Sunday, August 25, 2013

3 part Christian videos about logical fallacies

Educating people about logical fallacies and debate techniques is a good thing, reminding people of that everyone can and will use them, at least a couple of times, in their lives, is a good thing, but... the examples are... hilarious :-D So, don't just take what is being said as the truth, because someone made a video of it and I posted it here :-D Take it as an exercise of learning more about logical fallacies
The problem here is that the person making the videos hasn't quite understood what the logical fallacies are and how they work, so his examples are in some cases not good. Nevertheless, they are a base for further discussion:)

Here are the examples "telemantros" gave in the videos:

Part 1

1. Ad hominem - Attacking the individual instead of the argument
X: "I believe God exists because he has revealed himself through the Bible, nature and archaeology" 
A: "You are an idiot for believing in myths"

A: "If you don't stop talking about God, you'll be sorry"
B: "Convert or die!"

A: "How could you honestly believe in God if there are starving children in Africa?"
(The correct "appeal to pity" argument here would be "How can you believe in an all-mighty God who allows innocent children suffer?")

X: "I believe the Bible to be the standard of truth about God's Character" 
A: "Science disproved God long ago, everybody knows that. Why don't you?"

A: "Our churches' tradition demonstrates that this doctrine is true. This is the way we've always done it, so it is the right way"

X: "I believe in God"
A: "Science disproved God a long time ago. Science is the only way to test claims. Therefore, we know that God does not exist".

7. Circular Argument - see Begging the Question Division - assuming that what is true of the whole is true for the parts.
A: "Christianity believes in free will. That means since you are a Christian, you believe in free will."

A: "Evolution states that one species can change into another. We see that cars have evolved into different styles. Therefore, since evolution is a fact inc ars, it is true in species."

A: "The Bible we have today is erred. So what had inspiration, the copies or the originals?"

X: "I believe in Creation Theory"
A: "That means you are a Christian! Christians are delusional, so you are delusional and I can't talk to you."

11. Non Sequitur - Comments or information that do not logically follow from a premise or the conclusion.
A: "Mormon Doctrine teaches an illogical chain of infinite past event." 
B: "Mormon Doctrine is not illogical, they don't practice polygamy anymore."

A: "That speaker over there is a Christian... Christians are delusional and illogical."

X: "Jesus fulfilled prophecy hundreds of years after they were foretold. That is evidence of Jesus being God." 
A: "I know there is prophecy in the Bible, but that doesn't answer the problem about all the starving children in the world".

A: "That's a straw man argument"
B: "By claiming that I am using a straw man, you are using a straw man."
The problem is that B just made a claim of straw man, yet he feels that his argument is not a straw man. This is a different standard he is applying to A

A: "Why would God allow torture of Job? God can't be loving"
This leaves out the end, and main point of the book of Job and does not accurately represent the situation.

16. Category Mistake - Attributing a property to something that could not possibly have that property.
A: "The Bible cannot be proven through science and therefore, the Bible is not true"
The problem is that the Bible is a historical document that contains scientific claims, it is not a scientific document.

Part 2
1. appeal to ridicule
Fallacy where ridicule or mockery is substituted for evidence in an "argument"
A: "I believe that God exists"
B: "You can claim God exists all you want, the theistic position is still laughable"

2. hasty generalization
Fallacy where conclusions are reached by using not enough exemplification or when examples are used that are irrelevant and non-representative
A: "Christians can't argue their point because they all rely on blatant lies and fallacies"

3. middle ground
Fallacy in which a middle position is assumed to be correct because it is in-between two extreme positions
A: "Some say that God exists and some say that God does not exist. It seems reasonable to accept the middle position, so it's likely that God exists, but that He is not all powerful, all knowing and omnipresent. That seems fair to both sides."

4. spotlight
When an individual uncritically assumes that members or causes are like those that receive the most attention or coverage on the media.
A: "Hey, Bob, did you know I'm a Christian"
B: "You can't be. I've read about Christians in the Newspaper. They go around protesting funerals because people were killed via punishment from God and you don't do that."

5. factual error

6. argument from ignorance
Fallacy where it is argued that something is true because it has not been proven false, or something is false because it has not been proven true.
A: "God doesn't exist, because you can't prove He does!"
or "God exists, because you can't prove he doesn't"

7. plurium interrogationum
Fallacy where an individual asks for a simple answer to a complex question.
A: "Is the Christian Church unified, yes, or no?"

