In discussing the obstruction of justice charge against President Trump with many people, I’ve noticed some common misconceptions. I’ve read different conflicting legal expert opinions. What follows is an explanation that bridges the gap between the legal expert and non-expert. The comments below are my non-lawyer opinions and explanation on this: what …
This is part of a series on Roman Catholicism. See this index. I often use this blog to point out errors in critical thinking, including logical fallacies and hypocrisy. The goal is to improve the level of discourse. That’s one reason I will modify my older posts if someone points out an …
On Memorial Day I attended an event at the local American Legion post. As a member of one of the Anabaptist peace churches, I’ve always held to the views of non-violent resistance modeled after the example and teachings of Jesus. Attending a ceremony honoring the memory of those who have …
I’m always amused when my friends try to deny that the media is biased (left or right, take your pick). This notion would be laughable if it were not for the fact that so many people believe it. That makes it a tragedy. Today’s culprit is Fox News, who posted …
One of the objections leveled at Christians is that their beliefs are arrogant. How can Jesus be the exclusive way to God and everyone who does not go through Jesus cannot be saved? The reply is that the belief itself is not arrogant at all. This is simply God’s own …
In a previous post, I discussed making biased arguments using logical fallacies. I used this video as a typical example of the kind of arguments that are frequently made on the internet, especially those made by those who simply wish to attack an opinion they do not hold. These arguments …
There are many different ways to make biased arguments. One way to do this is by engaging in logical fallacies. Only rarely are logical fallacies employed intentionally, but they do indicate poorly constructed arguments. It is easier to make a bad argument with logical fallacies than it is to make …
Following Trump winning the election, Twitter, Facebook, and the blogosphere exploded with adults becoming children and throwing a nationwide temper tantrum. And true to expectations, few seem to be learning anything thing from what happened. Adults threatened to unfriend Facebook friends because they hold a different viewpoint.1 A rare few …
The straw man fallacy is simple: instead of arguing against someone’s (or for your own1) established opinion, you argue a weakened form of it. This makes it easier to ignore the difficult parts of the argument while convincing yourself (and others) that you are correct. While it is intellectual dishonesty …
It is extremely improbable that we have suddenly become better and smarter than our predecessors. In fact, what has happened is that we have lost the ability to understand functional social patterns other than markets and bureaucracies. The result is that the past appears irrational, our society is plagued by …