Most everyone has a “frenemy,” the person with whom we disagree with about almost everything — The Bill O’Reily to our Jon Stewart, the Apple to our Google. And Frenemy-ship loves quarrel. Why else would we keep around our psuedo-companions if not for a good debate?
Very recently a good frenemy of mine asked me why I always “talk about the gays” in my columns. I replied, “Because I support marriage equality.”
“But Ahmed, you know homosexuality isn’t natural, right?”
Aha! That, my friends, is what’s known as an appeal to nature (and an unsuccessful one at that) — a logical fallacy. An appeal to nature is an argument that something is justified and good because it is natural. And not only is wrong to use this fallacy because, well, it’s a fallacy — but it’s also wrong because homosexuality is well-documented of several animal species, including man’s best friend.
Let’s look at some more logical fallacies, shall we?
You: “I support marriage equality.”
Frenemy: “But if you redefine the institution of marriage, where do you draw the line? Next thing you know we’ll be having sex with animals, or having three and four-way marriages.”
This is your typical slippery slope argument. On the slippery slope with our frenemy are several Republican Congressmen and pundits. Though using unsubstantiated hypothetical extremes is a good way to inject fear into the home base and get it riled up, it diminishes the any debate’s merit. Sex with animals and polygamy are not equal to marriage between two men or two women. Let’s figure out this nation’s stance on homosexuality, and then we’ll move on to bestiality and polygamy, if it becomes necessary.
You: “I support marriage equality.”
Frenemy: “I believe marriage is between one man and one woman … it’s what my church teaches me.”
This is known as an appeal to authority. Just because an institution has an opinion does not mean that opinion is valid.
Maybe you’re for equal marriage — maybe you’re against it. Either way, avoid using these logical fallacies so as to not look like an illogical — what’s a synonym for phallus?
Also, so that I don’t commit a logical fallacy of my own — a strawman (in which you misrepresent an argument to make it easier to attack) — the frenemy quotes are direct quotes from arguments I’ve had. Except for the last one, that one was John Boehner.
