A while back I received an email from a reader who complained that while I’m very good at leveling criticism, I don’t provide many solutions. Since I’ve heard this before — not frequently, but it has been said — I wanted to respond.
CM says:
I
would like to thank you for your insightful writings at americanthinker.com.
You are articulate, but easily understood…informative, but to the point. I
appreciate your writings. Thank you.One
of the things I have noticed as I read your writings is that: You seem to be
well adept at tearing down issues and or people, but you provide little insight
or direction to something better. You spend your time writing what you are
AGAINST…and little on what you are FOR. It would be nice to see some writings
that have a forward leaning purpose.I
feel that your writings are an extension of your spoken word. With every word,
we have the opportunity to speak life or death..blessing or curse. I would
encourage you to focus on life and blessing.I am
by no means saying you are wrong in your writings, but rather exhorting you to
utilize your obvious talents for greater good. The greatest impact you can have
with your literary works is to share the vision you paint via words and enable
your readers to become better people from haven read of your
labors.Once
again…I thank you for your writings…and thank you for your
time.God
Bless,CM
Dear CM,
You’re approach is very kind and gentle, which is much appreciated. However, I think there’s something you’re not considering.
First, I’m a social critic; thus, my role is to level criticism. Second and more importantly, I have sometimes offered solutions explicitly and, when I don’t, they’re usually implied.
For instance, in "Immigration: Solutions, Not Excuses," I provide a multi-step, common sense plan designed to eliminate the invaders from our nation, something the politicians and mainstream media types say can’t be done. In "The Defense Against Tyranny Amendment," I propose a simple solution to the problem of burgeoning laws that rob us of freedom. And there are other pieces as well.
But, in the least, solutions are implied. If I warn of the effects of using politically correct speech, as I did in "Speaking Out of the Left Sides of Our Mouths," the obvious solution is to use traditional terms instead. If I warn of the perils of violating the Constitution and appointing judges who view it as a "living document," as I did in "Judging Judges: The Supreme Court Tutorial," the obvious solution is to elect politicians who will appoint judges with a hold on sanity. (Would you like $70 terminology? OK, constructionist jurists, as opposed to relativistic, nominalistic, intellectually vacuous Black Robes who think they can pull rulings out of thin air.) If I warn about the dangers of rallying the "idiot vote," as I did in "Get Out the Dopes Drives," the obvious solution is to avoid encouraging the ill-informed to vote.
There’s something even more significant, however. I present arguments, and arguments are solutions. Why? Because if we can’t prevail in the culture war, the political war will be lost as a natural consequence. And you win the culture war by prevailing in the debates of the day.
Thus, one of my main goals has always been, and always will be, to demonstrate how these arguments can be won. In "The Space Alien’s View of the Separation of Church and State," I put forth a completely unique argument that will allow you to win the debate this relates to every time. In "A.D., B.C., Not P.C.," I explain how you can refute the notion that we have to denude the cultural landscape of our Christian traditions because they’re "reflective of a certain perspective." In "Are Christians Hypocrites?" I explain how you can refute the claim that Christians are uniquely hypocritical.
Our main goal should always be to speak the Truth. If good people know the Truth, they will, in general, come to the correct conclusions. To quote G.K. Chesterton,
"It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It’s that they can’t see the problem."
People accept solutions that don’t work because they believe in problems that don’t exist. If we can help them to understand what the real problems are, the solutions will take care of themselves.



Let us know what you think, dear reader. We value your input!