How certain words in the title of articles can be used to create false assumptions about the target group, creating a straw man which the writer then attacks

The latest example of distortion comes from Relevant Magazine. The following article exposes the false dilemma set up by the magazine's post:

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"A recent post that I read, written by John Pavlovitz called, “5 Things I Wish Christians Would Admit About the Bible” is a great example of my frustration with this magazine.

“Admit”

To “admit” something is to confess something reluctantly, something that you previously did not wish to acknowledge. Therefore, the title of the blog implies that Christians are generally reluctant to acknowledge the truth of five specific propositions about the Bible.

The purpose of using the word “admit” is to create the false assumption that all Christians are thuper scared of being “authentic,” “real,” and “messy,” that all Christians promote a false image of themselves as “having everything figured out” and “having it all together,” so to speak. In opposition to this faux dilemma, here comes Pavlovitz to save the day! He will tell us everything wrong with our actions! He will expose our shallowness! He will save us from the crippling fear that all of us experience! He will courageously say what no one else has the guts to say! And…Well, what does he say? Not only does he start with this baseless assumption that Christians will not “admit” certain things about the Bible, his five examples are hilariously vacuous."

Read more... What we will not "admit" about the Bible

Creating Monsters of Your Opponents to Avoid Debating With Them

One way to avoid a debate or discussion of the merits of an issue is to paint one's opponent as evil and therefore dismissible. Leftist media and politicians do this with conservatives on a number of issues so that there cannot even be a debate. The article below illustrates some of these issues.

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LIBERALS VS. IMAGINARY MONSTERS

By: David Harsanyi
7/3/2013 08:56 PM

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman recently informed us that a national movement is afoot “to punish the unemployed.” Remarkably, he went on to write, conservatives think the world is far too easy on those who can’t find work, so they’re on a mission to make it worse. The right, you see, is not just perpetuating flawed ideas or misguided policies or dumb economics but driven by an inexplicable desire to inflict pain on the innocent.

Now, as it happens, I am acquainted with a few conservatives. And though it’s hardly a scientific sampling, I’ve yet to hear any of them express a desire to punish the unemployed — or minorities or women, for that matter. They may not want to offer the unemployed exactly what Krugman might. They may believe, as Krugman once did, that promising infinite relief isn’t feasible or constructive. But by assigning a fiendish objective to a conservative policy, Krugman, as he often does, takes a deceitful shortcut to play on your emotions.

Demonizing your political opponents is nothing new, and it’s certainly not unique to modern liberals, but sometimes it seems as if there isn’t any contemporary debate that doesn’t feature some fabricated moral clash between good and evil.

You may, for instance, be under the impression that anyone who believes immigration laws should be enforced — laws that allow thousands of guest workers and a million new immigrants into the country every year — is only a fear-stricken nativist. Some refuse to accept that anyone could be driven by a genuine anxiety over assimilation or a worry about wage depression or a belief that there are destructive consequences to offering amnesty to illegal immigrants. For some, there can be no other explanation than xenophobia.

Or take abortion. Texas legislator Wendy Davis, as most of you have no doubt heard, waged a heroic battle against some crusty old white men who have it in for all women — because, evidently, crusty old white men in Texas are incapable of being genuinely troubled by the dismemberment of nearly viable and viable fetuses. Creating cartoon misogynists is an effective way to circumvent any prickly discussions about the moral implications of a late-term abortion. It also allows the enlightened to sneer at all those hick reactionaries without ever having to confront their arguments.

And when Catholics and others who still believe traditional marriage is a public good worth defending can’t be browbeaten by Twitter hashtag campaigns into abandoning a few thousand years of tradition, it can only be chalked up to homophobia.

read more: Human Events

Wisdom:

‎-- Obama-Pelosi-Reid's mermaid siren song ---
"Without they wear the lambskin, within they are wolves;
Their actions are not in accord with their utterance;
these two-nature creatures will swear by the cross,
by the sun and the moon, to steer you astray;
with the sweetest of speeches they swindle their fellows;
they will steal both your substance and soul with their falsehood.
(Attributed to Cynewulf c. 900 A.D. translated by Richard Wilbur.)


C.S. Lewis warned us about people like Hersman, saying: "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist's Bias Exposed

Pro-Obama, pro-Democrat Bias Exposed

The more Obama copies FDR, the more likely he will cause a Great Depression

Big government intervention by Hoover and FDR was the main cause of the Great Depression. Now Obama is embracing the same big government intervention.

Obama and media continue to push a cap-n-trade when all climate evidence against CO2-caused climate problem

"Cap and Trade" is really "Restrict and Tax"
"Tax and Spend" is really "Tax and Steal" -- or to put it another way -- "Extort and Bribe".

Yahoo News pushing biased stories in support of Obama

Yahoo News is running stories in support of Obama's agenda as well as stories that downplay any opposition and portray it as a fringe minority. Headlining September 14 and 15 newslinks were articles like "GOP 'cranks' dominating debate." Such articles which try to connect the "GOP" with words like "wince", "gasp", "worried", "crackpots" etc. One must not treat Yahoo as a neutral source. Of all the news reports out there, the ones that are given a visible prominence in the www.yahoo.com website invariably include many pro-Obama spinned ones and anti-Republican ones. Another article highlighted in the 14th spoke of healthcare-debate devolving to "rehashing" supposedly already discussed and dismissed as useless ideas like tort reform or other items that the Republicans are supporting.

In contrast to the spin Yahoo News' choice of article headlines presents, look at recent polls. Many key provisions of the Obama health care plan are opposed by over 70 percent of Americans polled. The supposedly old worn-out idea items (according to Yahoo linked articles) are actually strongly supported by the American public if the polls are accurate.