(12-06-2019 11:17 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  

(12-06-2019 10:52 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  Has anybody ever been convinced here by opposing talk? Has anybody ever changed their mind? I think this forum and others like it just strengthens everybody in their chosen positions.

Over the years, I have changed slightly on two issues - the Wall and abortion - both in the direction of being more conservative.

I have been surprised by the number of left-wingers that abandon the discussion(s) rather than present their case. Sometimes I wonder if they just prefer venues where everybody already agrees with them.

In the case of the younger people here, I think(hope) that with age will come less idealism and more pragmatism. But that is for the future, long after I am dust, not now.

I changed dramatically on two big issues, the death penalty and abortion. And both in a sharply more liberal direction.

I turned more 'conservative' on firearm control, and turned far more conservative on
penalties for firearm law convictions (almost Singapore conservative on the latter).

But the rationale behind my change on imposing a death penalty has been described by some as a 'harsh change', not a fully 'feel good' basis behind it.

I was always against the death penalty, from the first day I thought about it. Further thought and discussion has only strengthened that position, although I think there are certainly those that "deserve' it. But I think the death penalty demeans me more than it punishes them.

I have never and still do not take either a pro-life or a pro-choice stance. I see good and bad in both. (RVW happened in my late 20's, so I saw the world where abortion was illegal, and now I have seen the one where it is legal). But I do believe the "fetus' is a human being, just one in a very early stage of development. That belief slowly emerged in arguments with those on the left who tried to say the fetus is not a human being. I don't believe abortion is murder; it is a lawful killing of a human being. Whether it should be lawful is a different debate, and one I don't have a position on.