The Advantage of a Courteous Argument

There is a fine line between simply standing up for your views and blatantly bashing the opinions of others. Even though the viewpoints of two people may be complete opposites, it is still necessary to maintain a respectful attitude towards opposing ideals in order to retain a relevant position in the discussion. Tracy Clark-Flory wrote an article titled “Ready to Marry, But Not for ‘Wife,’” that was published online on salon.com. In it, Clark-Flory explores the underlying meanings of the words “husband” and “wife” as well as their former patriarchal connotation--ones that modern couples have been eager to abandon. In an initially reasonable and polite manner, Clark-Flory included several quotations from couples stating their efforts to separate the words from their previous definitions. This changed, however, when the article included a quotation from a same-sex couple that preferred to use the words “particularly in the presence of Christian bigots” (Clark-Flory 1). The usage of the word “bigot” to describe people with Christian values seems both rude and unnecessary--the notion that it is acceptable to generalize all people with a certain belief is startling given the author’s supposedly “progressive” and “groundbreaking” views. Surely the author would have been equally offended had someone with an opposing opinion written an article about him or her that called him or her a “(insert term here) bigot.” This article is formidable proof of the importance of courteous debate in attempting to avoid ignorance. Although the author was able to provide a compelling argument for eliminating sexist notions in the words “husband” and “wife” in the beginning of the article, the inclusion of a offensive quotation later on was at risk of greatly decreasing the article’s overall appeal and credibility.