The British are Coming!

Audience participation is encouraged during the debate.

Randolph-Macon College’s Franklin Debating Society will host the touring champion British debaters at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 in Washington-Franklin Hall.

They will debate the R-MC team on the resolution Be It resolved that religious toleration is untenable in this age of extremism and terrorism.

According to Ted Sheckels, the A.G. Ingram Professor in English and the Franklin Debating Society coach, “The genesis of the topic is in the proposal to build a mosque (and community center) near the point in New York City devastated by the 9/11/2001 terrorist attack. We expect, however, that the debate will not just be about the mosque but explore whether religious toleration, a foundational concept in this nation, should be tempered when religion becomes either the motivation for violence for or the veil behind which violence occurs.”

Sheckels is a communication studies and English professor and the director of speaking for the Higgins Academic Center. John Mingus, a communication studies professor at R-MC, assists Sheckels in coaching the Debating Society.

The annual Parliamentary-style debate is an entertaining and provocative event, and audience participation is encouraged. All members of the R-MC community are welcome to attend.

R-MC's Phi Beta Kappa chapter and its benefactors, Anita S. and John B. Werner ’53, will once again generously support the British debaters’ visit to Randolph-Macon College.