How Pride Changed the World

    Pride is the downfall of humanity. It can be found everywhere, in every man. Even those who are humble are often, in the words of Benjamin Franklin, proud of their humility. But the unlikeliest of outcomes can emerge from the pride of a few men. 

   Way back in 1763, life was good in the American colonies. The people had formed militias, marched alongside their British brethren, and defeated the French. A new land was open for settlement and opportunities, and that was all thanks to their British domination. They were proud to be British subjects. They were happy.

   Others were not so happy. Fighting wars is expensive, and the British government had dug themselves into a money hole. No matter, they thought. We'll just raise taxes. The colonists in America will surely be glad to help finance the war we fought and won for them. 

   And they were right. The American colonists would have been perfectly happy to comply and give them everything they asked for. But a simple, ordinary event turned into a world-changing one. Something that should have been easy and barely a mark on the history books turned into the revolution that would rock the world. What happened?

   See, the colonists in America all saw themselves as normal British subjects with the rights of British subjects, just as if they were living in England. They had set up their own governments and legislatures akin to Parliament that were recognized by the crown as the only legitimate government for the colonies. After all, it was impossible because of the distance to ever have Parliament govern the colonies. And those governments were happy to do the crown's bidding just as Parliament was. All the king had to do was ask for a tax, and the governments would levy a tax. They had never denied a request for a tax before and they had no plans to change now.

   However, a certain pride had overtaken many in England, especially in the government. The colonists in America weren't seen anymore as equals, but as second-class, inferior to the people and government in England, unable to govern themselves properly, and bound to obey the government of Great Britain in all things. They didn't see the colonists as deserving of the English rights protected by the Magna Charta and the Glorious Revolution and so valued by all British subjects. They were simply servants, akin to the people living in the Caribbean or India or any other British colony.

   So the British government didn't ask the colonies to levy taxes to help pay for the war. They simply levied a tax themselves. The infamous Stamp Act of 1765 was this tax. And the colonists were furious. They were a people with a rich history of peaceful rebellion and restraint on government. They had certain prized rights that their ancestors had defied kings to ensure. They weren't going to take an incursion on their rights lightly. The colonists formed a congress made up of representatives from their legislatures that wrote up a petition politely telling the king that Parliament had no jurisdiction over them and could he please reign in the excesses and power grab of Parliament? Less politely, the colonists made the lives of Stamp Act collectors so miserable no one wanted the job, and Parliament was forced to repeal the Stamp Act.

   The incident could have ended there. But pride reared its ugly head and set the course of history on a different path. While repealing the Stamp Act, the members of Parliament declared that they did indeed have all authority to do whatever they wanted to the colonists. They told the colonists that they were indeed represented in Parliament, but virtually. In the same way as children, women, criminals, and the mentally insane weren't competent enough to elect their own representatives, but still represented by the members of Parliament, so too were the colonists.

   Naturally, the colonists didn't take such an insult well at all. They didn't appreciate suddenly becoming second-class citizens when they'd been equals to mainland British subjects for so long. So when the Townshend Acts were passed, they were completely ignored. And the path had been set. The British government would not budge in treating the colonists like the second-class citizens they believed them to be, and the colonists would not let themselves be abused without a fight. British pride and superiority had destroyed the amicable relationship of the British and the American colonists.

   And the rest? Well, it's history.

Actorek The Void Cover Reveal

   This is the moment you've all been waiting for! The moment you see the glorious picture advertising my sister's new book! And 

here

it

is!

   What? You mean you didn't come to my post to see a picture of a fife and drum corps in Williamsburg, VA? The horror!

   Perhaps this is what you came to see?

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   All right, all right, I'll stop playing around. Here's the actual cover!

*****Coming October 26!*****

 Which would you choose—save your sister or save the world?

 Emma Edsel’s first priority has always been protecting her blind sister Carla. So when Carla begins to develop science-defying abilities that threaten her life, Emma will stop at nothing to save her. With nowhere else to turn, she seeks help from Mitchell, the new boy at school who seems to know much more about it than he will admit.

 After his last mission went horribly awry, Mitchell Banks is relieved to have a simple task: seal a small, accidental portal between Earth and other worlds in the multiverse. He didn’t count on his growing feelings for Emma—and the dangerous levels of dimension energy contaminating Carla.

