Argue--Don't Fight

“Never discuss religion or politics in polite company.”

At some point you’ve probably encountered this wry piece of conversational advice. The sad truth is that both private and public discourse is often shrill, ugly, and unproductive. We are subjected (and sometimes contribute) to sloganeering, straw man-creating, and misconstruing. Emotions flare up, feelings get hurt, relationships suffer. 

Is steering clear of controversial topics the answer? Is there any such thing as a topic guaranteed to be controversy-free?

As English writer G.K. Chesterton once noted, “People generally quarrel because they cannot argue.” 

One of the goals of a classical education is to equip students to argue. Not to be argumentative…the scriptures give us plenty of warnings about the man who goes about stirring up trouble, who loves nothing better than the sound of his own voice.

Rather, we want students to argue well and wisely—to be slow to speak and quick to listen; to recognize falsehood and fallacies; to winsomely engage those with whom they disagree; and to be ever mindful that the Word of God is the foundation of all truth. 

Chesterton also wrote, “The trouble with the modern disputant is not that he does not understand the case for his opponent’s convictions. It is that he does not understand the case for his own convictions. He has never gone back far enough in his own argument; and he has forgotten the very nature of first principles. First principles are the very last principles he is likely to think about.”

At Schola, we want to keep those foundational principles front and center as we encourage students to stand boldly for truth even as they engage others “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Eph 4:2-3)