Oh, Bluster!

People like to take positions. That’s easy. When they encounter opposition to a position they have taken, that’s when it gets interesting. That’s when you get some insight into their character (and often enough it's your own character that will be in question). Possible responses to opposition include ignoring, insulting, misrepresenting, etc. One response which is more promising is to try to ask some difficult questions of one’s opponent. This is a good thing, so far as it goes: it seems to indicate a willingness to openly, honestly examine the real nature of the controverted issue. Unfortunately, often such questions are merely rhetorical and also naïve (raising such questions is a common, sometimes effective, but never enlightening polemical strategy). And when those questions turn out to be not so difficult and one’s opponent easily answers them, one all-too-often-tempting option is to simply ignore the answers and to bluster on about the righteousness of one’s cause and that’s the point where one's personal character is revealed. So remember: You can bluster, but you can’t hide. Your bluster reveals you. So why not stop pretending? Why not go ahead and actually listen to what other people have to say?