How to debate? A mini-guide:

A mini-lesson on the art of debate:

1. Your goal is to convince the other person of your viewpoint. The best way to do this is not, surprisingly, to insult their opinions. This will only get them on the defensive and even more unwilling to listen to you, which would obviously be counterproductive. 

2. Look for argumentative fallacies. This includes fallacies used by people "on your side" as well. You can't tell your opponent to stop using nonsensical arguments without upholding higher standards for your allies. 

3. The definition of cherry-picking: to only include data that is beneficial to a particular viewpoint, and to pretend that conflicting data does not exist. Don't do this. When you do this, you become unprepared to counter statements that exploit the weaknesses in your own arguments. You'll just look like an idiot when this inevitably happens and further discredit your side of the debate. M

4. Keep an open mind. When someone says something that really makes sense, take a break and think about it! It doesn't mean you have to "convert" to the other side. In order for a debate to be successful, opinions have to both communicated and listened to. Really, I can't stress the concept of "listening" enough. If you don't want to listen to other arguments, then you might as well debate with the wall in your room - same outcome, more convenience.

This is mostly based on a lot of stuff that I typically see people do in CC (as well as other Internet forums). It kinda makes me sad when people can't have a good debate out of getting offended so often (at the fault of both the offender and the person being offended).