Critical Thinking, Loaded Questions
To purchase the entire Summit Lecture Series, Vol. 2 on DVD, visit summit.org.
This is the one that I think we really need to be careful of when you’re engaging and arguing with people. You don’t change that person’s view according to something you learned, maybe even here at Summit, in order so you can attack it and tear it down. That’s why the Proverbs 18:13, you need to understand, you need to hear them, and try to understand what their view is before you give an answer is so important. It’s avoiding the straw man.
I think a lot of church problems center around the straw man. A lot of gossip centers around the straw man. Making somebody’s argument a weakened or ridiculous version so you can attack it. Notice where the focus is in the straw man. Is it on ministering to the other person? It’s on defending yourself. Defensiveness. I think straw man comes out of a lot of defensiveness. I can’t handle what you’re saying, so I’ll make it easy for myself to understand and then I’ll attack it and tear it down so I can win the day and do the happy dance of joy. We can’t do that. No straw mans. But, now having said that, it’s a serious one that I think is a huge problem, even for Christians. Having said that, let’s have a little comic relief and hear Stephen Colbert use straw man for rhetorical and comedic value.
Let’s talk about your opponent, Sue Kelly, for a second.
Okay, sure.
Besides the economy, reproductive rights, taxation, the environment, and education, where do you and Sue Kelly differ?
Well, she’s voted for this war, which I would not have voted for. She voted for-
So you’d rather see Saddam back in power?
… No, but I’d love to see a convincing plan that would show us a way to victory in Iraq.
Stay the course.
I’ve heard that and-
Okay, but it didn’t sink in?
Thank you, Steven Colbert. So you didn’t vote for this war, so you want Saddam back in power? Saddam Hussein. That’s a straw man. A very good one too.
All right. Red herring, you introduce an irrelevant point to an argument. Someone may think it proves their side or want us to think, but it really doesn’t. You see this in… If you’ll watch a political debate, the moderator will throw a question at a candidate they’re very uncomfortable answering, like, what do you think about defense spending? What’s the way forward on defense spending? And the candidate goes, “You know what? I love our troops. I think they should have all the support they need. They do such a good job. They spend time away from their families. They spend time away from their homes. We need to give them all the support that they need.” Did that answer the question? They ask you about defense spending. I love our troops. Red herring. Okay? That happens a lot. Sounds like it’s maybe what they’re talking about, but not really. It’s not really what they’re talking about. Not answering.
Don’t let people throw you off on a red herring when you’re talking about one specific thing like, why don’t you believe God? They say, “Because science has disproved God.” Stay the course. Quote Stephen Colbert, stay the course. Don’t go off into other categories, like how do we know Jesus rose from the dead, the new Testament’s horribly corrupt, whatever. Stay the course.
All right. Appeal to the popular. I know that you already understand that one. Right? Ford F-150’s the number one selling truck in Oklahoma. So go out and buy one. What are you waiting for? Right? Either/or are a fallacy, assuming only two alternatives when they are more. This is where internet memes languish. They languish in false analogies and either or dichotomies. Let me give you an example of an either/or that’s a little more friendly. I’ll show you some others as time allows.
I’m the only good one.
Do you think you and mommy did a good job raising me?
Of course we did.
Well, then you obviously taught me right from wrong.
True.
And you should trust me to do the right thing.
Wait, Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Or you’re a bad father. Take your pick.
Man, you’re good.
All right. So either you raised be right and I’ll do the right thing, or you’re a bad father, right? There’s other options. Your parents can raise you right and you still do the wrong thing. That’s creating a false dichotomy or the either/or fallacy. You will find those a lot. People say God is either this or that. And there could be a third answer they’re just not giving you. So every time, why are you creating an either/or fallacy.
All right. False analogy. A false analogy is when you try to use an analogy in a manner that shows no real resemblance or using an analogy falsely by assuming two things are similar in one way so they’ll be similar in another. Let me see. Here’s one false analogy. Yeah, this one right here. You never see that many Christians line up to help at a food bank or homeless shelter, and that’s something Jesus actually said to do. All right. What’s going on with this one? We’re comparing the day that Christians went out in support of Chick-fil-A’s C… Well, I don’t know if he’s the CEO, but one of the founders that said his statement, his view of homosexuality. And he caught a lot of backlash for it. So Christians went out, they had a support Chick-fil-A day. Right? The purpose of this day is to support the guy who made the statement on his views of biblical marriage or whatever. Right?
How does that relate to serving at a homeless shelter or a food bank? It’s a false analogy. They don’t relate. Sounded good for your internet meme though, right? Yeah. Woo. That’s right. The problem is we can break this one down pretty easily, right? If we line up all the Christian who have ever fed the poor, clothed the homeless, worked in an ongoing effort in that manner from the 2000 years of our existence, it would grossly outweigh what we saw on the Chick-fil-A support day. Right? This is a problematic false analogy. Probably convinced a lot of people to go, “Woohoo. Yay. My team.” All right. False analogies do that.
Okay, I’m going to skip loaded question. I do want to say loaded questions, I will say that the classic loaded question is when did you stop beating your wife? Right? Loaded questions set you up. You should always break them down. And the current loaded question has to do with homosexuality. They’re like, “What do you believe about same sex marriage?” Break down the loaded question. Well, I always ask them, “Well, why are you asking?” Or what I would say, especially if you get one on homosexuality, since it’s such a heated issue right now, “Do you consider yourself a tolerant person? Do you consider yourself a person that would put up with people who don’t agree with their views. With your own views?” Okay?
But you might get asked loaded questions. Classic loaded question, I think it was from 2008, but it was the moderator in the Republican debate, presidential debate, all Republicans up on the stage. The moderator asks Mike Huckabee if he believes in evolution. How is it loaded? There’s an assumption in the background that you either believe in evolution and therefore science, or that you don’t, and therefore you don’t believe in the pursuit of science. That was a tricky, loaded question. Look for that when people try to set you up. The loaded question’s always trying to set you up. It’s not trying to get at truth, break it down every time.
Follow Christian Podcast Central on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to see our ongoing discussion with Dr. Jeff Myers regarding worldviews.
(This podcast is by Summit Ministries. Discovered by Christian Podcast Central and our community — copyright is owned by the publisher, not Christian Podcast Central.)
