Scripture and the straw man

I asked the question this morning:  does anyone know what the term “straw man” refers to in a debate or discussion?  No one knew, so let me give an example.  For those who were not there, we were having a discussion on homosexuality in a class on marriage and human sexuality.  While there were a variety of opinions in the class, I just want to highlight what I think are a few basic principles involved in having discussions on this topic in the current church.

There is a tendency toward “straw man” arguments in these conversations.  For instance, in the course of the class a “scriptural argument” was presented on the conservative side based on Genesis and on Jesus’ quotation of Genesis in the context of marriage in the Gospels.  Another “argument from scripture” was presented on the more liberal side.  This argument focused on deconstructing the prohibitions in Leviticus and an interpretation of the story of Sodom, and an interpretation of Romans 1.   Is this an example of the straw man argument?   Instead of addressing the interpretation of Genesis and of Jesus’ use of Genesis in the gospels, this position addressed other texts, ones which were not used (or intended to be used?) by the presenter, or by the most thoughtful proponents of a conservative position.

So we have a classic example of the straw man argument:  “Conservatives say x,y and z, based on these texts which we are quoting.  We can bring an argument against these texts, therefore the conservative position is not tenable.”   But what actually happened was that the conservative position was not based on those texts, and an argument addressing those texts was not presented.   The liberal argument defeats a straw man.

Of course it works "both" ways.  A conservative position can build up a false presentation of what the liberal side is arguing.  For those in the class, below are two pieces which highlight some of the other parts of the discussion.

Comments

[Kendall Harmon]

According to this useful resource:

"A straw man or man of straw is a dummy in the shape of a human created by stuffing straw into clothes. Straw men are used as scarecrows, combat-training targets, effigies to be burned, and as rodeo dummies to distract bulls.

As a rhetorical term, "straw man" describes a point of view that was created in order to be easily defeated in argument; the creator of a "straw man" argument does not accurately reflect the best arguments of his or her opponents, but instead sidesteps or mischaracterizes them so as to make the opposing view appear weak or ridiculous."

You may be interested to know that there is a another straw image which has biblical overtones, "make bricks without straw" which refers to the attempt to do something by not using the necessary and proper materials. This goes back to the story of Exodus 5:6-14

"6: The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen,
7: "You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as heretofore; let them go and gather straw for themselves.
8: But the number of bricks which they made heretofore you shall lay upon them, you shall by no means lessen it; for they are idle; therefore they cry, `Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.'
9: Let heavier work be laid upon the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words."
10: So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, "Thus says Pharaoh, `I will not give you straw.
11: Go yourselves, get your straw wherever you can find it; but your work will not be lessened in the least.'"
12: So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt, to gather stubble for straw.
13: The taskmasters were urgent, saying, "Complete your work, your daily task, as when there was straw."
14: And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and were asked, "Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today, as hitherto?"