A straw man argument is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position. To "set up a straw man" or "set up a straw man argument" is to describe a position that superficially resembles an opponent's actual view (but is easier to refute), and then attribute that position to the opponent. It deliberately misrepresents and weakens the argument of the opposing side. This can be done by leaving out key points of an opposing argument, quoting a person's words out of context, or presenting a particular person's poor defense as the entire defense of an opposing side. In the worst case, a straw man is literally an imagined person who weakly defends an argument and can be easily defeated.
It has been said that the term "straw man arguement" has been derived from the practice of using straw men in combat training. In such training, a scarecrow was made in the image of the enemy with the single intent of attacking it. Such a target was, naturally, immobile and did not fight back. It was, therefore, not a realistic test of skill compared to training with a live and armed opponent. A straw man arguement has also been called a straw dog fallacy, a scarecrow argument, and a wooden dummy argument.
An example of a straw man argument can be seen in the following hypothetical situation between a child and his parent:
Child: "Can we please get a dog?"
Parent: "No."
Child: "But it would be able to protect us and our house!"
Parent: "The answer is still no."
Child: "Well, why do you want to leave us and our house unprotected?"
In the above scenario, the child would be making a straw man argument if the parent's reason for not getting a dog has nothing to do with protection, but with other unrelated factors (such as not having enough money to go and buy dog food every week, for example). Moreover, making the decision to not get a dog is not proof that the parent doesn't want to protect the family and home (as there are other means of protection).
As Christian's we will find that there are a lot of people who are out there with a clear agenda of attempting to discredit Christianity (you will hardly ever find an atheist who is targetting Hindu, Muslim, or Buddhist beliefs rather than Christian belief). I make mention of this in light of the straw man arguement today, because upon closer inspection the vast majority of these arguements we may be able to note that they are actually instances of "straw men".
One of the classic examples that is doing the rounds at the moment is, "10 Questions Every Intelligent Christian Must Answer":
Question 1. Why won't God heal amputees?
Question 2. Why are there so many starving people in our world?
Question 3. Why does God demand the death of so many innocent people in the Bible?
Question 4. Why does the Bible contain some much anti-scientific nonsense?
Question 5. Why is God a big proponet of slavery in the Bible?
Question 6. Why do bad things happen to good people?
Question 7. Why didn't Jesus' miracles in the Bible leave behind any evidence?
Question 8. How do we explain the fact that Jesus Has never Appeared to you?
Question 9. Why would Jesus Want you to eat his body and drink his blood?
Question 10. Why do Christians get divorced at the same rate as non-Christians?
These questions are a definitive instance of arguements being used to confound and confuse Christians- with the ultimate goal being to sway people (whether Christian or "pre-Christian") away from Christianity altogether. But these are also definite instances of being straw man arguements, where the deliberate misrepresentations of the atheist author appears to weaken the argument of the opposing side, Christianity (while in actuality it does not).
Let me take one example, and I will leave it there.
Question 4 is seemingly pertinant when we're asked, "Why does the Bible contain some much anti-scientific nonsense?" This is a deliberate misrepresentation of the Bible and Christinaity- it insinuates that as the Bible does not have any scientific grounding, and therefore an intellegent person should not accept Christianity, and if you have considered and accepted Christianity you are therefore not intellegent.
BUT... the Bible has a MYRIAD of examples of scientific grounding (if one feels that the finite representations of science are necessary to confirm the vailidity of an infinite being, therefore being a prerequisite for faith in God).
Some examples include, "The earth free-floats in space (Job 26:7), affected only by gravity. While other sources declared the earth sat on the back of an elephant or turtle, or was held up by Atlas, the Bible alone stated what we [in our modern scientific age] now know to be true – "He hangs the earth on nothing."" and "The Bible specifies the perfect dimensions for a stable water vessel (Genesis 6:15). Ship builders today are well aware that the ideal dimension for ship stability is a length six times that of the width. Keep in mind, God told Noah the ideal dimensions for the ark 4,500 years ago."
(http://www.eternal-productions.org/101science.html)
Let me conlude my blog by encouraging you to not be swayed by the plans and schemings of these people. The fact is that God is not afraid, nor is He surprised ("The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!" He who sits in the heavens laughs..." Psalm 2:2-4a), and neither should we be. Indeed, Jesus said that we would have trouble as Christian's, but to know that He has overcome the world.
And it's particularly easy to trust that God know's what He's on about when the arguements that are brought against us are nothing more than straw men. Selah.
Posted at: 03:55 PM | Add Comment
