Fallacies Fallacy #1: On His

Fallacies FALLACY #1: On his conservative talk show program August 10, 2007, Rush Limbaugh used FBI data regarding the percentage of African-Americans murdered ("...Blacks [who make up only 13% of the population] were the victims 49% of all murders...[and] a majority of black murder victims were relatively young - between 17 and 29...") to attack liberals.

In a rant called "Liberalism Has failed Inner Cities" (www.rushlimbaugh.com) Limbaugh asserted that "...all of these programs that the left came up with to 'help' disadvantaged - poor people, disadvantaged - minorities and so forth..." are responsible for breaking up the black family in America. "This...has been a death sentence!" Limbaugh stated. Welfare and other social service programs have taken "...the father out of the loop of necessity," he explained. The welfare check that a low-income black family received "...became the father.

There was no need for the father to hang around, so he didn't." WHY THIS IS a FALLACY: This argument misses the point: out-of-work fathers - black, brown, or white - don't necessarily abandon their families merely because assistance arrived in the form or a check; and it would be impossible to prove that blacks are involved in killings because of public assistance. Limbaugh's argument also reflects a false cause: just because "B" (blacks involved in killings) comes after "A" (families receiving welfare) there is no logical connection.

FALLACY #2: The Atheist Alliance makes the following claim: "Blind religious mania is a rising threat to society. It seeks to repeal the advances made in establishing civil rights and civil liberties for all citizens. It seeks to abolish our First Amendment right to freedom of and from religion. It encourages a global population explosion that is destroying the environment and creating immense human suffering." WHY THIS IS a FALLACY: First, it is a hasty generalization: blaming all denominations for threats to society and labeling religion "blind religious mania" is ridiculous.

Secondly, the argument is a red herring: going off on a tangent about religion just because someone is against school prayer, for example, is not a sound position. FALLACY #3: The Web site "All About Penis Enlargement" makes claims for several kinds of sexual enhancement products for men. It offers personal testimonials: I am so glad I came across this product, VolumePills™.

When I ejaculate the feeling is so much greater and it has increased up to 3 times the amount and a lot thicker from when I was not using VolumePills™, as my orgasms are more powerful than I have ever felt before in my lifetime.

My erections are at a healthier state from using VolumePills™, as from before to now they are a lot stronger and healthier." WHY THIS IS a FALLACY: This is begging the question because the writer (assuming a real person actually wrote that testimonial) is expecting the reader to accept on faith that this is true, without any way to check its validity. It is also an appeal to ignorance because very few men in the general population have any scientific or medical knowledge about penis enlargement, sperm enhancement, etc.

FALLACY #4 (a): The Ku Klux Klan KKK (on its Web site) asserts that the U.S.

should "Abolish all anti-gun laws and encourage every adult to own a weapon." Further, the KKK asserts that, "The cure for crime in America is not take guns off the streets but to put more guns on the streets." WHY THIS IS a FALLACY: This is farcical, of course, but in terms of "fallacy" this misses the point: giving everyone a gun cannot possibly be a logical answer to lowering the crime rate; if the goal is to lower the crime rate, then there are numerous ways to go about that through education, etc.

FALLACY #4 (b): The KKK.