Fallacy of Omission:
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When anti-abortionists cite the Gallup poll below…
“More Americans “Pro-Life” Than “Pro-Choice” for First Time”
take a look at the whole Gallup poll:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/118399/More-Americans-Pro-Life-Than-Pro-Choice-First-Time.aspx
– you will see that since 1976 the averages have not really changed: approximately 20% suggest that abortion should not be allowed under any circumstances (currently 22%), 70% to 80 % since 1976 believe that it should be allowed in all or some circumstances (approximately 25%, currently 23%, suggest it should be allowed under any circumstances). This trend has not changed. Therefore, when folks describe themselves as “pro-life” they obviously do not mean that they are hard liners who do not approve of abortion under any circumstances.
Fallacy of Contradiction:
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Here are excerpts from a discussion with Erin Manning, a hard core catholic advocate of anti-choice and an associate of radical right, extremist Rod Dreher.
“It is high time to stop pretending that we do not know what this nation of ours is allowing—and approving—with the killing each year of more than 1,600,000 innocent human beings within their mothers.”
“…on the death penalty, I accept Catholic teaching” which in effect means it is acceptable as a “last resort”. She also stated, “I don’t generally support the death penalty in most instances, and also recognize a strict and limited definition of justifiable self-defense killing and just war.”
…need I add more?
An example of a loaded question:
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“At what point does a baby get human rights in your view?”
Rick Warren, Saddleback Church – `question’ for candidate Obama
To me, that asks the question, “When is a fetus considered human and as such get human rights?”. What I hear in that question is, “When does [human] life begin?” For those that are pro-choice a baby and a fetus are different. “Baby” necessarily means “human” since a baby exclusively belongs to the category “human”. There are no “babies” that are not “human”. If the question is, “Do “babies have human rights?” – The answer is of course they do because they necessarily belong to the category “human”. If this is the question, it turns out to be a very uninteresting question since it is a necessarily true, logical syllogism:
A is B.
B is C
Therefore: A is C
All babies are human
All humans have human rights
Therefore: All babies have human rights
If this is the real question, it is an insult to Obama’s intelligence since denying it would mean you can not comprehend plain logic (otherwise known as stupid).
Here is the insidious part – anti-abortionists are really using code to plainly state (to the initiated) – you are a demon, you are evil because you kill babies and deny them human rights. Those that are pro-choice do not think they are killing babies but anti-abortion code insist that they are and deny them a response that is something other than believing anti-abortion OR killing babies. In effect, if you are not pro-life, you are a demon. This forum was “suppose” to have the appearance of objectivity and fairness but as evidenced in this description it was a setup – just another opportunity to preach to the choir at the expense of someone with another legitimate point of view. IMO, Republicans have been very successful employing this type of technique. It usually just takes a little thought to show the clay feet on your evil demons.
Worse Than Fallacy:
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The defense attorneys for the killer of Dr. Tiller, a Kansas doctor that performed abortions in Kansas, claim that the murder was a “Moral Murder”. So these folks think that they can commit or condone or rationalize the murder of Dr. Tiller based on a kind of reverse moral murder – they think they are protecting babies.
Also, the Catholic Church has sanctioned capital punishment and “just” wars. In this case, god has appointed a person to carry out his work – therefore, it is not murder it is an act of god. So, these zealots think that god appointed this guy to kill Dr. Tiller!
It is ironic that Erin has regularly called pro-choice folks (and me) Nazis (Rod has never censored Erin for this). The anti-abortion folks use it freely to describe you if you believe any kind of abortion should be allowed. They say that you are a “baby-killer” and sanction your murders with your morality. They claim that you commit genocide sanctioned by the state.
For your information the Nazis quickly banned abortions for the genetically pure and deemed it murder of babies.
Are you starting to see how this works? If so, take it to the voting booth.