Fallacy 5 — False Dilemma: Fallacy 5, False Dilemma, forces a choice between two options when more options exist. "Either you are with us or you are against us" is a fallacy — you might be neutral, undecided, or with a third position.
Sectarian uses, then Slippery Slope: The slide gives sectarian applications: many sectarian arguments present only two options ("either our scholars are right or all scholars are wrong") and hide the middle. Fallacy 6, Slippery Slope, claims that one small step will inevitably lead to disaster: "If we allow this one thing, soon everything will collapse."
Each step must be proven: A slippery slope is a fallacy unless each step is proven to lead necessarily to the next. Used constantly in sectarian and political rhetoric, where a small concession is presented as the end of religion itself.
Example
Either everything, or you left Islam: "Either you accept everything we say or you have left Islam" — that is a false dilemma. There are many positions between full agreement and leaving Islam.
Name the fallacy: Name the fallacy, and the pressure disappears.
Key Terms
- False Dilemma — جھوٹا دو راہا
- Slippery Slope — پھسلن والی ڈھلوان
Quran or Hadith
None known from the slide title.
Fresh diagram to be drawn: Two small "spot the fallacy" cards, as in Topic 10.2.
Note: Slide 62 was not read; based on the filename. Verify the sectarian applications against the slide before publication.
- "Either you are with us or you are against us" is a fallacy — you might be neutral, undecided, or with a third position.
- "Either you accept everything we say or you have left Islam" — that is a false dilemma. There are many positions between full agreement and leaving Islam.