DualReaver Wrote:You're fine man, just so long as you give evidence and don't start yelling at people and calling them stupid simply because they dissagree with you.
Agreed. There is nothing wrong with having strong personal opinions, so long as you can back them up and, as no one has said yet, you can still listen and give consideration to other, equally convincing and well-crafted sides. You don't HAVE to change your opinion, but there's always something to learn from an educated member of the other side.
EDIT: So yeah, "elitist" is too strong of a word in that it means you think your opinions are, above all else, the best and final word, and thus you don't listen or acknowledge opposing arguments. This kind of reinforces the idea with my second point above in that acknowledging and listening to an opposing argument shows that you're not an elitist; you just, again, have strong opinions. The pinnacle of such debate skills comes when one is capable of maintaining their powerful, personal convictions while whole-heartedly listening to opposing contentions, and then can skillfully and respectfully dismantle the contradicting argument through the use of sound logic and evidence.