Time to Teach Logic 101 at the Vatican. Send Cardinal Fernandez for Remedial Work!

Let's start here with a few syllogisms of logic:

Sunday Meditation: "Come now, let us reason together." Isaiah 1:18

Jean Louis Meissonier (1815–1891)

The way people argue on social media is so often so mindless that I decided to go back and review the rules of logic. I took down Introduction to Logic by Irving Copi and Carl Cohen from a shelf in my home library to check out the fallacies. Originally published in 1994, it's a college textbook. Interestingly Part One on reasoning begins with the quote in the headline from Isaiah, "Come now, and let us reason together." Even before I had a chance to dive into the subject of logic, I was intrigued and distracted by the quote and decided to look it up and check out the context.

Bible translations vary greatly and there are a number of different translations for this particular verse. I checked them out at Bible Hub which I often use as a reference. Most of the bibles listed use the words "reason together." I'll just list one example:

English Standard Version: “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

Got Logic? Part 1: Two Things that are Diametrically Opposed Cannot Both Be True....

Fr. Laurent-Marie Pocquet

 ....They can both be false, but they cannot both be true. 

Which brings me to an excellent article posted at Rorate Caeli by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski. Written by Reverend Fr. Laurent-Marie Pocquet du Haut Jussé, former superior of the Servants of Jesus and Mary (SJM), it discusses paradoxes raised by the problematic motu proprio Traditionis Custodes and the response to the dubious dubia. 

The first is a moral paradox:

A Time to Laugh: When Trolls Crawl Out from under their Rocks

A troll dressed like an
angel is still a troll.

If you just wait a bit, a troll masquerading as an angel will cast off the costume and reveal her troll-ness to the world....well...at least to you.

I wrote about trolls and tattletales last week describing several as being like "moths to a flame" flapping around my blog. Before I continue, let's define the noun troll and the verb to troll:

verb: to antagonize (others) online by deliberately posting inflammatory, irrelevant, or offensive comments or other disruptive content;...to harass, criticize, or antagonize (someone) especially by provocatively disparaging or mocking public statements, postings, or acts. 

noun: one who does these things

I've stopped posting comments by trolls since they add nothing to the conversation as you'll see by the two most recent comments. They mostly engage in ad hominem attacks. I guess they figure if only they throw enough rocks or shoot enough darts, they'll knock you down and metaphorically kill you off. Fat chance!

Sunday Meditation: What We Can Learn from Socrates -- Humility!

It's easy to go through life just meeting the challenges of the moment. We live in a noisy and busy world and it's easy never to seriously reflect on life and the big questions. Why am I here? What am I meant to do? Where am I going?

The Greek philosopher Socrates said the "unexamined life is not worth living." What did he mean? He was seeker after truth. And, in fact, he spent his life pursuing it and looking for someone who was wise. He never found anyone and came to realize that wisdom lay in knowing how little we know. Socrates never wrote anything, but his pupil, Plato, did and we have him to thank for what we know of Socrates. In the Apology Plato attributed this to Socrates:

Is Logic Dead? Situation Ethics Seems More Alive than Ever!

Socrates was forced to drink Hemlock for asking
questions that disturbed people. Sound familiar?

I was browsing blogs today and am disheartened by the apparent inability to think on the part of seemingly intelligent people whom I believe love the faith. 

Two I read are totally on board with Francis mercy and both engaged in condemning "rigidity" as in, the cardinals who issued the Dubia are "rigid" for asking five simple yes and no questions about how to interpret Amoris Laetitia. 

The bishops of Argentina, on the other hand, who developed a creative and loose approach to doctrine that undermines the moral law are compassionate. 

Oh gosh! I recognize this. Been there, done that. It's Situation Ethics all over again. I think I'm back in Mr. Reilly's immoral moral theology class at Trinity!

Please, wake me up; I think I'm having a nightmare!

Logical Syllogisms of the Day

Raise your hand if you're pro-life!

"Pro-choicers" claim that they don't favor killing babies. They can only make that claim because they never finish the sentence: I am pro-choice when it comes to a mother choosing... (to kill her unborn baby if she wishes.) Now if someone claimed to be pro-choice about rape (I would never rape, but I can't impose my anti-rape morality on anybody else.) people would be outraged. How dare anybody favor that violation of women. But somehow, violating an innocent, helpless baby fits the morality of many. Very sad and a clear demonstration of the manipulation of words to hide the truth. But here are a few logical syllogisms to reflect on. It really isn't that complicated once you define terms. Pro-choicers themselves have defined it as "a woman's right to choose" between having an abortion or not. Since they favor whichever decision the woman makes (they say) they do, by definition, favor abortion. And now for the logic:

All pro-choicers favor the right of a woman to choose an abortion if she wishes.
(Name) is pro-choice.
Therefore (Name) favors the right of a woman to choose an abortion if she wishes. 

Abortion kills a  baby.
(Name) had an abortion.
(Name) killed a baby. 

All pro-choicers favor the right of a woman to choose to kill her baby if she wishes.
(Name) is pro-choice.
Therefore (Name) favors the right of a woman to choose to kill her baby if she wishes. 

Killing babies is morally evil.
Abortion kills babies.
Therefore, abortion is morally evil.