
A fallacious ad hominem argument has the following basic form: Person "A" makes claim "X". There is something objectionable about Person "A". Therefore claim "X" is false. Ad hominem is one of the best known of the logical fallacies usually enumerated in introductory logic and critical thinking textbooks. Both the fallacy itself, and accusations of having committed it, are often brandished in actual discourse. As a technique of rhetoric, it is powerful and used often because of the natural inclination of the human brain to recognize patterns. In the context of the Church of Scientology and Anonymous, it sounds a lot like this: Anonymous makes the claim that the Church of Scientology is an abusive organization. The Church of Scientology states that Anonymous is a terrorist, a bigot, a hate criminal, and etc. Therefore Anonymous's claims are false. As you can tell, this does not make sense. Their attacks on our collective character in no way refutes the incarceration of Lisa McPherson. It does not refute claims of their harassment of critics such as Paulette Cooper, Tory Magoo, Arnie Lerma, Shawn Lonsdale, Wise Beard Man, Ex-Scientologists, and Freezoners. It does not refute FBI documents on Operation Snow White or Operation Freakout. It does not refute claims of slave labour within the Rehabilitation Project Force It does not refute the fact that David Miscavige is an asthmatic dwarf It does not refute the fact that Psychiatry is objective science and that Scientology is <b>...</b>
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