 Carla knows the voice in her head is evil. Manipulative. Feeding her with a strange energy she can control. She doesn’t know that she is the key to a coming global catastrophe and Mitchell’s boss will use any means possible to prevent it…including blackmailing him into murdering her.

 

Preorder the book here: https://amzn.to/2F4LyFc

 Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3lNHie2

   I also got the chance to harass interview my sister about the upcoming book. Read the interview down below!

What is your favorite Italian dish? ;)

I know you want me to say spaghetti. ;) Nope. I’m torn between lasagna and chicken parmesan, but I think I’ll go with chicken parmesan. And hey, there’s only one spaghetti meal left in the book.

What character do you most want to wrap in bubble wrap?

Um, I think the answer to that could end up being spoilery. So I’m just going to say one of the three POV characters. And once you get to the end of the book, I bet you will be able to figure it out.

Who’s your favorite sister?

How could you ask such a question? I mean, you proclaimed yourself the favorite sister when you took me to Endgame, but Bekah says if you were really the favorite sister, you wouldn’t have to ask. XD

   I know it's me. 

   Don't miss this awesome new book!

Poison's Dance Review

 

What are the Tattered Slippers?

The Tattered Slippers are six retellings of The Twelve Dancing Princesses by six different authors, each one fantastic and magical. You don’t want to miss any of them!

View the rest of the blog tour here: https://kendrasgiraffecrafts.blogspot.com/p/tattered-slippers-blog-tour.html

If he falls to the lure of the curse, the dance might trap him forever.

Alex has survived his first year as high king. The new counsel has improved cooperation between the kingdoms, and peace seems achievable. When the Tuckawassee queen sends him an invitation he can’t refuse, Alex must once again face his greatest threat for the sake of peace.

Princess Tamya of Tuckawassee, along with her eleven sisters, has danced from sunset until sunrise every night of her life. It is her gift and her curse. When Queen Valinda wishes to use the power their cursed dance gives them to rule all of Tallahatchia, Tamya must decide if she will do what is right even if it betrays her own sister.

Daemyn Rand has survived a hundred years' worth of battles. All he wants to do now is safely marry his princess. Will he be forced to choose between the love of his life and the high king he has loyally served for years?

They have faced certain death before. This time, they might not make it out alive.

Don’t miss this re-envisioning of the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairy tale.

My Review:

All right. This book clinched it. Alex is basically King Arthur (a la BBC). Not saying why until the end under a spoiler tag, but...yup. He's Arthur.

Alex has friends! Actual friends! I'm so proud of him! He's not lonely anymore! This book is definitely my favorite so far. So much Alex!

Gah! I'm not sure how much I can talk about this book without spoilers. My favorite part was at the end!

Alex is growing so much. He's earning his people's respect and working hard and pulling the nation together...

Daemyn's actually starting to grow pretty close to Alex, which makes me happy. Friendships are give and take, after all.

Was there more to this book than Alex? Yes. Do I care? No.

I really loved the portrayal of love in this book. Not saying much because spoilers, but single lady representation, people. It's super rare in books. I really appreciate that it's here in this book.

SPOILERS

Gah, so the part where Alex drank the hemlock? EPIC. Such an Arthur thing to do. Remember that episode with the unicorn where there's a glass of "poison" and Merlin tries to tell Arthur to let him drink it, but Arthur says, "You know me, Merlin. I never listen to you," and drinks it anyway? Yeah. Basically this. Daemyn's like, "I knew the other shoe would drop, I've died multiple times, it's better that I die anyway, I'm not the High King, just give me the poison," and Alex goes, "Nope," and downs it all. I'm so proud of him and that is definitely my favorite part, but AAA! He came so close to dying, y'all! I once read a Dear America book where a bunch of little kids got poisoned by water hemlock, so I knew the potency of the poison and that there's NO FREAKING ANTIDOTE. NONE. And yet this guy drank the poison. Wow.

END SPOILER

Just read this book. You won't regret it.

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Poisons-Dance-Dancing-Princesses-Retelling-ebook/dp/B0873YZKZS/

Add Book on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53251983-poison-s-dance?

