Has debate on the board ever changed your position on an issue?
Why are subjects debated such as religion and abortion that ones’ opinion of will probably not be changed?
People debate those issues not because they want to be convinced but because they feel they can convince others of their position’s validity. Those issues you mentioned are usually ingrained in one at a fairly early age, whether by parents or friends.
General Question and Cafe Society are useful sources of interesting trivia, but I can’t say I’ve ever had my opinion on a major issue changed by anything in Great Debates. Until others acknowledge my brilliance, I intend to keep trying.
The very notion of entering into a debate sets people about steeling themselves against the ideas of others. I submit that people do not join debates with the intention of convincing others or allowing themselves to be convinced. Everyone is aware- save a few zealots here and there- that debates don’t change the opinions of others. People join debates to reaffirm their own beliefs by assigning value to statements made by the debators (debaters?). You mention the traditional religious debate in the OP. Once the rhetoric has flown about and the dust settled…
All the atheist go have a beer and say, “Wow, were those religious fanatics nuts or what? For every silly point they raised, we came up with a better point. That thing you said about the Big Bang was poetry, Dan. If they could just be logical for a second, they might agree with us.(we are right, obviously)”
All the believers go <something more pure than drink a beer? i dunno…> and say, “Wow, why can’t those guys just get their act together and admit there’s a God? You really stuck it to them with that free will comment, Bob. I mean, we beat them on every point. They are just refusing to listen to us on principle! (we are right, obviously)”
People need to express themselves, praise those who agree with them, and denigrate those who don’t. It all boils down to doubt really. Just that simple.
(I find it intriguing that we are “debating” the nature of debate… :D)
I changed my stand on Capital Punishment, although it may have been NPR instead of SDMB. 
I changed my mind about the women who bought coffee from McDonald’s and spilled it in her lap resulting in third degree burns to her thighs. I originally believed the large judgement against the corporation to be ridiculous just like most people did but after reading the facts about how hot the coffee atually was, why they kept it that hot, and past complaints that they refused to act on, I changed my mind to believe that the case was actually legit.
It’s only happened rarely with me, but a few times, yes. On issues which I’ve already thought through carefully, no, but I think it would be intellectually dishonest to not at least admit the possibility that I might be wrong, and once I’ve done that, it occasionally happens that I find that I AM wrong. That said, it’s always on fairly small things, and GD hasn’t changed my views on religion, abortion, vegetarianism, etc (this would be because I’m never wrong about anything important. 
)
No single debate has changed my opinion, but the totality of discussions have led me to better understand and to even apprecitate the American center, which is usually to the right of that which I feel comfortable. In this sense, debate encourages toleration.
We debate to convince the audience; not the opponent. I recall participarting in one lengthy GD thread in which two semi-lurkers who had been following the thread came forward and essentially called some of my opponent’s views sick. Those views would not have come out had I not continually hammered my opponent into clarifying his ideas and carrying them to their logical conclusion. He remains steadfast in his beliefs, as do I, but the thought that two people who probably either didn’t care or rarely thought about this particular issue were convinced of the moral untenability of the position opposite mine certainly made my day.
I became more aware of how other people of different religious beliefs view the world. I can positively say my mind has been opened alot after being involved in a few Great Debates.
I should like to hear your opponent’s opinion.
I think that often in these debates, the interlocutors will not concede that their views have changed at all while the discussion is still active, but later in private they may find that their views have altered somewhat - even on major issues (or at least aspects thereof). I can think of one significant topic where the informed opinions of the other posters have changed my own opinions, and I’ve only been here a month. However, I think the main point of debates is to understand the other person’s POV, and clarify your own - rather than just going on gut reaction and prejudices. Of course, there are some people who just want to state their case and ignore the others, but then they’re not really engaging in debate anyway.
There was a debate on capital punishment that got me to re-examine my stance on the issue. (I am kindof on the fence on that one now, and need to do some thinking).
But, more importantly, debating doesn’t get you to agree with your opponent. (as others here have said). What it has done for me, however, is to understand the POV of those who disagree with me more. So, now, instead of saying “wow, those (pro-lifers, anti-gun controllers, liberals, or anyone else I disagree with) are just nuts!” I instead think “those guys have some core beliefs and values that are different from mine that brings them to these conclusions that make no sense to me.”
Does it matter? Probably not. But it does help me stay sane, kindof.
Cool, deja vu.
And ironically enough, in the disputed presidential election that came along a few months after the linked thread, I changed my own mind rather substantially, though not in the way one might expect. I lined up (predictably, in hindsight) with the lefties who claimed a Gore victory; however, I changed my opinion after reading the extensive and very informative discussions on these boards. I still don’t think Bush won the election, per se, so much as I decided that as far as it was possible to concretely measure the result, it was a tie, and Bush won the arbitrary coinflip that followed. So yeah, I certainly changed my mind in that instance.
After nearly five years on the SDMB, I can say that although no debate has changed my mind on one item specifically, the debates have taught me to be more respectful of other peoples’ opinions and to have an open mind. (I grew up in a very liberal environment and hadn’t really been exposed to any conservative thinking before running across the SDMB. I’m still terribly liberal, but I like to think I am more responsive to ideas that I previously would have dismissed without a second thought.)
Well, the religion debates, which I read but don’t post in have made me think a lot about my own beliefs and set me off on a bit of a search.
And the abortion debates did change my mind on one thing. I’m still pro-choice, so my position hasn’t changed as such, but I have been convinced that it is a living human that you are killing. I guess the debates I’ve read (and occasionally participated in) have just clarified my position to me.
I stay away from gun control debates, I just can’t get worked up about it. :shrug:
Unless there is a mass-debate going on, I generally hang around to watch, but rarely am I convinced to swap opinions or to join in.
(insert appropriate Beavis & Butthead comment here)
This board has been a very strong influence on several important areas of my thinking:
Creationism and Biblical literalism
Abortion
Genetic Modification