“Among the informal logical fallacies, one of the most common is called the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy. Translated it means ‘after this, therefore because of this.’ B follows A, and it is therefore assumed that A must have been the cause of B. This fallacy is so prevalent that it could easily be …
Letters on the Half Shell
Cancer News: Praise God!! Wonderful news!! Laura Laura, thank you and thank the Lord. We thought so too. If you keep writing posts that funny I’m going to start hoping you keep getting cancer. I’ll try not to. That was hilarious! Steven Steven, don’t be drawing the wrong applications or life lessons here . . …
And I Mean Plunk
“My whole life I have been ingesting poisons that my great-great-grandfather never, ever encountered, and taking the averages I will probably live thirty to forty years longer than he did . . . You don’t slip someone poison in order to slightly retard the progress of his galloping and ever-burgeoning health. Poison kills people, plunk” …
The Beauty of Discrimination
Introduction: A few older people remember how the verb to discriminate once was a term of praise. He is a “discriminating reader,” or he has a “discriminating palate” when it comes to fine wines, or she has “discriminating taste” when it comes to her art collection. In all such expressions, while someone might react to …
Gotta Think of These Things
No Cooties
“There are no cooties in the cupboard. They’ve been exterminated by the perfectly organic pesticide of thankfulness” (Confessions of a Food Catholic, p. 58).
Two Strippers Instead of Four
And now let us speak of how National Review has finally donned some silk undies, and begun their regimen of hormone shots. When I first subscribed to National Review I was in high school, which puts that time at almost fifty years ago. In other words, it was a lot closer to the time when …
Outrage Overload
Introduction: There are two ways to develop a sensitive conscience, one good and one bad. The first is to accept, own, and practice the weightier matters of the law. Once you have mastered the great principles, or rather have been mastered by them, it becomes possible to move into the more refined questions. This is …
Letters Have In Fact Arrived
The Demeanor of Calvinism: I am very much in your debt for introducing me to C.S. Lewis’ English Literature in the 16th Century. The section from which you quote (pages 32-46) is one of the best pieces of historical writing that I have read. The awkward part, though, is that, when read in full, Lewis …
Deep Fried in Something Icky
“Paul is very plain here that we are to do everything to the glory of God, whether we eat or drink. But he tells us to do this in a manner that makes it very clear that we should be able to do this with a well-salted French fry, deep fried in something icky. If …