*Islamodupes and the ‘No True Scotsman’ Fallacy* *The foundation of our failed strategy against Islamic terrorism*
*“Miss Greer, we weren’t attacked by Muslims, we were attacked by sociopaths...”* Jeff Daniels, playing the role of “Will McAvoy”, the news anchor in the TV series “Newsroom”, episode 6, season 1. http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0308974/quotes *The ‘No True Scotsman’ Fallacy* *Definition:* The ‘no true scotsman’ fallacy is a way of reinterpreting evidence in order to prevent the refutation of one’s position. Proposed counter-examples to a theory are dismissed as irrelevant solely because they are counter-examples, but purportedly because they are not what the theory is about. *Example:* The ‘No True Scotsman’ fallacy involves discounting evidence that would refute a proposition, concluding that it hasn’t been falsified when in fact it has. If Angus, a Glaswegian, who puts sugar on his porridge, is proposed as a counter-example to the claim “No Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge”, the ‘No true Scotsman’ fallacy would run as follows: (1) Angus puts sugar on his porridge. (2) No (true) Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge. Therefore: (3) Angus is not a (true) Scotsman. Therefore: (4) Angus is not a counter-example to the claim that no Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge. This fallacy is a form of circular argument <http://www.logicalfallacies.info/presumption/begging-the-question/>, with an existing belief being assumed to be true in order to dismiss any apparent counter-examples to it. The existing belief thus becomes unfalsifiable. http://www.logicalfallacies.info/presumption/no-true-scotsman *Exhibit A:* *Chorus: (George Bush/Barack Obama/David Cameron/Stephen Harper et al):* “ Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance” *Retort:* But many Muslims are terrorists and violent jihadists. *Chorus:* But terrorists and violent jihadists are not true Muslims *Retort:* But who are “true Muslims”? *Chorus:* Those who practice Islam, the religion of tolerance and peace. *Retort:* But many followers of Islam are terrorists and violent jihadists. *Chorus:* But they are not true Muslims. Ad infinitum *Conclusion**:* We cannot defeat an enemy we don’t understand. As long as we believe that Islam is what we want it to be—a religion of peace and tolerance---and that the problem lies with extremists or “sociopaths” who misrepresent Islam, we fail to understand Islam. And we fail to understand that the “extremists” are more faithful to Islam than the so-called “moderates”. Islam is radical. Violent jihadists draw their inspiration from a radical ideology, the ideology of Islam. Ultimately it is that ideology which is our enemy. Islam is the enemy we don’t understand. No wonder we can’t contend with it. As long as we fight “the war against terror” rather than a war against Islam, we are merely hacking at the branches of evil rather than attacking its roots. Or to use another metaphor, we are cutting off one or two heads of a many headed hydra which, in this case, is almost instantaneously able to regenerate or replace the severed heads with more heads. As soon as one Muslim terrorist group is diminished or eradicated, others pop up in its place. The war on terror is never-ending. It should be clear that a successful war must be fought on the ideological battlefield as well as a military one. The first battle in the war of ideas must be fought here at home, in the colleges and universities where faculty have inculcated a disdain for Western civilization in two generations of students leading to what Jean-Francois Revel called “the totalitarian temptation” to identify with monstrous causes dedicated to its destruction. It is no accident that the writings of Noam Chomsky were cited by Osama Bin Laden as one of his doctrinal sources. Many of these students have graduated to become journalists, politicians, entertainers, cultural leaders and of course, tenured radicals who ensure that to pass their courses or achieve high grades, students must imbibe Cultural Marxist ideology and parrot the party line. Few students have the character, the strength, and stubborn independence of mind to run through this four to six year gauntlet of intense indoctrination and psychological intimidation unscathed. And those maverick professors who resist PC orthodoxy are often ostracized, reviled and isolated, unable to re-direct more than a handful of brave students down a path of true scholarship and evidence-based reasoning. So just as the Weimar Republic was a democracy without democrats, Western civilization has become a civilization largely without adherents or advocates. Like the French in the 1930s who later succumbed to Hitler’s army in 1940, we lost confidence and faith in our values before this “war on terror” even began. We were ideologically disarmed by the self-loathing fellow-travellers and fifth columnists who took command of academia by stealth and osmosis. We can’t take on Islam if we have lost the will to defend what we have and who we are--or fail to understand the nature of what we are fighting. Tim Murray September 13, 2014 __._,_.___ ------------------------------ Posted by: "Beowulf" <[email protected]> ------------------------------ Visit Your Group <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmYm9ocG84BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0MTA3MDgyMDc-> [image: Yahoo! Groups] <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJlNmhmMjRsBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTQxMDcwODIwNw--> • Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> • Unsubscribe <[email protected]?subject=Unsubscribe> • Terms of Use <https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> __,_._,___ -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. 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