The Dawn Treader

The proposition must be in one of five broad areas: religion, politics (or economics), philosophy, history or culture (or pop culture).  The proposition is a truth claim.  When called on, you state your belief and brief rationale for holding it.

Here are some tips on forming a good proposition.

•       Make it clear.
•       Make it pithy.
•       Make it relevant to a broad audience.
•       Avoid turning your proposition into a question.
•       Tie it to a current event (unless it is a claim about history, of course).
•       Test it out on others before the Pigfest.
•       Offer a way to apply your idea.

Three rules are always honored at the Pigfest.  First, the golden rule.  Treat others with charity as you would have them treat you. Second, the devils rule.  Participants at the Pigfest can argue a position that they do not agree with for the sake of stimulating conversation.  They do not have to announce they are using the devils rule (though they are free to say so afterwards).  Third, apathy is strictly prohibited at the Pigfest.

Let me know if you have any questions or would like some help in forming your proposition.

Happy Pigfesting,

Your Name

 

P.S.  Here is a list of propositions that have been presented at past Pigfests.  NOTE: I don't agree with all of these propositions or that they represent a Biblical viewpoint.  I present them only to stimulate thought.

Christians should buy Fair Trade Certified coffee. Fair Trade principles seek to treat people throughout the supply chain with dignity and to care for the long-term well-being of the earth's
resources.

It is up to the wealthiest people of a society to insure that those who are disadvantaged are taken care of.

One of the God-given duties of a wife is to civilize her husband.

Standardized tests are too closely tied to self-esteem; therefore, we either need a new way to measure intelligence or children should not be allowed to know how they score on standardized tests.

Civilized societies ought to protect the free expression of art no matter how vulgar or distasteful we perceive the art to be.

The church teaches our youth that love amounts to being meek, mild and gentle. Jesus, however, was clearly not a wimp. So we need to teach our youth that love involves more than meekness -- it involves getting angry about what angers God, and it involves taking bold stands for
justice.

The Bush administration in its efforts to be tolerant of Islam has gone too far in accepting Islam's intolerance towards others.

Physician assisted suicide requires physicians to violate the Hippocratic oath of healing, and therefore they should not participate in helping patients to kill themselves.

An artist can either pursue art wholeheartedly, or pursue God wholeheartedly, but he cannot do both.

Affirmative action is unfair because it uses discrimination to fight discrimination.

The second amendment was trampled into the ground by the police of New Orleans when they rounded up firearms.  This was wrong and we ought to condemn it.

Plato was wrong when he asserted that justice was primary among the cardinal virtues.  Wisdom is the primary virtue.

Arranged marriages are good for the family and good for society. Western society has missed the boat by eschewing this time honored tradition.

Using animation and cartoons like Veggie Tales to illustrate Bible stories is irreverent and encourages bad hermeneutics.

We ought to treat panhandlers as image bearers of God instead of ignoring them as if they don't exist.

It was wrong for Danish newspapers to publish the cartoons of Muhammad knowing that it would inflame Muslims around the world.

School should only be mandatory through the sixth grade.  After that, apprenticeships should be offered to kids who are not academic types. Families, and not the government, should make this determination.

We should open the borders and allow immigrants from Mexico come into our country and openly compete for jobs.  They are hard working, and the competition for jobs will stimulate a better work ethic from our youth.

The Da Vinci Code is a gift wrapped present to the church.  It is getting people to focus the cultural conversation on an area of strength to classic Christianity.  We ought to take advantage of this
opportunity and train Christians how discuss history with those outside the church.

The student who videotaped his geography teacher ranting about America's foreign policy and comparing W's language to Adolf Hitler's language, was wrong to secretly tape his teacher.  Students should disclose when they are taping their teachers.