8. meaningless question
Fallacy in which a question that cannot be asked because it is incompatible with itself, has been asked. The question invalidates itself because one part makes another portion of the question impossible and vice-versa. Meaningless questions are questions that are illogical.
A: "Can God create a rock so heavy that He cannot lift it?"

9. the masked man fallacy
or Illicit Substitution of Identities
Fallacy where an assumption is made that because something is known under one perspective, it must also be known under a different perspective.
A: "Creationists agree that it is a known fact that changes occur within a species over time, therefore creationists agree that evolution occurs."

10. improper notion of probabilities
Fallacy in which a low probability is used as proof that something could not have happened
"There are hundreds of religions in the world that require faith and each one of them states that it's true. Since it is so unlikely that faith would bring you to the right religion, Christianity cannot be the right religion."

11. false analogy
A false analogy is present any time similarities between objects or events are assumed without proof, just because they are similar in some other way.
"Christianity shares characteristics with Mithran mythology and Mithran mythology is false, therefore Christianity is false."

Part 3
1. ad hominem tu quoque
Fallacy in which an individual claim is concluded as false because it conflicts with past claims or actions of the one making the original claim.
The fact that a person makes inconsisten claims does not make any particular claim he makes false. Also, the fact that a person's claims are not consistent with his actions might indicate that the person is a hypocrite, but this does not prove his claims are false.

X: "God's heart is for all people, that's why I help the poor and needy" A: "God doesn't have a heart for anyone, I've never once seen you help anyone other than yourself!"

2. amphiboly
Fallacy in which a premise is used in an argument that is ambiguous because of ungrammatical phrasing and the meaning is not clear.

X: "I know Jesus is God."
A: "Christians shouldn't be allowed to believe in God, it's too dangerous."
This fallacy can be used to confuse or make subconscious implications, intentional or not.

3. anecdotal evidence
Fallacy in which an individual relies on anecdotes to prove their argument.

"I prayed for Jesus to appear to me and he didn't, therefore Jesus does not exist."

It is valid to use experience to illustrate a point, as experience is one of the three methodologies that naturalism uses to illustrate itself (experience, science and logic) but not valid to prove your point.

4. appeal to consequences of a belief
Fallacy in which the consequences of a position proves the position to be true. This line of reasoning is fallacious because the consequences of a belief have no bearing on whether the belief is true or false.

"God is false because accepting that God's existence is false leads to deeper and more free thinking"

5. audiatur et altera pars (hear the other side)
Principle that states that all premises of an argument should be stated explicitly, arguing from assumptions not stated This is not always a strict fallacy per se, but illustrates a principle that is often broken during discussion and should be avoided when possible.

X: "I believe in God".
A: "There is no evidence of God's existence".

"A is guilty of "jumping to conclusions" in regards to what he considers evidence, for the criteria for evidence is an assumption and was not explained"

6. circumstantial ad hominem
Fallacy in which one attacks a claim by asserting that the claim is made out of self interest and is therefore false.

"... a person's interests and circumstances have no bearing on the truth or falsity of the claim being made. while a person's interests will provide them with motives to support certain claims, the claims stand or fall on their own."

A: "The universe began to exist, and therefore has a cause". 
B: "You only believe that because you are a Christian."

7. composition
Fallacy in which a conclusion is drawn about the whole, based on the individual constituents (or parts) within the whole

"Islam and Mormonism are proven false via science, therefore all religions are false."

8. division
Fallacy in which it is inferred that what is true about the whole must also be true about the parts that make up the whole.

"Religion is incoherent, therefore Islam, Christianity and Mormonism are incoherent".

9. genetic fallacy
Fallacy in which a perceived defect in the origin of the claim is taken as evidence that the claim is false.

A: "I believe in Jesus"
B: "People only believe in Jesus out of fear and weakness. Christianity is a crutch."

10. slippery slope
Fallacy in which an assertion is made that if some event occurs then so will another inevitable event without any clarification This sort of reasoning is fallacious because there is no reason to believe that one event must inevitable follow from another without an argument for such a claim.

"If we allow religion back in our schools, my children will be forced to start reading the Bible!"

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