Sometimes, you can’t win with people and that’s okay; we just have to recognize those that have no desire for fruitful conversation.
I’ll give two examples:
Yesterday, on one of my accounts, a person showed up that was very anti-Catholic. Their tactic was what I call “Bombardment of Issues.” Instead of addressing one issue they have pertaining to what I wrote, they proceed to give a litany of grievances they have with Catholicism.
And when I say litany, I mean a virtual scroll that goes on and on and on.
There was a time I would have sat and addressed each false accusation, but they aren’t interested in listening and so it’s best to just move on.
The point of the bombardment is to overwhelm you and have you chasing around trying to put out every fire. When you can’t or refuse to engage, they think they’ve won. Don’t fall for it. They are most certainly not interested in a healthy debate.
The second example comes from last week. A man showed up that was livid with rage at the Catholic Church. He was dodgy over what his real grievance was about and when I private messaged him to try to get him to calm down and see what was his real beef was, he remained dodgy.
Each time he threw something out at me and I addressed it, he then flipped it to a negative. He asked what I’d done to help sexual abuse victims in my life, accusing me of doing nothing.
When I explained to him all the ways I’ve tried to help, he then said that I must be actually trying to hurt victims instead of helping them.
Today, Jesus addresses this kind of thing in our Gospel reading from Luke 7:31-35.
The people say St. John the Baptist is possessed because he wasn’t eating and drinking wine with everyone, but then Jesus does and He’s a glutton and a drunkard.
With some people you just can’t win, Catholic Pilgrims. So tightly do they want to cling to their preconceived notions, there won’t be much you can do to help them let go of the chain that binds them.
Pray for them and then shake the dust and carry on.
Have a blessed Wednesday.
