I think the lurker/poster thing is key. I don’t think many posters are swayed because if you’re interested enough to post, you’ve already staked out a position. I’ve lurked in quite a few threads in which I didn’t have that much interest, and have been swayed by the arguments I’ve found there. Not so much the ones where I’m doing the arguing.
This forum helped me get over my confusion about evolution and showed me that it didn’t conflict with my personal beliefs. So yes, I’d say that it changed my mind.
Well this thread has persuaded me that GD posters are a lot more closed-minded than I ever would have guessed.
As an exception to that rule, I was persuaded to move from being a Libertarian to becoming a part of the libertarian wing of the Republican Party. Not 180 degrees, but significant in some ways. Along those lines, when I was a Libertarian I viewed leftists and rightists as two equally bad varieties of statists. I also believed that pretty much everybody wanted what was best for the US, we just disagreed on how to get there. For instance, when I was Marxist in my younger days, I believed it would be the best system for the country. Now I believe that lots (can’t guess the percentage) of leftists just hate America and really don’t want what’s best for us. And I don’t find the social conservatives at all threatening even though I disagree with them on just about everything that they are socially conservative about. Not all of the changes came from this board but about 99% of my political info comes from somewhere on the internet.
I hate a few Americans, I hope that counts.
Well it seems this guys mind was changed… into pulp of some sort… its such a silly argument to say that leftists hate America…