FALLACIES IN LOGIC PART THREE

BARN OWL

Below is the post for week #5 of 2026.

FALLACIES IN LOGIC PART THREE

I am so sad about the killing of Alex Pretti. He sounds like he was a great person. He could also have been any one of us who dares to stick our neck out, dares to be counted. I’m afraid that they are not done with us. Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation said that their revolution will be bloodless “if the Left allows it to be.”

This Post is part of a series I started in order to offer some basic education about logic and debate to those listening and trying understand the tidal wave of argument that has come down on us. As with the posts on science and history, they may not be relevant to the week we just experienced. But they are some of the tools we all need as we move forward.

I like to imagine that someone will assemble all these fallacies onto a BINGO card and we can use it during upcoming debates. Anyone?

BARN OWL is posted in rural county papers as paid ads. Paid because it is important and there are less ways each day to reach the rural population that doesn’t involve corporate media. In Jackson and Clark counties in Wisconsin, BARN OWL arrives on every kitchen table in the Shopper or the county paper of record. It may not always be read - but it is now part of the conversation.

If you would like to add these articles to your local paper, they are available free of charge. Your job is to get together a group who will commit to paying the ad price so that your neighbors will start to hear another point of view, whether they like it or not. It is a small act of resistance, sometimes the only option when you are rural and far from the rest of the action. There is a hunger for what we are saying.

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FALLACIES IN LOGIC – PART THREE

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In part two we learned about three fallacies. A fallacy is a trick used in an argument. Fallacies may make an argument feel right, even if it’s not based on facts.

The three fallacies we learned before were:

1. Post Hoc Fallacy -Saying one thing caused another just because it happened first.

2. False Analogy – Saying if two things are alike in some ways, they are alike in all ways.

3. Appeal to authority – Saying that something is true because someone says it is even if that person is not an expert.

Here are three more fallacies:

Moral Equivalence – Saying that two actions are equally wrong, even though one is small while the other is serious. These are used to excuse bad behavior or attack a group of people. Here are three examples:

“Native Americans attacked white settlers too. They were no better than the settlers.”

“Making people register guns is just as bad as Nazis making Jews register with the German government.”

” I’m white and I’ve been treated badly by a black person, so I’ve faced racism too.”

Band Wagon Appeal (Ad Populum) – Saying that a person should believe something because everyone else believes it. This pressures people to “jump on the winning side” or makes them afraid of standing out.

 “I won by a landslide, so I can do whatever I want.”

” Everyone else is doing it. Why can’t I?”

” It’s obvious to everyone that Social Security is just a Ponzi scheme.”

 The Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare of the 1950s are examples of scaring people into agreeing with one side to avoid punishment.

False Dichotomy Fallacy – Saying there are only two choices when there are really many options. This makes problems seem simpler than they are and forces people to choose sides.

” You’re either with us – or against us.”

” The only question is: Do you believe in science or do you believe in religion?”

” David criticizes Capitalism, so he must be a Communist.”

 “Either you’re my friend or you’re hers.”

By Ben Boardman and Friends. Paid by gifts from supporters

Now published in Buffalo, Clark and Jackson counties.

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