If you’re debating substance, you’ve already lost.

…

So, if you read a book or blog post, or listen to a sermon or podcast, and think that the argument it’s making is full of more holes than Swiss cheese, before writing a multi-part detailed refutation of it, ask yourself a couple of questions:
1.Whose position is flattering the intended audience or telling them what they want to hear, his or mine?
2.Whose position best aligns with significant institutional and financial interests, his or mine?

Aaron Renn, Flattery Will Get You Everywhere, The Masculinist #45

The Masculinist is a free monthly newsletter (and now podcast) by a Protestant laymen who cut his policy teeth writing about cities and urbanism. You can subscribe here. I disagree with him often, but he’s fairly stimulating.