1. The topic and title of the debate:
Neither the Old nor New Testament address the LGBT subject
2.
Cuddles333 Will assert that neither the Old or New Testament the LGBT subject while
Tree of Life will be taking the position that the Bible does address the LGBT subject.
3. The number of rounds within the debate. If each party makes three alternating posts, that would equal a debate with three rounds.
4. The posts will be made alternating with Cuddles333 making the first and Tree of Life responding.
5. Time limit between posts. You may select any length of time (within reason) as a maximum amount your opponent may take to formulate a response. If the time limit is 1 week, that means within one week of the affirmative making his/her post, the opposing position needs to reply. The post can be made earlier, of course.
6. The maximum length for each post. You can set a limit of say 1000 or even 5000 words for each post in a round. The length is the upper limit.
7. Whether or not quotes and outside references are allowed. Please note that all quotes will fall under the 20% copyright rule, but the participants may decide to disallow quotes or limit them to a certain amount of the overall word total.
8. And, finally, the start date of the debate.
These rules need to be agreed upon by both participants and approved by a moderator.
Once a debate is accepted by both parties, the proposal thread is closed and a moderator creates the debate thread in the Formal Debate forum, with a link to the proposal thread. A discussion thread is created by a moderator in the Peanut Gallery for non-debate participants to comment upon the debate. The posts in the peanut gallery discussion thread may be moderated depending on the topic.
Standard Formal Debate Rules
1. One participant will argue the affirmative side of the topic; the other will argue the negative side.
2. A moderator will open the debate thread once the proposal has been agreed two by both parties.
3. The poster who makes the first post will present his or her main arguments.
4. The responder will then reply with his or her own introductory post which presents his or her main arguments.
5. There will then be exactly three alternating follow-up and rebuttal posts from each debater, in which the debaters may address and refute points made by the other person, or bring up any additional information as needed.
6. Each debater will post one concluding post, summing up his or her side of the debate. Following the concluding posts, the thread will be closed by the moderator.
7. Debaters will determine the maximum amount of time to respond to the other members post. If they do not post in the required time limit, the debate will be declared finished, and the thread closed.
8. Debaters may not post more than five posts in total. There will be an intro post, three debate posts, and a conclusion post; however they are free to continue the discussion in the Peanut Gallery AFTER the debate has concluded.
9. Debaters may include links to any supporting information, quotes, or references in their posts as long as those external sources stay within the 20% copyright rule.
10. Individual posts may not exceed a predetermined maximum word count, including any quotes or supporting material.
11. Debaters may not post in the peanut gallery discussion thread until after the conclusion of the debate.
Fill in any stipulations that have not been specified, agree on them and I will set this up.
Thanks,
Mark
CF Admin