Debate Cheat Sheet: Introduction

One of the things I enjoy watching in my free time is scam baiting. Scam baiters like Kitboga, Scammer Payback, and Trilogy Media, engage with scammers in various ways in order to waste their time, and if possible, even bring down the scam itself.

Sadly, even the best scam baiters will never be sufficient to completely stop the flow of scams. On a daily basis, many people fall for scam calls. These scams come in many forms, but most of them have one thing in common: The scammer knows the scam, but not the field he claims to represent. A tech scammer, for example, won't actually be able to offer technical support. Instead, they rely on a particular script. They've been taught the basics of how the scam works, they've been taught what a "customer" is likely to say, and they've been taught how to respond. But whenever a victim deviates from the script, it catches the scammer off guard, they begin to ad lib, and it generally ruins their scam.

While this "script" is not literal in the case of apologetics, there are a host of arguments readily available for regurgitation by people of a particular persuasion. You'll see these arguments in memes, in social media comment sections, in blogs, in live conversation, and maybe even at open mic events. These arguments, however, are devoid of merit. You aren't hearing them because they work logically, but because they work psychologically. They are convincing, both to those who want to believe it, and to those who don't know any better. But the moment the conversation drifts off script, they fall apart.

In this article series, I intend to break down the "scam script" of several different religions, and produce a "cheat sheet" of my own. I will not only summarise the most common arguments each group uses, but also give a brief response. These responses will be, by no means, extensive. In fact, they will be quite intentionally lazy.

See, the best response to a scammer isn't to learn their script and respond to it with your own. In fact, if you don't know what you're doing, the best response to a scammer is to just never engage them. Ignore the call, delete the text, send the email to the spam folder. But the reason scam baiters are able to engage the scammers is because they know both the inner workings of the scam, and the reality upon which the scam is based. They can't be easily hacked, traced, tripped up etc.

That's what I want for my readers. I'm not trying to train people to regurgitate a script, but to actually know the truth. Thus, while my responses in this article will be quite basic, just barely enough to trip up the scammers, it is my intention to stir up a thirst for more, driving my readers to research. This way, you will not only be able to flip the scripts I will teach you, but even build your own "cheat sheets", and beyond.

Cheat Sheets

Roman Catholicism

AI usage

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