Tricia Mingerink is a twenty-something, book-loving, horse-riding country girl. She lives in Michigan with her family and their pack of pets. When she isn't writing, she can be found pursuing backwoods adventures across the country.
Find her online at: Website ||  Goodreads || Facebook || Twitter || Instagram || Amazon 

 

 

The Problem with Having "Christian Leaders"

   We have a tendency as humans to revere and look up to people. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing. When directed towards our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that's a wonderful thing. But when we start directing this tendency towards regular people, we start getting into dangerous territory.

   Now, I could take this post a variety of ways, but I specifically want to look at the way the church views big-name theologians, or those sometimes referred to as "Christian leaders". People like John Piper, Francis Chan, Jerry Falwell, Jr., Franklin Graham, even people like Charles Spurgeon, C. S. Lewis, John Calvin, and Martin Luther. Without a doubt, I could go to any church in the country and find a majority of churchgoers who revere one of these people or someone like them.

   So what are the dangers? What's wrong with having revered Christian leaders in the faith community? There's nothing wrong with having a healthy respect for and learning from someone. However, especially in the Christian community, we have to be careful when elevating certain people above the rest, placing them on pedestals, and saying, "Look at that man. He's so wise! He is the perfect example of a Christian in today's world."

   While there are some Christians given the gift and the calling to lead others in worship in a variety of ways, that doesn't mean those called to lead are suddenly now wiser and smarter and holier than the rest of us. So often, though, I see this mindset creeping in. Whenever a Christian is listening to a speech by someone who might not be a Christian, we tend to listen closer and test their statements before believing them. But when it's one of our own, too often we turn off our brains and take everything they say as gospel truth.

   "Take it with a grain of salt." We do this whenever we know somebody is saying something that could very well not be true. But why don't we do this all the time? No matter how wise or intelligent or well-read a person is, they're still just one person with one perspective. We live in a flawed world. Not one of us is right all the time. So why do we treat certain people as if they are the authorities on what the Bible says? Maybe John Piper, Francis Chan, and Franklin Graham know more about the Bible than you, but maybe they don't. I can guarantee they're not right about everything they claim the Bible teaches. No one is.

   This tendency to treat certain people as the leaders, the authorities, and the exemplaries of the Christian faith can get even more dangerous when those leaders fall. I'm not talking about minor mistakes in theology, I'm talking about major mistakes. Sometimes this takes the form of a once-revered leader descending into strange theology and cult-like teachings. Sometimes it's a news story about a beloved pastor secretly engaging in adultery, pornography, rape, or some other kind of sexual deviancy. Sometimes it's a belief about the Jewish people that helps contribute to the mass murder of millions.

   People make mistakes. Sometimes, they make massive mistakes. And when the people making the massive, public mistakes have been practically worshipped by the Christian community, it damages our witness. Just because someone says something smart or even wise about the Christian faith doesn't mean they are smarter, wiser, more knowledgeable, or holier than you. No matter who the person is, we must always always always test what they say. Take everything with a grain of salt. Never become a follower of a person other than Jesus. Never assume that because a person says one wise thing, they're a good Christian leader, or even a good man.

What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?... For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? --1 Corinthians 1:12-13, 19-20  ESV

 

Fun Facts!

   Because I don't want to talk about current events or any super deep subjects right now, here's a collection of fun facts you might not have known before.

• Snakes fertilize their eggs before they lay them, so, unlike chicken eggs, you won't ever find a nest of unfertilized snake eggs.
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• Once, due to a complicated series of political maneuvers, there was a grand total of three popes at the same time! Each thought they were the only proper pope and declared the others excommunicated from the church and therefore, as they believed, from Heaven.
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•  Pedro Lascurain was president of Mexico for less than an hour. He wasn't assassinated, he just resigned due to political pressure from the dude who was next in line.
  

  

