ZeSpectre
Member
Every argument has a threshhold like this one, a point at which you cannot convince someone of one of your basic precepts, and they cannot convince you of one or more of theirs. If basic precepts are the same, then an argument may well end in agreement.
If basic precepts are NOT the same, any discussion about anything - including guns - will inevitably reach a point where no further discussion is possible.
Well said.
So I suppose the first part of the debate would seem to be determining if the debate can even happen.
Does the person you are debating with agree that...
If we can't start from that point, then perhaps debate really is pointless.We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
So in attempting to create well reasoned debate points for RKBA I am starting from a certain assumption point. One that has, at it's root, the declaration quoted from above.