3. Principled.
Our polemics must to be principled. (Honestly, I could have used other words like “integrity,” “honesty,” etc., but I’m a sucker for cheap alliteration.) We should strive to deal honorably, speak honestly and actively avoid unfair caricatures and cheap shots in our polemical engagements.
Whenever arguing against a position, we ought to represent our interlocutors accurately, fairly and charitably. In other words, don’t purposely take the dumbest interpretation of any statement they make and argue against that. That’s just dishonest.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that there is a place for irony, sarcasm and the reductio ad absurdum in arguments. Humorously following someone’s premises out to their surprising conclusions, or creating surprising, sarcastic analogies can be a great way to bring out a point.
Still, there is absolutely no place for a lack of integrity in our communication with others, even those with whom we deeply disagree. This is part of how we love our neighbors as ourselves as Jesus taught us to. Being people who confess the lordship of Jesus, the one who is the Truth, we should never play fast and loose with it to score a cheap, rhetorical point.
