I made a brief, humorous post a few days ago about “conversations” in social media (facetious quotes, because you know these are actually debates or – more likely - arguments) – sharing a series of Logical Fallacies Bingo cards. I haven’t revisited the subject on my blog since then, but the topic has been in my mind.
One of the most common failures in social media
debate (or real life arguments, for that matter) is the personal – ad hominem – attack. “You are an idiot,” “You’re an ass,” “Your mother was a hamster and your father
smelt of elderberries,” and the like.
Tonight the question struck me: Did Jesus make ad hominem attacks during his
interactions? Did he ever attack the person and not the argument? (For now setting aside the questions of
whether or not the authors of the various gospels have accurately recorded
historical “conversations”and whether or not they’ve put their own words into
Jesus’ mouth…)
Should Jesus calling Herod a “fox” be considered
an ad hominem attack? or his repeatedly calling
the Pharisees “Hypocrites” or “snakes” and a “brood of vipers”? When he said
that his opponents were children of their father, “the devil” – was that an ad
hominem attack? It certainly sounds like
one.
I like elderberries. They don't smell bad at all.
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