Title: Tactics
A Game Plan for Discovering Your
Christian Convictions
Author: Gregory Koukel
Date: October 21, 2024
My boss in maintenance handed me this book at church one Sunday and suggested I might enjoy reading it. I always liked logic and debate so gladly took it to read. This version was a 10th anniversary edition, i.e. 2019 so fairly recent.
When I started reading it, I expected more of a template about certain Christian beliefs and how to defend/support them in a discussion. The book is 20% that, but its really a generic book about tools and techniques one can use in any discussion- Christianity, political favorite for President, climate change, you name it. As the title suggests, the book is more about different approaches to engage with others, how to respond to various approaches from others and so forth.
Over 19 chapters he offers over 40 tactics depending on the situation. I won’t name them all, but a couple examples are Columbo and Inside Out. The author has 5 chapters on various Columbo techniques, yes after the former TV detective, Peter Falk. He was famous for acting like an absent minded professor in his TV show with all his questions, but he always got to the right answer. For example, one technique, when someone challenges you with a strong opinion, is not to respond on point. Rather respond with a question like “what do you mean by that?” Try and diffuse it. The author goes on to build out 5+ tactics related to Columbo. Inside Out is bringing out inner feelings to the conversation as opposed to a direct response. He cites an example of discussing morals and guilt, and where they come from. As part of the debate, he turns to the concept of guilt, hypothesizing” Maybe we feel guilty because we are guilty”. Basically backdooring the concept that guilt must be based on something(morals/values), an inner most feeling we may have, but not consciously acknowledging it in our debate with others.
One of my main takeaways from the book is the sad state many of us have devolved into on “opinions”, often repeated from the media at large, without any thought to underlying facts. The author highlights how some of these tactics can expose this without directly engaging in a debate where opinion generates a needless argument when there is no underlying substance or even prior thought to an opinion. Often times just getting the individual to respond with a question to their opinion forcing them to go down a layer will accomplish that !! Definitely not like it used to be when people read more than 300 characters before PC’s and social media:)
My main takeaway from the book for when I’m released is that I’ve learned some good tactics I can use in any situation when having discussions or debates with some one and I’d encourage everyone to read this book for that reason alone if that’s important to you! BJ
