Jo Bennett (asker) May 2, 2012:

Thanks provisionally ... Thanks for all the help! I'm going with "misguided debate" for the moment, but will check out all suggestions with the client before closing and awarding points.

Norbert Hohl Apr 30, 2012:

Fair enough, Johanna. Schräge/verquere Debatte IMHO closely matches the concepts of a cockeyed or off-beam debate. Here, inferences about the intention, state of mind etc. of the participants are drawn.

A schiefe Debatte, however, is an unbalanced, one-sided debate (einseitige, unausgewogene Debatte).

Johanna Timm, PhD Apr 30, 2012:

Just offering German native speaker input re" schief" - and leaving it to ENS to suggest the appropriate English term.

Lancashireman Apr 30, 2012:

with Johanna cockeyed, off-beam...

Johanna Timm, PhD Apr 30, 2012:

schief=verquer? I’m thinking that “schief” might also be used her in the sense of “verquer“, meaning: "odd, peculiar; baffling, bewildering”; would it make any sense -in the context available to you - that the author deems this debate simply a bit strange or perplexing?
http://www.duden.de/suchen/dudenonline/schief
Verquer: in etwas seltsamer Weise vom Üblichen abweichend, absonderlich, merkwürdig
BTW, “verquere Debatte” brings up just about as much google hits as “schiefe Debatte”

Michael Martin, MA Apr 30, 2012:

I have the impression that "skewed" and "misguided" are often used interchangeably in English. Whenever a distinction is important, "schiefe Debatte" only sounds like it could go one way or the other, (including "unbalanced") but, like others said, it really looks like it's most frequently used in the sense of "misguided". So, I'd go with that to be on the safe side.

Jo Bennett (asker) Apr 30, 2012:

The author is... a theological academic. The debate is about whether, in addition to the humanity of Jesus, other factors such as his Jewishness, maleness etc should be considered crucial to his significance for humanity. As to whether the author thinks the debate is "skewed", "unbalanced" or "misguided" - that's precisely what I'm not sure about. I'd like to know whether the German phrase "eine schiefe Debatte" normally means one or the other, or whether it can equally well mean either.

Dr Lofthouse Apr 30, 2012:

'misguided'? or 'biased'? What is the context ?
The debate is about whether Jesus shouldl be considered crucial for humanity.
Is the author an Atheist who is being sarcastic, and thinks the debate is pointless? Or is the author a Christian, who thinks the debate is already won, so there is no need to debate it?