The Question Volley

Yesterday, I was listening to the Dave Glover show on 97.1 FM out of STL. The topic was conspiracy theories and all the myth, facts and hoopla that surround all the stuff we know, but we think we’re NOT supposed to know. One caller made a point that I thought was really interesting, something he called, “The question volley.”
In this, he talked about how when a conspiracy theorist is posed a question he/she cannot answer, their “answer” is to throw another question back at the original asker. He was using 9-11 as an example. Many claim 9-11 was a conspiracy and orchestrated by the Bush administration. When it was pointed out that why would have Bin Laden made the statement that they were responsible, all the history of terrorism his org did and claimed to have done, well, it begins to become quite obvious who the real culprit is-and it’s not one of our own. So, when hearing all the facts, the conspiracy theorist volleys another question/claim…well, why does Bush care so much about oil? Answer comes and, without even hearing the answer, yet another question is vollied.

I’m using political examples here, but doesn’t everyone do this? I know that most of my arguments with past girlfriends have veered off topic into the realms of the past. “Why did you ignore me last night at our friend’s house?” Without getting an answer, one would be thrown back that was(yep, you guessed it!) another question. “Ignore you? You were rude to me over dinner…why?” And thus, the volley continues.
I am a huge, huge advocate of answering whatever question is asked. If you have to try to undermine the positon of another by NOT answering their question or by posing one of your own, then maybe, just maybe, the position that is held so dear needs a little work.