dayna j.

I don't think this kind of back and forth is going to be of any use to the original poster.

Seems to me like the same copy and paste argument people make for everything they want the government to do. "If the government does X, they will create jobs and stimulate the economy." This particular manifestation of it is no better or worse than any other. I agree with the previous posters that it entirely misses the moral dimension of the argument, which is the most compelling reason for decriminalization. As an individual who enjoys cannabis, I do cringe a bit when I hear people make poor arguments in support of it's legalization.

How do you know that? Not to suggest that you are wrong--I am certainly no expert on christianity, but I would be curious to find out what physical evidence supports the notion that jesus was a real person.

"The emancipation of a mukatab occurs only when he has paid to the master the agreed amount in full.[1] The contract may be revoked when the slave defaults on one of the payments." ^http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukataba So, Islam does not categorically reject slavery at all, but rather suggests implementing a system wherein slaveowners can enrich themselves even further by extorting payments from slaves in exchange for their freedom. How unbelievably DISGUSTING that you would come here and attempt to use this fact to persuade people that Islam rejects slavery, when it clearly does not. This is apologia of the worst kind.

No rebuttal is necessary--or even possible--because they have not posited a valid argument. I don't have a spaceship, but I can still study and understand orbital mechanics. I don't "have" a volcano, but I can still study and understand plate tectonics. The diffiulty is not in finding a way to respond to this non-argument, but rather in getting the person who made it to realize and care that it is a non-argument.

If you think that people should voluntarily decide to stop accumulating "excessive wealth" and contribute it to charity instead, that is just fine. But since you used the "A" word (abolish), I presume that you envision some sort of enforcement of this normative ethic. This changes the conversation considerably. If this is the case, then yes, I have a huge problem with it. If someone attempts to take my property by force, they should reasonably expect retaliation in kind. Someone else's need or desire does not override my right to control and maintain my property. It certainly does not give anyone else the right to dictate an arbitrary measurement of acceptable wealth which, when crossed, entitles certain members of society to initiate force against me in order to redistribute my property.

Abolished by who?

What methodoloy does Islam utilize in order to differentiate between truth and falsehood?

This is not an argument. You would be better off by saying nothing, rather than demonstrating the willingness to argue by fallacy and damaging your credibility as a thinker.

The ironic thing is that if his syllogisms actually proved the existence of God then he wouldn't need to debate anymore.

So in other words, his argument is "X is true because I have experienced X as being true"--very compelling. I don't see how WLC is different from any other fundamentalist Christian/cult member. How is it that he "walks all over" people in debates? Is he very aggressive or intimidating? Also, if a person is interested in "debating" an empty chair, I find that to be very telling. What sort of person would do such a thing? Certainly not a person who is interested in another's point of view. It is completely juvenile and it proves that he has no qualms with regard to basing an entire argument on logical fallacies. This should have been an unrecoverable death-blow to his reputation as a respectible thinker--if such reputation ever existed. Furthermore, who would be interested in watching such a thing? This is nothing more than low-hanging fruit and additional reverb for the echo chamber. Now that I have looked at a few moments of his videos, I have the sense that he is ALWAYS debating empty chairs--even while the chairs are currently occupied.

I've been holding out for the annual bless-one-get-one-free sale.

Wow..this video brought up some seriously negative stuff for me. I had to resist hard in order to prevent myself from lashing out against people on youtube who were siding with the mother.