I note from the posts in response to my last two blogs that some people get extraordinarily heated over certain issues such as women’s rights, the spectre of over-population and so on. It sometimes seems as if it is not possible to conduct a serious debate without wanting to punch your opponent verbally in the face. What is the antidote? To love your adversary even as you explain to him/her that their arguments are shallow, ignorant, irrational or confused; easier said than done.
There is one man who loved debate, controversy and argument while at the same time managing to remain magnanimous to his enemy: this was G K Chesterton. I have just been reading The Holiness of G K Chesterton, edited by William Oddie, and reflecting that Chesterton would have taken to the blogosphere with gusto. Words, writing and quick repartee came naturally to him; ideas and images flowed ceaselessly from his pen. Faced by the atheist brigade he would have fizzed and sparkled, laughed and lunged, as ready to win over as well as to win.
