Faulty Arguments

Superfine Apostate

apart from "ad hominem", there are a bunch of other "arguments" that are used widely, but actually don't hold any value.

one i find very often to be used is "tu quoque" (you too!). like in "yes, i believe without evidence, but you believe too!".

another one is "ad populum": "most people believe in a god, nuff said".

"ad ignorantiam" is probably an all time favourite: "you can't prove god does NOT exist".

add other faulty argument types you observe.

nvrgnbk

BurntheShipism

BAism

LOL!

I kid my brothers in the one true faith!

BurnTheShips

Overgeneralization - The drawing of grand conclusions based on isolated examples (example: "Since one Christian did something bad, all Christians are therefore evil.").

Dichotomous Thinking - The describing of the world in terms of absolutes without acknowledging important gradations (example: "Atheists are intelligent; theists are stupid.").

Disqualifying the Positive - The rejection of positive evidence as somehow not counting in order to preserve one's own negative viewpoint of another group (example, "Christians give a lot to charitable causes but this is really only to brainwash others.").

nvrgnbk

Overgeneralization - The drawing of grand conclusions based on isolated examples (example: "Since one Christian did something bad, all Christians are therefore evil.").
Dichotomous Thinking - The describing of the world in terms of absolutes without acknowledging important gradations (example: "Atheists are intelligent; theists are stupid.").
Disqualifying the Positive - The rejection of positive evidence as somehow not counting in order to preserve one's own negative viewpoint of another group (example, "Christians give a lot to charitable causes but this is really only to brainwash others.").

Good points, Burn.

And I'm sure you know they are used by all sides, notice I didn't say both. LOL! That would be dichotomous.

"Since one atheist did something bad, all atheists are therefore evil."

"Theists are intelligent; atheists are baboons."

BurnTheShips

Nvrgnbk,

Whats good for the goose.....;-)

Burn

nvrgnbk

Nvrgnbk,
Whats good for the goose.....;-)
Burn

Go on.

Dimelo, papi.

LOL!

BurnTheShips

There are very reasonable atheists on this board that don't fall into the fallacies above. Its the loons.

Unfortunately, the loons appear outnumber the reasonable ones around these parts. Some of the people here are more visceral than logical.

Burn

nvrgnbk

It's all good fun.

I'm sure God gets a kick out of it.

BurnTheShips

Biblical Inconsistencies-The Bible could be proven to be wrong, but proving the Bible wrong does not in and of itself establish the non-existence of God. (I've even seen Hitchens fall into this one in a debate)

I Hate Santa-I asked Santa at the mall for a puppy this Christmas. I did not get a puppy. Therefore Santa does not exist. In other words, deciding that God does not exist because of an unfilled prayer.

I Hate the Watchtower-The Watchtower made me guilty over masturbating, or the elders made my life impossible. Because of this I rebeled against the Watchtower (and mommy and daddy too). Since the Watchtower claims to be God's channel, I rebeled against God too (as the Watchtower made me understand him). I now hate the Watchtower God. Therefore God does not exist.

Strong emotional attachment to a conclusion can blind anyone to the fallacies with the arguments for it.

Junction-Guy

Good points BurnTheShips!!

Faulty Arguments

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