Paula

Hi Cindy,

I think we’re probably saying the same thing in different ways. I labeled it “general comments” to try and communicate that what I was writing wasn’t necessarily specific to the example you gave, but it just brought out a point I wanted to elaborate on. Sometimes I’m a little too concise.

We all know here how the debate went between Cheryl and an infamous person 😉 , and that many people were rightly impressed with Cheryl’s calmness. But we also know that his supporters saw things completely the opposite that everyone else did, not only the arguments but the attitudes. But attitudes are much easier to hear than they are to see in writing, which is why I was trying to say here that we have to cut people a little more slack when it comes to tone and style.

At any rate, we can only begin a debate on any given topic when we boil the words down to actual arguments and clear away the chaff of perceived emotions. I will try in the future to first of all analyze an opponent’s post and identify only the actual points, then respond with my analysis to make sure it’s what the other person meant. Then I can respond to the arguments. It slows things down, but it also would prevent a lot of misunderstandings and ignored points, I think.