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Jhud -> RE: Awwwww....Michelle just wants to be Mom! (8/12/2008 4:45:14 PM)
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quote:
Time to rephrase to see if I got it. So if I was say an Obama supporter and John wondered how I could support the murder of the unborn and I responded to John (assuming he supports McCain, I guess because they both have the same first name) that McCain supports it too that would be a Tu Quoque, correct? Yes, that is correct – and it’s fallacious because Obama’s support for abortion has nothing to do with McCain’s supposed support for abortion. It might be hypocritical if it was in fact the case, but hypocrisy itself does not mean a statement is wrong. Like I said, the fact that a smoker says smoking is bad for people doesn’t diminish the truth of the statement. The only time calling someone a hypocrite is really warranted is when the person is holding themselves up as superior and emulatable – much as the Pharisees did. Jesus didn’t criticize them for saying certain things were right and wrong, but because they claimed they were somehow in and of themselves morally superior, and worthy of praise from men. quote:
Because I'm accusing John of supporting a pro abortion candidate in response to being accused of supporting a pro abortion candidate. And when John said I'm not voting for McCain either he would have successfully defended my Tu Quoque and actually strengthened his own position. Kinda like a Judo practitioner uses the force of his enemy against him. But if John chose to attempt to defend McCain's record on abortion then he falls into my trap. He has allowed himself to be put on the defensive instead of advancing his own point against me. Well yes, by not voting for McCain John avoids perceptions of hypocrisy, which in a public discussion is often more important than actually logically advancing ones postion on a matter. In John’s defense, it’s not so much a matter of winning the argument as it is the fact that he simply can’t in good conscience vote for a candidate who doesn’t fully support his position on abortion, and that is admirable – and he has to answer to his own conscience, not someone else’s, as we all do.
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