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• The shortest war in recorded history was the Anglo-Zanzibar War, and it lasted no longer than forty minutes. It was fought by pro-slavery factions trying to regain control of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, which had been taken over by the British some years before and forced to become slave-free.
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• The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sophia was a disaster from start to finish. A group of Serbian nationalists backed by the Serbian government and by Russia tried to throw a bomb under the archduke's car, but the bomb bounced off the car and blew up a different car instead. The group scattered. While fleeing authorities, one member tried to poison himself, but failed because the poison was expired, then tried to drown himself, but the river he jumped into was only fifteen inches deep. He died sick in prison several years later. Gavrilo Princip fled to a delicatessen after the failed assassination, where he spotted the Archduke and his wife on the road outside after their driver took a wrong turn trying to get to the hospital housing the people injured in the previous assassination attempt. Although Gavrilo Princip was at point-blank range, he missed one of his two targets, taking out the archduke's wife instead of the general he was aiming at. After the investigation revealed the complicity of the Serbian government in the shooting, the Austrian government could have legitimately declared war on Serbia, giving Russia no time to shore up their courage and mobilize and keeping the conflict a regional one between Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Serbia. However, the Austrian government sent Serbia a series of demands, and, after a month, declared war when Serbia refused only a few out of the long list given, thus giving Russia time to mobilize and declare war and starting World War One.
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• Once, the Austrian army accidentally attacked themselves and lost ten thousand men.
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• Aristotle believed maggots were born from rotten meat and the mud at the bottom of rivers gave birth to eels.
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• Cleopatra VII, wife of Marc Antony, was the first in a long line of Ptolemaic pharaohs to actually speak Egyptian. This is due to the fact that the Ptolemaic pharaohs were not Egyptian, but Greek. Thus, most depictions you have seen of Cleopatra are most likely wrong, as she would have resembled Greek populations much closer then she would have resembled Egyptian populations.
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• Tutankhamen was possibly murdered for the throne by his advisor by being deliberately run over by a chariot in the middle of battle. He was buried in haste in the tomb that should have been his advisor's. His advisor, who took over after his death, was most likely buried in the tomb meant for Tutankhamen.
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I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.

• There are elements of the periodic table named after Einstein, Marie Curie, and America.
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• Marie Curie died of radiation poisoning as a result of too many experiments with radioactive substances without proper protection.
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• Snakes literally eat dust. Using the Jacob's organ, snakes taste dust when flicking their tongues in and out of their mouth and the electrical signal in the dust tell them where prey is.
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• Pandas have no natural predators.
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• All the pandas in the world belong to the nation of China. Try to steal a panda, and you just might end up at war!
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• Due to a mix of Hindus and Muslims, there is a country in Asia where it is culturally unacceptable to eat both pigs and cows
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• The suspected site of the crucifixion and tomb of Jesus was fought over by different Christian denominations. After a series of wars, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, among other sites, was split between six different denominations. No changes to the site are allowed unless all six denominations agree, which has never happened since the treaty was signed. When the treaty was signed, a workman was on a ladder washing a window, and the ladder has stayed there since the 18th century. A few times, a couple of the denominations have tried to move the ladder due to the silliness of the argument, but the other denominations have forced them to put the ladder back, since the ledge the ladder rests on is owned by multiple denominations and no one denomination has the authority to move the ladder.
  

  

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• You are more likely to be killed by a cow or a coconut falling on your head than a shark.
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   I could go on, but I should probably stop here.

A Story of Rivals

   A couple of months that feel more like years ago, I randomly signed up for a free ancestry site called FamilySearch. I didn't expect much, but thought it couldn't hurt. Now, my mom and I are blown away by the family history that has been uncovered that we never even knew about. Crazy, interesting stories and people we never would have guessed we were related to.

   All this mess that's been going on lately has gotten me thinking about these people in my past. Some of them no one would ever guess we were related to. One interesting thing we've discovered about our family is that, besides a somewhat odd tendency to always go by middle names (call me Marie, why don't you?), our family has an interesting tendency to marry the people our ancestors fought against, possibly with a long history of prejudice.

   Among my ancestors are several memebers of Germanic tribes, including Goths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Saxons, and others. There are several tribal kings, among them several Saxon kings and Frankish kings (who were probably named Louis). The bitter rivals of the Germanic tribes, not counting each other, were the Romans, and I am also very likely descended from a line of Roman senators and consuls which includes one dictator.

   Of my ancestors from the Germanic tribes, some are Britons who were left behind after the Romans abandoned Britain, and some are of the Saxons that invaded. I have ancestors that fought against the Norman invasion and ancestors that were Normans given noble lands and castles as a result of the Norman invasion and one ancestor that led the Norman invasion (William the Conqueror). I am descended from Vikings and the English king that kicked the Vikings out of England. I am descended from Irishmen and from Englishmen, who have a long history of hatred and prejudice towards each other (though it's mostly one way, the English oppressing the Irish) and from Welshmen, who are still being oppressed by the English, and from two of Robert the Bruce's sisters (their kids married each other, and yes, I'm grossed out), who were rivals with, you guessed it, the English. (Can we all agree that the English have a long history of prejudice and rivalry?) I'm descended from English kings and French kings who most definitely fought wars against each other. 

