or a quick, painless death for their child, I would certainly admire them for undergoing the torture and saving their child, but I wouldn't condemn them for giving in. What do you think?

People talk about Human Rights a lot on CF - Christian and non-Christian alike. Even the most staunch moral non-realist seems to feel uncomfortable about questioning the notion of Human Rights. Yet I find myself utterly bemused by them. I'd be grateful for an explanation. What are Human Rights...

What exactly is blasphemy, and why shouldn't (or should) I blaspheme?

Now I'm very much in favour of you folks across the pond having this "separation of church and state" malarkey, but this story put the wind up me somewhat: "The Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Colleyville church Friday saying that church members involved in a traumatic exorcism that...

I understand what is meant by "rights" in a legal sense - they are certain entitlements which are bestowed upon a group of people or upon all people by a government or other organisation. I understand that in the United Kingdom, every child has a right to an education, meaning that education is...

Steezie started a great thread about how we're growing towards a world in which our attitudes towards sexuality, and our sexual behaviours, are intelligently informed by the lessons of both ultimate sexual permissiveness in the '60s and '70s, and the sexually repressive backlash that followed...

Christian Forums ends up with banner ads like this :) *rolls around giggling* ETA: This post looks really confusing! I posted the ad in the context of the page so you could see where I found it - sorry it looks so odd in an actual thread.

Is it offensive to refer to God with the feminine pronoun?

Is a church a hospital for sinners or a fortress for the righteous? In light of your answer to this question, do you consider it a good plan to drive non-heterosexual people away from the church with anti-gay doctrine and the forbidding of same-sex marriage? I know at least five people who...