Winning and Losing

“The most important tactic in an argument, next to being right, is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent, so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without an embarrassing loss of face.”

–Syndey J. Harris

When debating with someone over an issue, it is tempting to think that our goal is to win the argument. But really it should be to win the confidence and respect of the person we are talking with. If we don’t accomplish this, we run the risk of being right but losing a friend.

I recently heard a radio talk show host say that conservatives should not try to work with liberals but should just flat out beat them. In his view, our government doesn’t need two sides of the isle.” We should only elect people who agree on every major issue–and of course, they must be conservative.

This kind of thinking is both unrealistic and unAmerican! The democratic process can only continue if we are willing to allow everyone a seat at the table, while showing respect and compassion for the other, regardless of the issue. The moment we demonize our opponent we lose the magic of what has made the United States the great nation that it is.
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Comments by Rich DuBose. BetterSermons © 2009. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject tousage guidelines | View main index