   My French and German ancestors fought each other, and so did my German and Polish ancestors. I have ancestors on both sides of World War One and an ancestor who tried to fight in the war for America and wound up staying home. I have an ancestor who's a Native American and possibly the daughter of Pocahontas and Kocoum, and several not-so-nice ancestors from Jamestown.

   And then we come to my hero, Elizabeth Key Grinstead. She was the daughter of a slave from Africa and Thomas Key, an English slave owner. At the age of six, her father was sued for paternity and forced to provide for his daughter. He made her an indentured servant and died shortly after. He was a jerk, but he did make his friend who held the indenture promise to treat her like his daughter and take her with him if he moved back to England. The friend did move back to England, but instead of taking Elizabeth with him, he sold her indenture to another man to pay off some debts. This other man kept Elizabeth nine years after her indenture was up. Elizabeth could have become bitter and angry. She could have hated the man who enslaved her and any of his nationality. She had no reason not to hate the English.

   When Elizabeth met a young indentured servant from England named William Grinstead, she didn't hate him. Instead, they fell in love. They got married, as much as they were legally allowed as indentured servants. They had a child named John. Then the man that owned her indenture died. Elizabeth and her son were listed as slaves. They were going to be sold off in an estate sale. But William fought for her freedom in court after court, eventually going to the House of Burgesses and convincing the court to free her. She received compensation for the nine years she was enslaved over the terms of her indenture. As soon as William's indenture was up, they were married officially and had another son, who was also named William. This is the man who was my ancestor. They lived happy lives, though short ones, because life expectancy was super short in those days. (Unfortunately, Virginia changed the laws after William's death so no slave could ever win his or her freedom the same way William won Elizabeth's freedom.)

   Some of these rivalries have died away, but some of them are still with us today. Hatred in this world is so common; it's rarer to find freedom from hatred and prejudice than to find someone that is ruled by it. I'm not here to judge who is right and who is wrong in the conflict that is tearing our nation apart these days. The rivalries my ancestors fought and believed in were legitimate rivalries on both sides. Some were more balanced than others in crimes committed against each other, and some were steeped in oppression of one by another (probably by the English, if we're all being honest). But these rivalries and long histories of hatred didn't hold some people back. In the midst of these crimes and rivalries, somewhere along the line, some of these people put aside their differences and their crimes and the crimes of their ancestors and decided to forge a new history, a different history, a history that ended in love and family and new life.

   I am not my ancestors. I cannot be praised for their good deeds or condemned for their mistakes. I cannot change the things I've done in the past, for good or for ill. Neither can anyone else. All we can choose to do is move forward and forge a new future. We can choose to react to horrific crimes in emotion and anger, we can perpetuate rivalries, or we can choose to move above that. We can react with kindness instead of anger, love instead of hate. We can choose to pursue justice without hatred and end corruption without corrupting ourselves. We can make a difference while being the difference.

   This year has been one punch after the other, and who knows if it's going to stop? Hatred is not going to stop. It's been in this world since the Garden of Eden and it's going to be here until Judgement Day comes and the trumpet sounds and Jesus comes back to this world to take us home. Crimes are not going to stop. Evil men are always going to exist. We can choose to live in hatred with them, as some of our ancestors did, or we can choose to live above that, put the past behind us, and forge a new future.

   After all, it's what my ancestors would have wanted.

   Recompense to no man evil for evil: procure things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as in you is, have peace with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine: I will repay, saith the Lord. --Romans 12:17-19

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. --John 15:12

Your Argument is Invalid

   Ah, arguments. All of us get into them, and since this is a presidential election year, almost everything is going to turn into an argument these days, especially in the media. In this era of fake news, the ability to recognize when an argument has faulty logic is crucial. Faulty logic permeates the world we live in. Here are some of the most common examples. 

Ad Hominem Attack

   Ad Hominem is Latin for "To the man." This fallacy is when a person tries to attack an argument by attacking the person that presented it. 

   "Luke, I am your father. You have to eat your vegetables. Vegetables are good for you!"

  "That's not true. That's impossible! You're a Sith Lord and have murdered millions of people. Vegetables can't be good for you."

