What is the fastest way to put an opponent on their heels in a debate?
Charge them with racism, sexism, homophobia, etc... They are then left debating the negative, attempting to prove, first, that they are not what you have charged them as, and then left trying to pick up the shambles of their points as the debate momentum has been completely taken from them.
I was recently (as I often am) charged with racism because I am opposed to illegal immigrants living within our borders. The charge, in this case, supposed that I would be less likely to be troubled by a "white" illegal immigrant than an "other than white" illegal immigrant. I refuse to answer allegations of race in the immigration debate. For some people they may be legitimate, but for me they are a direct contradiction to my character.
The fact of the matter is that I am opposed to
ANY illegal immigration. I don't care if you are white, green, yellow, if you have wings and three legs... The very fact that you are breaking the law is enough to
fire me up... Moreover, if you are an illegal immigrant who refuses to conform to the American way of life, understanding the peaceful existence of a
JUST society, then you are an
illegal immigrant of the worst kind.
There are legal ways to come to America. Those are the paths that people should take, almost as a testament to WANTING to be
AMERICAN.
ANY individual who comes to the United States ILLEGALLY, and continues to shame this country by maintaining allegiance to their home country, refusing to pledge allegiance to the way of life in the United States
should return to the country that they love so much! Immigrants who come to this country legally, and become citizens, have to work hard, pass tests, and take an
oath to swear off their allegiances to their home countries... and thus fully embrace what it is to be an American.
Illegals, en masse, appear to be filled with
a sense of entitlement. The citizens of the US have something, and they (illegals marching in the streets) deserve it. They say they want to be American, but refuse to end allegiance to their native lands (proof: Waving flags of their homeland, and flying them above the US flag). They refuse to learn the language and laws of their new land (conducting business and living day to day without ever knowing English - would this fly in France?). They claim to want to retake the land for people of their own pigment (supported by racist organizations such as La Raza - the race - who drafted the previous shamnesty plan).
The fact of the illegal immigration debate comes down to
what it means to be a nation. We are the great melting pot... well, we used to be. We are more like the cob salad now, where a bunch of different societies are living within one border. Unless we can return to one society, we will become a house divided, and we will fail as a society.
It is not a race issue. Mexican, Venezuelan, Ukrainian, Russian, Chinese, Korean, Australian, British... If you want to come to this land for good and embrace our way of life, come as Americans. Hold your head high that you are part of the greatest and most accepting society in the history of the world. Don't come as brown, white, black, yellow, red skinned people in search of a community where you can spew hate speech against those of other pigmentation.
Come as Americans, or do not come at all.And if you ever find yourself in a debate and are slandered with a charge of racism, sexism, homophobia, etc... first, check your premises... ask yourself if you are... If, in fact, you are not, then know that the opposing debater is using fear tactics designed specifically to remove all logic from the debate, replacing it with emotion and fear. Stand strong in your convictions, because you know that you are right. And tell them that the immigration debate is not a racially charged debate. It is a debate on principles... on the kind of society that we want to live in... that being one of American pride, or that of American guilt.