Shall I explain?
In debates, you frequently come across people who have... er... strange mindsets. That is, every once in a while, a member will start ranting about a particular subject, be that politics, morality, society, or something else that is vaguely related to something important. And then, to demonstrate his or her opinion, that person will provide strange and very falicious arguments to support his or her stance.
Now, a lot of people get offended that there are other people with differing opinions, so the debate forum becomes this ranting place where people bicker constantly. But... why?
Everybody is different, and the debate forum is the prime example of this. There are people who believe in certain things very deeply. So, instead of writing a post about how stupid that person is, ask yourself, why does this person think this? Put yourself in that person's shoes and try, honestly, to see why that person believes in what he or she does. And, instead of dismissing it outrightly, do your best to know that mindset.
Then, once you are firmly into that mindset, start asking yourself conflicts that could possibly happen. For example, say that there is someone who believes strongly that Christianity, Judaism, and Islam should unite together in peace since they originally came from the same religion and have very close beliefs. Okay. So what possible conflicts could arise from this? Perhaps they do get together, but the compromises involved in each religion are so many that it ends up diluting the entire religion as a whole and destroys the faith in God completely? I don't know... but play with the ideas. So homosexuality is wrong/right? What could happen if people refused/accepted homosexuality? What conflicts would arise?
This is where wonderful ideas are created. These what-if situations show real conflict and can be huge inspiration for any writer who is indeed serious about using compelling ideas for a story.
That is why I wonder why many of the debaters are NOT story writers...
