Godwin’s law for Catholic discussions
Jay Anderson, a Catholic blogger who I am not familiar with but was linked to today, has come up with Godwin’s Law for Catholic Discussions. For those not familiar with Godwins law, it says:
“As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.”
Additionally the law indicates that since this is not desireable, the individual who resorts to such tactic automatically loses the debate.
Well Jay’s a smart guy and was able to put into words what many of us Catholics who defend the Church have felt for some time. The sex scandal is used just as aggressively as Hitler in Catholic discussions to divert attention from the issue being discussed. (As an example of this from my blog, see my complaints about Sean Hannity.) So he was able to state what I think should from now on be called Anderson’s Law:
As a debate involving the Catholic Church (either a discussion about the Church specifically, or a discussion in which the Church is taking a position) grows longer, the probability of someone mentioning the sex scandal approaches one.
And then there’s it’s corollary: Once such reference to the Scandal is made, whoever mentioned the Scandal has automatically “lost” whatever debate was in progress.So there you have it folks! A new day in online discussions has dawned with a new law well worth observing.