dodge

A direct question asked twice and still not answered. Refusing to argue on the opponent's terms, when those terms are the thing in dispute and the speaker says so, is a framework objection, not a dodge.

17 upheld instances

• “Why does it matter who I could point to?”
  Jonathan Shelley, DEBATE: Jay Dyer Vs Pastor Jonathan Shelley | Tradition Vs Sola Scriptura, watch at 53:16
  Diogenes: Jay asked twice (53:01, 53:08) for a Christian in the first three centuries who held Shelley's canon. Shelley answers "Doesn't matter" and then asks why it matters, though he himself cited historical reception by all Christians as a test of canonicity.Judged on 2026-10-07 under rules 3fcdc91a53f9, since revised
• “I don't care what person…”
  Jonathan Shelley, DEBATE: Jay Dyer Vs Pastor Jonathan Shelley | Tradition Vs Sola Scriptura, watch at 57:14
  Diogenes: Asked repeatedly to name any pre-Nicene father or church holding his canon (53:06, 53:16, 56:48, 57:10), he offers Jerome (fourth century), Athanasius (New Testament only), or "any Christian", and then says he doesn't care who.Judged on 2026-10-07 under rules 3fcdc91a53f9, since revised
• “Pope Francis think Pope Francis thinks that gay marriage is okay. Right? We agree with that. Right?”
  Pedro, Jay Dyer vs Pedro from Crucible Debate: Sola Scriptura and Protestantism, watch at 59:35
  Diogenes: Asked three times how a dispute is settled when both sides appeal to scripture and no body can bind an interpretation, he answers with a case where he and Jay already agree, which is precisely the situation the question excludes; Jay names the evasion — "the fact that we would appeal to scripture itself does not disprove the point about normative authority."Judged on 2026-09-27 under rules 5175673b7580, since revised
• “Well, you don't you don't how do I say this? There is a god, right, who maintains and creates everything. Right? That can be seen throughout general revelation without the bible.”
  Pedro, Jay Dyer vs Pedro from Crucible Debate: Sola Scriptura and Protestantism, watch at 1:47:17
  Diogenes: The mechanism question has now been put across the whole debate — in cross, in closing and twice in Q&A — and he moves to general revelation, which establishes a creator but says nothing about which books are canonical; Jay names it: "You never answered what is pre scriptural, an epistemic question about how you know."Judged on 2026-09-27 under rules 5175673b7580, since revised
• “Again, we're gonna have to agree to disagree.”
  Pastor P, Jay Dyer vs Pastor P Debate Orthodoxy vs Protestantism, Sola Scriptura and Church History, watch at 34:54
  Diogenes: Asked repeatedly on what basis he takes the canon from a council whose other teachings he rejects, he twice retreats to "agree to disagree" rather than giving the basis.Judged on 2026-09-27 under rules 5175673b7580, since revised
• “Okay. I believe God has supervised the the canon…”
  Pastor P, Jay Dyer vs Pastor P Debate Orthodoxy vs Protestantism, Sola Scriptura and Church History, watch at 51:04
  Diogenes: After the host restated the question as plainly as possible — why is this blessing true rather than one anyone could claim — he repeats the same assertion he has already given three times, which is the statement of his position rather than a reason for it.Judged on 2026-09-27 under rules 5175673b7580, since revised
• “Again, I believe the apostle the god that god used the apostle Paul to sway them and that we don't and then thank god we don't have to be circumcised…”
  Pastor P, Jay Dyer vs Pastor P Debate Orthodoxy vs Protestantism, Sola Scriptura and Church History, watch at 1:59:41
  Diogenes: Asked twice, and with the ruling specified for him, whether the Jerusalem Council's decision was infallible, he never answers yes or no — awkward for him either way, since he had already granted that Carthage was infallible.Judged on 2026-09-27 under rules 5175673b7580, since revised
• “I mean, I'm not throwing terminology. It's the classic definition of what a…”
  Jay Dyer, Jay Dyer vs Yaron Brook Debate TAG, Science, and the Future of Civilization, watch at 19:56
  Diogenes: Brook asks three times what "epistemic justification" means (19:40, 19:53, 20:06). Jay only names "justified true belief" and the Gettier problem, which defines knowledge rather than justification, and he never explains the standard he keeps demanding.Judged on 2026-09-27 under rules 5175673b7580, since revised
• “Well, I think I think all of us are making the best intuitive guesses that we can That's not and correcting correcting this again. So you don't have a question. Can imagine a where a philosophical principle has led someone astray?”
