ï»żHey, whatâs up! Alright, yâallâŠwe are wrapping up this little mini-series on emotional appeals today! Hopefully youâre seeing the commonality in all of them: when someone appeals to anything other than a real, solid, credible argument, theyâre committing an appeal fallacy of some sort. By now, youâre probably getting really good at recognizing them when you hear them!
OkâŠwe have a doozy of an appeal fallacy to talk about today b/c this one is not going to feel like itâs totally cut & dry. Youâre going to have to put in the work & effort to really think about this one, but thatâs too easy. Thatâs what this podcast is all about and if youâve been following along, you are getting the skills necessary to do the work to filter it through a brain cell and really think well about this!
Todayâs fallacy is called the Appeal to Heaven fallacy. An appeal to heaven fallacy happens when someone claims to know the will of God and says that you should or shouldnât do something b/c it either is or isnât Godâs will.
Now, before I get into examples of this, I feel like itâs important to say this. Iâm a Christian, and as a Christian, I do believe that God has revealed His will to us through Scripture. For exampleâŠ
And I do believe that where God has given us these things, we can confidently stand on them and know that they truly are Godâs will. These things could be called a proper Appeal to Heaven. When we call people to the truth that is in Scripture, itâs not a fallacy, itâs just saying what God has already told us.
The problem, however, comes when someone tries to say that they know Godâs will on something that He doesnât actually say in Scripture.
For instance, Someone could say, âI know God wants me to be happy and a new puppy would make me happy, so itâs clearly Godâs will for us to get a puppy!â UhhhâŠfirst of all, it never says in Scripture that God wants us to be âhappyâ, and it also never says that God wants everyone to have puppies! Do you see how this appeal to heaven is actually a false claim and is appealing to something that God never actually said?
There are a few reasons that a false Appeal to Heaven is so dangerous:
1. It allows for massive amounts of manipulation! False Appeals to Heaven also fall under the category of an Appeal to Authority. And thereâs no greater authority that you can appeal to than to God! So it sounds really BIG, and it sounds really serious when someone makes a faulty Appeal to Heaven. And b/c people either have reverence for God or they have fear of being punished by God, theyâre very easily fooled by a faulty Appeal to Heaven.
2. The second reason this is a particularly insidious fallacy is that this false appeal to heaven can sound really close to the actual Truth. Itâs very common for people to quote just one small part of Scripture or take a phrase completely out of context in order to present their argument to make it sound credible. This is why you have to use discernment. If you actually know the truth you will be able to stand on the truth. But if you donât, youâre going to be really easy to fool by something that sounds good or sounds âclose to something you read in the Bible that one timeâ.
3. The third reason..and there are probably more reasons I could list..but the third reason the False Appeal to Heaven is so dangerous is that it can make you feel like a terrible person to not go along with what âGod has saidâ. It gets served up with a massive dose of guilt to make you feel bad about not doing Godâs will. Itâs times like this when you can say, âwell, you might think so, but thatâs not actually what God saysâ and be ok with them being unhappy with you. Donât take that guilt trip theyâre trying to give you.
The sad truth is that massive atrocities have been committed in the âname of Godâ. Look at the Crusades. Millions of people were killed during the time of the Crusades. All of that was based off the idea that it was Godâs will to kill enemies of the church and to rid the earth of Islam & to free Jerusalem. An Appeal to Heaven was used to motivate men, women & even children to join the crusades and fight.
And, you know I have to give you an example from WW2, right? In WW2, there were people who actively supported Nazism and called themselves âstorm troopers of Jesus Christâ. Thatâs an Appeal to Heaven! Itâs saying, weâre doing these things in Jesus name, to accomplish His will. But the things they were doing were horrific and were nothing that is found in Scripture at all.
These are both examples of someone claiming that God said something that He didnât really say. That Godâs will is something that God never even said. Theyâre adding to whatâs actually in Scripture and are using it to manipulate & guilt people into doing whatever THEY want them to do.
So, the Question to ask yourself if you think you might be facing a false Appeal to Heaven is this: âIs it really true that God said that or are they just trying to get me to do what THEY want me to do?â⊠*repeat*
Alright, thatâs it for todayâŠ
Remember: When you learn HOW to think, you will no longer fall prey to those who are trying to tell you what THEY want you to think and it all starts with asking one simple question: âIs that really true?â
