21. How Not to Argue Like an Idiot…The 15 Most Common Logical Fallacies

In his article Nicholas McDonald, a preacher and Christian author, writes about the common logical fallacies Christians have when trying to defend their faiths or promote Christianity in a society heavily dependent on reasoning. Nevertheless, he does point out that depending to heavily on logic is a fallacy in itself, yet it does not fail to be a useful tool. The first of these fallacies is the Ad Hominem, a fallacy where the person arguing will attack his opponents character while disregarding their argument. Next, McDonald writes about the "Straw Man" fallacy which plays off of an opponents argument by stating it in a way they themselves wouldn't, making an incoherent argument. Another fallacy is that of "false analogies," these are poorly analyzed analogies which may sound good yet may fail to take everything into consideration. McDonald continues to advise the reader against using arguments such as the "Slippery Slope" argument which makes a far fetched assumption, making extreme interpretations of an argument. Furthermore, he advises the reader that a lack of explanation does not solely indicate that God must be the solution. Another major fallacy is making authoritative arguments, for these arguments cannot be asserted by human authority. Moreover, he advises against making assumption because of the mere correlation of facts  which fails to look logically beyond coincidences. Another major fallacy is believing that one's beliefs are derived from fact while those of others are opinions. Furthermore, he goes over fallacies which manipulate the positions one can take in an argument and assuming that complex events are equivalent. He continues by stating the fallacies which are induced by asking meaningless questions with illogical answers or judging an argument based off of a biased opinion. He concludes his essay by further advising the reader against changing the argument, making assumptions, refraining from arguing, or appealing to ignorance.

A logical fallacy that I have experienced was the argument that man is innately good by creating the false dilemma that all people are entitled to go to heaven. The fallacy lies within their inability to support this argument without relying on a biased opinion or on discrediting the beliefs of others. The false dilemma this argument generates is either that one believes in the purity of man and that all men go to heaven or that they believe that all men should go to hell. Furthermore, this argument generates the misconception that goodness is what allows one to go to heaven and thus all men go to heaven. This humanistic belief proposes a perfect world and an intrinsic world, yet neglects the fact that reality does not support their beliefs.