   While it may be true that Luke Skywalker's father is a Sith Lord that has murdered millions of people, that doesn't mean that vegetables aren't good for you. The content of your character doesn't determine the validity of your argument.

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Genetic Fallacy

   This is when someone attacks an argument because of where it began, how it began, or who began it.

   "I never buy Volkswagens. If you buy a Volkswagen, you are an anti-Semite and a Nazi."

   "What? Why?"

   "You know who started Volkswagen, right? It was Adolf Hitler."

   Just because Volkswagen was started by Adolf Hitler to be a "people's car" for the Germans doesn't mean that the company today is an evil one or that no one should buy Volkswagens. 

 
The "Adolf Hitler" Attack

   This is often either one of the first two or a combination. The "Adolf Hitler" attack is when someone either brings up that Adolf Hitler believed that or simply calls you a Nazi and thinks they've invalidated your argument. "Nazi" is just a form of name-calling and easy to combat. Even if it's true, the Ad Hominem attack still applies. Just because you're a horrible person doesn't mean your argument is illogical. 

   "I believe we should build more highways that stretch across the country to enhance ease of travel for our citizens."

   "That's wrong. We shouldn't do that. You know who also believed that? Adolf Hitler. Ever heard of the Autobahn?"

   "So you believe anything Adolf Hitler believed has to be wrong?"

   "Of course! I think we can all agree that if Adolf Hitler believed something, it has to be wrong."

   "You do know that Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian, right?"

Tu Quoque

   Tu Quoque is Latin for "You too." This fallacy is saying someone's argument doesn't count because they do it too, or an argument from hypocrisy.

   "Darth Sidious, you shouldn't kill Luke. It's not right."

   "Oh, come on, Vader, like you've never murdered someone's son before!"

   Just because Vader murders people doesn't make it okay for you to murder people too. Two wrongs don't make a right. Besides, maybe Vader's seen the error of his ways and realizes murder is wrong and is trying to make sure no one goes down the path he did.

Faulty Appeal to Authority

   Appeal to an authority is saying something is true because an authority in the subject being discussed said it was true. A faulty appeal to authority is when we appeal to someone who isn't actually an authority on the subject being discussed. For example, in this pandemic, everyone's turning to Doctor Fauci to tell us what we should do in this pandemic. No offense to Doctor Fauci, I'm sure he's a nice guy and good in his field of medicine, but he isn't an epidemiologist, a doctor who studies epidemics, and he hasn't practiced medicine in twenty years. Not everyone who has a doctorate of medicine is an authority on everything to do with medicine. I could ask a podiatrist on whether wearing face masks is likely to stop the spread of a virus, but I doubt the podiatrist would know much more than I do on the subject.

   This is also what happens when movie stars' opinions on anything other than acting are appealed to, or when the topic is controversial and only one authority in the subject is appealed to. Just because one legitimate authority in the field believes something doesn't mean there aren't plenty of other legitimate authorities that have different opinions. This also applies to the example above.

Appeal to the People or Bandwagon

   This fallacy is when we claim we are right because a lot of people agree with us. As the Bluedorns say (see more on them at the end of the blogpost), "The general public is rarely a proper authority on any subject." This is also a common propaganda technique.

   "You should buy this car. Everyone's buying it!"

   "Everyone believes the Empire is a good form of government! You should too, my son."

   Just because everyone believes it doesn't make it right.

   

Straw Man

   This is when someone changes the argument or says their opponent is arguing something ridiculous to make it easier to refute the argument and then attacks that.

   "I don't think building the Death Star is a good idea, Tarkin. It's a waste of money, and using it will turn the rebels against us."

   "I can't believe you said that, Vader! The Empire must defend itself from brutal terrorist attacks. How can you say we shouldn't spend any money on defense?"

   Attacking an irrelevant position does nothing to refute the actual argument being presented. Vader is entirely right that the Death Star is a waste of money and actually drives more people to the rebellion than it deters.

   

Part-to-Whole
   This is where people assume the character of the parts is also the character of the whole.
   "Look, Padme, I made this cake from the best ingredients money could buy. It's got to be delicious!"
   "You cooked it for so long the apartment caught on fire, Anakin. The cake is not delicious."

   Just because something is true of the parts doesn't make it true of the whole.