  CB Robertson, Debate! Pagan vs. Orthodox: Logos, Language & Metaphysics - Jay Dyer Vs CB Robertson, watch at 1:33:35
  Diogenes: The criterion for distinguishing which truths are universal has now been demanded several times; CB offers "intuitive guesses" and immediately turns to a counter-question instead of supplying the criterion.Judged on 2026-09-27 under rules 5175673b7580, since revised
• “Look. This is not a problem for our proposition now. This is not a problem. Problem. Right. This is So you Like, this is not the problem of the trinity.”
  Daniel Haqiqatjou, DEBATE: CHRISTIANITY OR ISLAM: WHICH IS THE RELIGION OF THE PROPHETS? JAY DYER VS DANIEL HAQIQATJOU, watch at 1:59:41
  Diogenes: Asked twice whether the voice in the fire is Allah's own speech and whether that speech is divine — a live question for strict tawhid, which is his own stated framework — he declines to answer and redirects to the Trinity.Judged on 2026-09-27 under rules 5175673b7580, since revised
• “No. I don't. Because I think that shit's boring, bro.”
  Austin Peterson, Debate MELTDOWN: Worst Opponent Yet: Austin Peterson Libertarian Debate Vs Jay Dyer, watch at 57:36
  Diogenes: Asked repeatedly for the basis of the ethics he invoked, he names Nicomachean ethics and then refuses to defend or explain it, which is refusal without any framework objection.Judged on 2026-09-27 under rules 5175673b7580, since revised
• “Oh my god, guys. Like, you you wanna go on and off Every time you can't Oh my god, guys. It's a fair question. You're you're so much literal. So listen. Socra you wanna talk about Socratic debate.”
  Austin Peterson, Debate MELTDOWN: Worst Opponent Yet: Austin Peterson Libertarian Debate Vs Jay Dyer, watch at 1:25:42
  Diogenes: Asked twice where the laws of logic exist, having granted that they do, he changes the subject to the Socratic method instead of answering.Judged on 2026-09-27 under rules 5175673b7580, since revised
• “Where does he say we don't know the meaning? Okay. What he says is that what it means is that it exists in a manner befitting Allah. That tells us nothing.”
  Jay Dyer, HEATED DEBATE: Jay Dyer Vs Jake Muslim Metaphysician | Trinity Vs Tawhid -Modern Day Debate, watch at 1:54:00
  Diogenes: Asked twice to produce the passage where Ibn Taymiyya denies knowledge of the meaning, he silently substitutes a different and weaker claim rather than withdrawing the attribution or citing it.Judged on 2026-09-25 under rules 5175673b7580, since revised
• “I'll have to go study that. I'm I'm not gonna take on…”
  Indiana Brunner, FULL SAVAGE DEBATE: Jay Dyer Vs Indiana Brunner: Protestant Bible Wrong???, watch at 35:41
  Diogenes: Read blind, without being shown any call on this passage. Dyer asks directly whether Titus 3 calls baptism "the washing of regeneration" and then repeats the same question verbatim ("Repeat yourself. Does Titus three not call the labor of baptism the labor of regeneration?"); Brunner answers neither time, saying only that he'll "go study that," and the debate moves on to other verses without him ever returning to that specific wording.Judged on 2026-09-25 under rules 5175673b7580, since revised
• “I guess again, we're we're just arguing words.”
  Ryan Terbibull, Jay Dyer vs 2 Freemason Christians, watch at 29:23
  Diogenes: Jay put the self-referential question — "is it a dogma that there are no dogmas?" — twice in plain terms and expressly said it was philosophical and not about Pike; calling it a quarrel over words is a refusal rather than an answer.Judged on 2026-09-27 under rules 5175673b7580, since revised
• “You said about scribes changing the text, so that is referring to the veracity of the scriptures. But even if we go with your very imbalanced approach to textual criticism…”
  Sam Shamoun, Religion Debate: Islam vs Christianity, watch at 57:17
  Diogenes: Ijaz asked three times a theological question — why the ignorance is predicated of the Son as person if he shares the Father's knowledge — and explicitly disclaimed textual criticism, yet Sam answers only the textual question.Judged on 2026-09-27 under rules 5175673b7580, since revised
• “So we address the question by saying there is not one manuscript. There are several that date to within the lifetime of the prophet, peace be upon him.”
  Daniel Haqiqatjou, Religion Debate: Islam vs Christianity, watch at 1:31:41
  Diogenes: Sam asked twice for the date of the oldest extant mushaf containing all 114 suras and for two Qur'anic manuscripts that are 100% identical; neither figure is given, and the answer changes the subject to early fragments.Judged on 2026-09-27 under rules 5175673b7580, since revised