re: #4 bkgodfrey

How was this an “awkward attempt” to “plug” pro-lifers? I simply noted that blaming all those who are against abortion as responsible for Tiller’s death is as fair as blaming all Muslims for this attack on the Holocaust museum. I used the event of Dr. Tiller’s murder since it was a recent event that could be related to.

Try not messing your pants every time you read the word “pro-life”.

Your argument is ostensibly a reasonable one: it’s wrong to condemn a whole group because of a heinous act committed by one of its members. To apply this principle to real-life examples: it’s wrong to blame all pro-lifers for a murder committed by one pro-lifer, just like it’s wrong to blame all Muslims for a murder committed by one Muslim.

There are two problems with that. The first is, and I’m not sure how much more directly I can say this, James von Brunn is not a Muslim. So there’s no valid analogy here — nobody in this case was condemning a group because of the actions of one of its members. The second problem is that, unrelated to your point about the actions of one person not necessarily reflecting upon the attitudes of the group of which he is a member, you used what’s been called here the “no true Scotsman” fallacy to claim that a pro-lifer who commits a murder isn’t really a pro-lifer.

Try not working in the word “pro-life” every time you comment on something that happens in the world.