Whole-to-Part

   This is the opposite of the part-to-whole fallacy. This fallacy assumes that because something is true of the whole, it must be true of its parts.

   "The Empire is responsible for the murder of millions, has enslaved trillions of sentients across the galaxy, and destroyed planets. Lieutenant Han Solo is a murderer, a slaver, and a planet-destroyer."

   The whole is much more than the sum of its parts. 

Either-Or

   This fallacy sets up a false dilemma between two choices when really there are many more choices than just two. For example, the media seems to be portraying the whole face mask dilemma as this: Either you are a Democrat and believe the CDC and are wearing face masks, or you are a Republican that refuses to listen to common sense and are not wearing a face mask. People could be refusing to wear a face mask for any number of reasons. For instance, I don't want to wear a face mask because my moderate to severe seasonal allergies restrict my airways to the point where I can't breathe in a face mask. Some people don't want to wear a face mask because it's 90 freaking degrees outside, or it soon will be, and they will pass out if they wear a face mask in that kind of heat. Some people don't want to wear a face mask because they are going swimming, and a wet cloth plastered over the nose and mouth is a key component in waterboarding. Others don't want to wear a face mask because they just don't like being told what to do. In many cases, there are much more than two sides to an argument or dilemma and representing it as an either-or option is misleading or downright false.

Hasty Generalizations

   Hasty generalizations are the reason I don't trust any polls that are reported in the media. A hasty generalization is generalizing about a class based on a small or poor sample. For instance, one poll on the previous presidential election that was reported as a national poll had a sample that consisted of 1,000 people from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, plus a handful of people from the suburbs and countryside of Oklahoma. Obviously, this is not a big enough sample size, and Oklahoma city dwellers are a very poor sample for the entire nation. In addition, many phone political polls hang up on anybody that answers "Yes" to the question "Are you affiliated with any political campaign, either now or in the past?" when, if you wanted a proper sample of voters, the people affiliated with political campaigns are the ones most likely to vote. Unfortunately, this type of polling is very common, which is the reason I don't trust polls.

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

   Or, in English, "After this, therefore because of this." This assumes that because A happened before B, A must be the cause of B.

   "Anakin Skywalker slept shirtless, and not long after, he turned to the Dark Side. I think it's clear I need to go to Tatooine to make sure Luke never sleeps shirtless and turns to the Dark Side."

   "Pretty sure, I am, that the cause of his turn, that is not."

   This is akin to "Correlations do not equal causations." For instance, suicide rates rise when toothbrush sales plummet. Obviously, people are killing themselves because they have bad teeth.

   

Appeal to Fear
   And here we begin the manipulative propaganda techniques.
   "Every other prosthetic hand causes your nerves to die and your arm to rot. Buy CorusMedicine's prosthetic hands today!"
   "Leia, I want my prosthetic hand to be CorusMedicine. I don't want my nerves to die and my arm to rot off."
   This is all the commercials that try to scare you into buying their product or voting for their candidate. Don't fall for it.

Appeal to Pity

   *Sad music begins* "Many animals are left out in the cold every year." *shows videos of dogs shivering in the cold* "A small monthly donation of $19.95 to ASPCA can save these poor animals from a lifetime of misery."

   This is when commercials or what have you try to guilt you into doing what they want. Just because you feel bad doesn't mean the argument is sound. If you have enough money to film all those miserable dogs, why don't you use that money to help them?

   

Exigency

   "Only three left in stock. Buy today!"

   This is when we are told we must go along with their argument because we don't have the time to do otherwise.

   

Repetition
   "Head on. Apply directly to the forehead. Head on. Apply directly to the forehead. Head on. Apply directly to the forehead."
   This form of propaganda simply repeats something until people accept it as true.

Snob Appeal

   "The few, the proud, the Marines."

   This is when someone tries to convince you that you should do something because no one else is doing it.

   "Come on, Luke, only two people in the entire galaxy are Sith Lords! You should become one too! Then you'll be one of only three people that are allowed to learn the Sith teachings."

   Just because no one else does it isn't a reason for you to. Maybe there's a good reason no one else is a Sith Lord.

   Don't fall for logical fallacies. Just because an argument sounds good doesn't mean it's a good argument.

   Many thanks to Nathaniel and Hans Bluedorn, whose book The Fallacy Detective taught me about many of these fallacies and encouraged me to think logically about the world around me.