Tactics

Before we go further, let me say something. My sense is that you want to explain your point by using questions. That confuses me a bit because I'm not sure how I should respond. I think I'd rather you just state your own view directly. Then let me chew on it for a while and see what I think. Would that be all right with you?"

Because it seems to me you can't know that I'm twisting the Bible just by pointing out that other people have twisted it, can you

Yet he hadn't demonstrated this. He had not shown where I'd gotten off track. Rather, he didn't like my point, so he dismissed it with a some-people-twist-the-Bible dodge

the leading question that properly frames the debate: "The issue with abortion, then, isn't whether the child is wanted, but whether or not a woman already has a child when she is pregnant, isn't it?"1

Do you think children ought to be allowed to stay in the world if they are unwanted

ot wanting to bring unwanted children into the world may be a legitimate reason for birth control, but it has nothing to do with abortion. When a women is pregnant, the child is already "in the world,"

Being prepared will give you confidence, but eventually you must engage. Interacting with others face-to-face is the most effective way to improve your abilities as an ambassador

preparation and action

even when the conversation takes an unpredictable turn. If I have predicted the turn in advance and prepared for it, then I am not caught by surprise

Usually, my answers are not spontaneous at all, even