Reaching a broad public, debating controversial social topics, provoke thoughts – that’s the idea behind the Masters’ Debate. In this way the Berlin Debating Union (BDU) wants to perform its sociopolitical role. Furthermore the members of BDU want to show what is possible in a really good debate and that even difficult, controversial and contra intuitive motions can be discussed in a reasonable, ambitious and entertaining way.

So early December’s motion was a heavy one: “This house would allow disabled parents (in countries where pre-implantation diagnostics are allowed) to choose embryos with the same disability.”

The Opening Government with Annette Kirste and Julian Ohm explained that the proposal is good for the parents as well as the child, because the child can be understood in a better way and have a better life. The currently existing arrogance of not disabled people to talk about disabled life prejudicially has been denunciated and refused. In contrast, the Opening Opposition (Florian Umscheid and Dessislava Kirova) stated that the right of a potential child to be healthy weighs more than the parents’ wish of self-fulfillment. They tried to demonstrate that a disabled life actually has a lot of disadvantages in reality and that the choice of a potentially disabled child almost marches upon personal injury. Patrick Ehmann and Jonas Werner of the Closing Government denied the objective disadvantage of a disability and argued that the not disabled majority of the society doesn’t have the right to judge about disabled life and label it as prejudicial. The society should be made even more worth living for people with disabilities. The Closing Opposition consisting of Georg Sommerfeld and Johannes Häger took an even bigger step and declined pre-implantation diagnostics because it is hostile.

The skilled adjudicators Hauke Blume, John Eltringham and Juliane Mendelsohn spoke about the debate in presence of the audience and gave a deep insight into the process of adjudication. Patrick and Jonas won the debate, Annette and Julian were the favorites of the audience.

The next Masters’ Debate will take place in February 2011.

Dessislava Kirova / vro