(1) The true object of a debate should be to establish the truth about an issue, and should not be to score points or abuse someone.
(2) The truth or a good point should be accepted and complemented whenever no matter from whom it comes.
(3) when the heart recognizes the truth, concede. Remember the heart is the first book of knowledge and judgment;.
(4)Your respect is your honor, therefore treat each other with the ought-most respect.
(5) Address the point, not the person. In short don’t get personal.
(5) If someone gets personal and jump in the gutter don’t jump in with them. Always remember; that you lose when you go where they want to take you)
(6)All statements should be backed up by one or more supports, namely: Documented proof, Good reason, Experience, the Word of God and Metaphors.
(7) Two strikes you are out. Those who use abusive language should be cautioned one time to control themselves, there after they are out.

I know that if all these are kept in mind and practice, debates could be a great pleasure and blessing by which people can enrich each others lives, sharpen their intellects and build bonds of friendly relationship. The end product is; everyone wins, whether we win or lose.
Debate could be a wonderful thing if people would be humble enough to look at winning and losing as secondary; while making the establishment of truth the prime objective. There are no greater demonstration of civility than people coming together with a respectful attitude towards each other for the purpose of establishing the truth about some matter that is common to them all.

This is an opportunity to start practicing self-realization which lead to practice of self-reform?

I feel compelled to weigh in on the suggestion of “A few rules for good debating“as it seems to be a bit confusing in its premise.

The premise contends that the rules of debate is to establish truth and that it is not a matter of winning or losing. First a debate is contentious in nature and it is about establishing one’s point of view over another. It was suggested that one ‘concede” when a truth is recognized or the heart recognize the truth. Here is where I would like suggest that one enter as a discussion rather than a debate, one may say that this is semantics but there is a big difference in the approach based on the platform set.
Who will determine what “Truth” is in any given situation? Can we determine Truth in a discussion and who would be the purveyor of that truth?

The rules set forth by the TalkShop seems to be a good premise for the discussions to wit:
Rules Of this Talk Shop
1. Do not use this forum to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, obscene, vulgar, hateful, abusive, threatening, or an invasion of a person's privacy, or otherwise a violation of any laws.
2. Finally, the owners of this web site reserve the right to remove any messages posted, for legal reasons.

I believe that the important thing is to be guided by is the respect of each posters opinion regardless of whether we agree or disagree with that point of view, and as stated address the topic or subject matter and not the person. The object of a discussion is to explore an issue objectively which would enrich everyone as it will reveal different perspectives that may have evaded us therefore allowing us to individually form new or expanded understanding of the issue.
I believe that we stop growing at the point where we form an opinion.
Isn’t it fair to say (or should I say true) that if we come into a discussion believing that we have the Truth or the source of your discussion is Truth we are then assuming that everyone else is Wrong? Is that arrogance? Truth is the ACTUAL state or condition of a matter or conforming with fact or reality. Now in our life time we have seen that many so called facts have been debunked or expanded greatly and we know that one’s perceptions of what is reality seem to be awfully fragile as things change over time or is it that one’s perceptions of things change. What then is the difference of Actuality VS Reality? Ok this is a topic for another day.
I would hope that the discussion here would be a platform to open up and not restrict, and to grow and expand our awareness and tolerance.