Contrary to what may appear to be the case most of the time, I do appreciate the validity of what you say.
However, as someone who tries to spend significant time converting the unwashed clueless liberal idiot heathen . . .
It depends on the individuals involved and the context. In the college adjunct office . . . probably 85-95% of my colleagues are flaming liberals. Some of them give pause and ponder a bit more--evidently BECAUSE of my strident off-the-wall polemics.
Others, I adjust my tone and wording for.
But hereon . . . hey--it's family--gotta let my hair down somewhere. Gotta have somewhere to rant and rave so I can play sane out in the conventional world.
"It depends on the individuals involved and the context. In the college adjunct office . . . probably 85-95% of my colleagues are flaming liberals. Some of them give pause and ponder a bit more--evidently BECAUSE of my strident off-the-wall polemics."
I won't deny that for some people, strident polemics work. My argument is that for every one that is persuaded by such techniques, many more are turned off by them.
Interesting that you work in a university environment. That would most likely give you exposure to street preachers. You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones screeching into megaphones at the public about their interpretation of scripture. I'm sure that if you were to ask them, they would be able to point with pride to the handful of individuals that they've converted as a result of their ministry.
But if you watch, you'll see that the majority of people ignore their tirades and are repelled by them. Since the street preachers don't seem to recognize their ineffectiveness, they continue with their ministry, and the bulk of the audience they're trying to reach ignore them. The street preachers simply become part of the background noise.
That's what much of the ongoing political tirade in America has become. Background noise. Interesting to the few, ignored by the majority.