What I see as my own problem is a tendency to oversecularize. I’ll provide a secular argument for X, but then neglect to link this to the theological reasoning that can often perfect it.

In part, this is to avoid cluttering the argument with more disputed topics in cases where one isn’t talking with a Christian.

However, it can be disingenuous to avoid what one considers to be the most important of one’s reasons for a belief.

Further, in the U.S. especially, non-Christians are hardly a majority. A well-wrought appeal to Scripture can engage more people than it disengages.

Perhaps if better theological arguments were made in public, there’d be fewer superficial religious appeals. A brief digression about man being in the image and likeness of God or about Christ’s love for the poor can enrich, rather than distract from, the discussion. Compare the Imago Dei to the nihilistic premises of certain pundits, and you’ll attract sympathy, if not agreement.