What is the appeal of preaching to the converted?

Some people are really trying to convince themselves as much as their target audience. Others are merely insecure and need to pamper their own egos through the intellectual whipping of others. Debate should always be two sided and their should always be a base of mutual respect. Once any debate reaches the level of one upmanship and insults then it loses all credibility.

I don't understand why people are often so against agreeing to disagree, on the basis that nobody knows the ultimate answer to the biggest questions about life and religion.

LOL!!! LOL!!! LOL!!! LOL!!!

I'm having plenty of fun that way too!

It is a total waste of time for any man/woman of science to engage in a rational dialogue with any religious people, especially Christians! Muslims lost any momentum they had hundreds of years ago! Today they are strictly into bombing themselves up at any busy market place with plenty of innocent people around! The Jews hold a greater number of patents and contributions to humanity than any other ethnical group, but that’s another story unrelated to any popular religion…

1 Timothy 6:20 (KJV) O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, AVOIDING PROFANE AND VAIN BABBLINGS, AND OPPOSITIONS OF SCIENCE FALSELY SO CALLED.

Most Christians of all brands, including some prominent US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES like Pat Robertson REALLY hate SCIENCE because it contradicts the Bible. Can you POSSIBLY imagine what America would be like with Pat Robertson as President? Pat has millions of Christians in America supporting him with a lot of money!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WynH9nJuSuk&NR=1

A scientist looks at the evidence and can’t help to draw conclusions while Christians read some of the Bible and look around for supporting evidence.

Christians sponsor all kinds of archeological diggings in the “Holy Land” just to prove that King David, King Solomon, Moses and so on were real persons and not some fictional characters in the Jewish Bible stories, or some puny chieftains manipulated by the Bible writers. In frustration, the Clergy makes up all kinds of “infallible” DOGMAS to support the absurd stories in the Bible that identifies their Church brand. In some Christian oriented countries these dogmas become the law of the land. In Muslim countries they either live by the official Quran interpretation or die at the hands of those who worship Allah enough to kill…! Some religions are more savage than others…

Basically yes, its a way of strengthen your OWN beliefs. The ultimate in confirmation bias, if you have no opposition from whoever you are talking to, you interpret that as your views being un-opposable.

it really is sometimes ill sit at my computer and just go on atheist forums and intellectually masturbate all day long

i dunno