How do you know when you have successfully argued and defended your position when debating with leftists or progressives on Facebook (or face-to-face)?

Look for these telling signs (not necessarily in this exact order):

1. They call you an "extremist, radical, racist, Teabagger, heartless capitalist, or FoxNews cultist."

2. They declare that "you're a 'hater' or you're angry."

3. They ignore the facts and evidence you present, and challenge your "motivations" instead.

4. They accuse you "insulting" any liberal, progressive, or leftist that you criticize, and remind you that you have no right to question.

5. They question your intelligence, experience, education, ethnic background, and/or religious beliefs.

6. They denounce you as "intolerant and judgmental."

7. They demand that you "get off your high horse."

8. They claim that you "lack empathy for others", that you're "selfish" or "evil."

9. They accuse you of not loving ordinary people, and hating the poor, the children, the elderly, and the disabled.

10. They denounce you for not being a "true" Christian.

11. They insist that Christianity proclaims and supports socialism and communism.

12. They tell you to shut up!

13. They condemn you for judging others. They lecture you that Christians are not allowed to judge others. (Think about that judgmental accusation for a second... Ironic, isn't it?)

14. They become enraged and call you angry and hateful again when you apply their own standards of judgment to their own comments and opinions.

15. They blame you for being belligerent and hardheaded.

16. They're outraged that you continue to speak/post and stand your ground.

17. They insist they're not progressives or leftists, despite the evidence you provided to the contrary.

18. They declare themselves "moderates" and call you a "right-wing extremist."

19. They presume to know your mind and heart, and tell you what you think and why.

20. When you expose their fallacies and logically defend your arguments with more objective information, they quickly change the subject or suddenly claim that they're too busy to waste time with you.

21. They almost immediately proceed to misrepresent your actual views on an entirely new issue, attempting to distract and place you on the defensive. They assert erroneous opinions and ascribe them to you; then demand that you explain yourself.

22. When you ignore this diversionary tactic, they accuse you of being too stupid or cowardly to answer.

23. When you stay on topic, they pretend that you're the one who misunderstood what they were saying and doing. They tell that you can't debate logically.

24. They complain that they can't tolerate you any longer. (See note 6 above... Yes, the irony is lost on them!)

25. They de-friend or block you from Facebook to prevent future interactions with you. (De-friend means they are very annoyed. Block means they really despise you and fear your very presence anywhere on Facebook. They run and hide to avoid you permanently.)

These tactics indicate that many leftists and progressives are not interested in debating with those with whom they disagree. They emote instead of reason. They focus on personalities rather than principles. They don't engage the ideas. Instead, they attack, obfuscate, impugn, accuse, name-call, belittle, insult, abuse, and defame anyone who disagrees with them or challenges their beliefs.

You are not their neighbor, but their foe.

Chris Banescu regularly blogs at www.chrisbanescu.com and www.orthodoxnet.com/blog.