Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Today's Atheist Fallacy: the False Dichotomy

Are you a reasonable person, or do you disagree? Is this an essay, or is it on a computer screen? Do you believe in reason, or religion? Do you attribute the behavior of the universe to natural causes,or supernatural?
Get your cold, stale false dichotomies while they're -- well, while -- well, anyway, there are plenty of false dichotomies around and plenty of people trying to sell them to you. If you are among the majority of people worldwide who have had supernatural experiences (no, Richard Dawkins, we're not talking about something done in a lab with electrodes), you are likely to meet many "new" atheists who pelt you with false dichotomies as part of a barrage of fallacies. Call them every time, even if the atheist screams and act as if he can't hear you. Call them. Say, "False dichotomy, false dichotomy, false dichotomy," until he stops to gasp for air and wonders why you haven't disappeared yet. Then you can show him gently what a false dichotomy is and how he has been using some.

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