A favorite tactic of those wanting to control the debate on an issue try to form the question in a way that favors their outcome. For example, for those fighting against spousal abuse, a good way to frame the question towards someone suspected of spousal abuse is to ask: "Have you stopped beating your wife?"
This is an example of a landlocked debate since the answer of either positive or negative convicts the responder in his/her own words. So to prevent such a trap, one must look at how the question up for debate is formed.
To my point, the questions this blog is going to deal with that fall into this attempt by the proponents to shape the debate are:
- The abortion issue
- The gay marriage issue
- The auto industry bail-out issue
- The BHO presidency support issue
These very important questions have all been shaped by their proponents to paint anyone that opposes the issue into a corner to be either controlling, intolerate, unsympathetic, or racist. The primary way to confront these issues is to ensure that the question is not framed so that if your disagree, your position is already weakened.
The next 4 posts will deal with each of the fore mentioned issues and how to respond to proponents of these issues and reframe the questions to a more open, fair perspective that allows both sides to make their points without giving one side an unfair advantage due to the manner in which the debate is presented.
Let's begin.
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