The Dangers of the Slippery Slope...

Around the "We Surround Them" movement, I have noticed a lot of irrational conclusions based on hearsay regarding proposed legislation, misinterpretation of Biblical principles, and blind allegiance to dubious conspiracy theories. The illogical thread that binds all these ill gotten notions into a burial shroud of apathy is the slippery slope.

As defined on the wonderful logic site, Fallacy Files, a slipper slope is a fallacy type is based upon the claim that a controversial type of action will lead inevitably to some admittedly bad type of action. For example: If Johny starts listening to Rap Music, he will then start smoking, drinking alcohol and then will be in jail for stealing. Based upon the evidence of this claim, we cannot infer what type of person Johnny is or how Rap music will cause these actions. What if Johnny was a youth minister who was listening to the current Top 40 hit to understand the needs of his congregation? These details are excluded and one can only act from inference, which can be clouded by prejudices, lack of experience, bad reasoning skills, lack of objective data, et cetera.

The main point is this: Do not make claims without investigating the facts yourself. People can be lead to treasonous conclusions for believing these absurd conspiracy theories floating around the internet. It is the moral duty of the communicator to realize this and not lead his or her audience willingly into false conclusions.