An Example of Verbal Yielding

I get a lot of questions about how on earth you would use your yielding skills in a conversation. Here's an example.

(A quick note: I live in the buckle of the Bible Belt. In this argument I'm taking the stance of tolerance towards homosexual people. It doesn't matter if you agree with me or not. What matters is that this is a good example.)

Someone says to you, "I believe homosexuality is an abomination against God, because it says so in the Bible." (Push)

You differ. how do you handle it?

You could:

1) Get angry and yell, "You're wrong!" or "You're just an ignorant bigot." (Push back)

2) Leave. (Disengage)

3) Say something like "I don't believe that the Bible actually says that." (Parry)

or

4) Say "I agree." (Yield) "That part of the bible also states that a man should have multiple wives. How many wives do you have?" (Roll Back and fajing)

As you can see, in #4 you yield by agreeing, and use your opponent's momentum (his assertion that the Bible is irrefutable) to trap him.

This kind of response is usually easy against narrow-minded people, because they like to speak in sweeping absolutes, and as we know, our universe is not made of absolutes.

Perhaps next time, for the sake of fairness, I will add a counter move for our fundamentalist anti-gay opponent.