In college writing courses, professors typically warn against making absolute statements. It’s valid advice; there always is a “but” for an absolute. An avoidance of absolute statements, though, does not mean writers shouldn’t take an absolute stand.
To stand for something is risky, but the risk is what makes the writing soar. Without it, the writing always stays within neat confines. It’s safe. It’s policy, as a Superchic[k] song says, “is never to offend.” Safe writing does nothing. It’s the status quo. It doesn’t exercise discernment. Analysis is left to languish. Criticism is never given because God forbid that someone should get his or her feelings hurt.
The point with taking a stand is not to neglect the opposing argument; far from it. Taking a stand means discussing the opposing viewpoint and offering valid reasons for why that particular perspective is incomplete or wrong. Taking a stand is a position held with both eyes open, not with both shut, one closed, or one held in a continual winking state.
Taking a stand doesn’t mean absolute authority, either. Because taking a stand involves considering other perspectives and examining them critically, the original stance sometimes morphs. It evolves into a more fully-formed understanding and position.
Sometimes, that evolution is a complete 180 degrees in the opposite direction. That’s all right. A stance does the writer no good if it’s incorrect from the get-go. C.S. Lewis says:
We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road.
A position should change when new information is presented that cannot be argued against and overcome.
To do anything else is to be obstinate and willfully blind, which is not a healthy position for either the writer or the writing. In that position, he or she does nothing more than spew propaganda, and that does not make for good writing or better writers. No, to be a better writer, the writer must take a stand, but it must be one that grows and transforms as the writer, as Flannery O’Connor says, “widens her perspective.”
Image: Ivan Marianelli (Creative Commons)