The Fallacy of Character Assassination

We writers are the communicators of the pulse of the world, like the Bards and Historians of ages long ago. Are we writers here to write on this site so we can prove and defend our arguments by all means, or are we here to promote the transfer of ideas of the world to the world? Is this a friendly and safe place to express our opinions so graciously granted to us by our constitution? Are we willing to agree to our differences of opinion and still treat each other with respect as we fence and parlay each others arguments?

We have a great opportunity to influence the world by our articles and our comments. There are many out in the world who have great ideas, philosophies, values, and beliefs. Let’s use an example of a housewife who has never written an article, but her idea may change this world for the better of all of us. If she is timid and inexperienced in her writing ability and she comes to Xomba and she sees the nature of our comments; will she be encouraged to join our group or will she be afraid that some here will belittle her? Does she know about the fallacy of character assassination? Will she see our comments to each other and be motivated to join us or will she be afraid and discouraged from writing to the detriment of us all?
Do we here at Xomba know about the fallacy of character assassination? Character assassination is when you cut down another person’s beliefs, arguments, and writings by attacking the other person’s character, by calling the person names, presenting the other persons character as shameful, by attacking a person’s lack of experience in one specific area and so discredit the wisdom he may bring from another area, or by associating them with undesirable groups and so discrediting their argument by discrediting their character.

I am a writer and not an administrator of this Xomba site. But I think if we writers here at Xomba lose one reader due to our comments to each other we all lose a potential peer. If we hinder one person, by our comments to each other, not to join Xomba not only might the world lose but we may also lose the glory of having a potential world renowned writer spring from our midst.

If we make this the place to write at, then this will be the place to read at also. The more readers we have as a group the more influence we will have not only on the world, but also these readers will affect the very creativity and prosperity of our own lives.

For the great thing about Xomba is our diversity. We have writers and readers from all over the world. If we present ideas respectfully with a wide range of honorable and thought full comments then I argue that we will attract a wide range of readers. If we were all to agree then we will be known for believing such and such and only those who are in agreement with our opinions would be attracted to us.
I don’t know about you but I love hearing the beliefs and values of people from all across the world. I would love to have writers from all over the world join us in sharing their beliefs to the rest of the world. I live in a very independent society where grandparents usually don’t live with the parents and grandchildren. I love the beliefs of the Latin American people who are extended family oriented. I would love to hear their wisdom they have gained by having them share their wisdom on Xomba. As an example they may have great insights into the transfer of the power of government from one generation to the next, because of the transfer of power that happens in their personal families from one generation to the next.

I love Xomba! Xomba is a great place to get one’s ideas and writings into the world. I love the potential of having my articles read in the farthest reaches and the remotest parts of the world. I love to read peoples perspectives from throughout the world and would love to hear more from people who are outside of the Americas. That is why I desire us to look at our own personal comments and ask ourselves: will my comments and desires to be right, actually hinder my own articles from being read? Will my comments inadvertently offended a section of the world’s population? For in some populations, if let’s say our group is disrespectful to others of our group then why should they read anything we have to say, for our comments say that we are disrespectful and so nullify in their eyes our writings. Others may say, “since they are using all types of fallacies in their comments, why should I even read their writings?”

When someone has a great argument that goes against my beliefs, it causes me to dig deep into the repository of my soul and to search for the answer. I ponder, is my antagonist wrong just because he is my antagonist or does he actually have a valid point? But if I throw out his point by using the fallacy of character assassination, I then may lose the one great opportunity to gain a wisdom that I may nowhere else find in my life time. And that one piece of wisdom may just be the ability to respect the superior qualities of him whom I think is my antagonist. But if I treat him with respect, as history teaches us, he may become my dearest friend and closest advisor.

Therefore all I see is bad with the fallacy of character assassination. Yes, we still have the right of freedom of speech, but as it was once said, all things are lawful but not all things are profitable.

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