But that isn’t quite the same as a real live interactive conservative who can respond to your arguments.
I think as an example of the usefulness of “conservative” thought on the message board I point to my experience as a mostly passive reader of the J.K. Rowling trainwreck. in IMHO.
If this was a pure liberal board that some envision, Rowling’s view would have been introduced, if at all, in a pit thread with everyone saying that yes, Rowling was indeed a transphobic fuckwit. I would have read that thread thought, oh well that sucks, cause I kind of liked Harry Potter, and that would have been the end of it.
Instead, Demontree and monstro came in and stood against the tide and defended her argument. At that point I thought, hmm this is more complicated than I thought it appears to be a tussle in opposition between two liberal concerns, feminism and trans rights perhaps there is something to this idea afterall. Then everyone else came in raise a lot of very good points against it, and according to my perception, pretty much crushed it into the ground. This continued on for some time as opposing arguments were ignored, ad hominim attacks were made and strawmen erected and burned down, until it was finally put out if its misery.
But in the process I came away thinking that while Rowling may or may not have been a transphobic fuckwit herself, her argument against transmen, is flawed and transphobic, and here is why…
Now I have the advantage of being a cis male who can go to the bathroom where he wants to without anyone hassling him in any way, and so I could read that thread without feeling personally attacked or having my very identity called into question. I can appreciate that others might have viewed that thread as more threatening than I did.
But for my part, I found it useful and informative, and it if anything strengthened my liberal opinions and understanding on trans rights in a way that wouldn’t have happened if there was no other side.
There have been a few threads where liberals try to explore conservative thought with other liberals, but they generally don’t go anywhere. They either devolve into a alternative Stupid Republican of the day, or in the case of “Help me convince my conservative uncle to accept the reality that…” are resolved with a very simple “You can’t”.
I myself have started a couple of threads where I tentatively explore certain conservative talking points that I find convincing, but again its difficult to go to far in the discussion because I am conflicted about them myself and so can’t really effectively defend them.
To put it another way, I want there to be conservatives on this board so that I don’t have to be one.