the other point of view

I saw something recently - I forget where, sorry - that in days of yore when people studied rhetoric, prior to the start of any debate, each antagonist was required to state the argument of the other.  They had to satisfy each other that they understood the main points of the other's point of view, before trying to persuade anyone against it.

I don't know if that's a true characterization, but it's an attractive thought.  Of course, in any dialectic one seeks to nullify each argument of the opponent, but too often we fail to grasp what's really on the mind of those we disagree with.  Politicians seem to be particularly bad at this - the objective observer can see them scoring points against each other (all too often ad hominem, or against infelicities in the presentation) instead of  engaging with the argument itself.  This is either naive small-mindedness, or wilful misrepresentation.  Neither is very attractive.

Sadly, the same thing seems to be all over the blogosphere in the 'Christian' blogs.  The amount of bile poured out upon those perceived as somewhat heterodox sometimes takes my breath away.  So much of it seems to come from those who don't want  to see the other's point of view. I looked earlier today for some emerging church commentary/perspective on the Alpha course.  Instead - as is the nature of a google search - I found endless blogs denouncing both as the anti-Christ.  (Incidentally, one of the best, most balanced commentaries that I found on Alpha came from an atheist Nature editor, in the Guardian.)

Would that we had grace to understand properly the things that others would have us believe.  And would that they too would engage and grasp that with which they would argue.  Too much apologetics is quite introspective, built upon successive evangelical arguments, rather than being tested by real engagement with those who would wish to dismiss it all - which, in turn, makes it easy to dismiss because its content is rubbish.  That doesn't honour the gospel; that doesn't direct people to the wonderful person of Christ - and that's the real shame.