Documentary?
Rule 12 for a documentary to be viewed as a documentary by the Academy Awards is that it must be a work of non-fiction. A non-fictional piece of work contains facts and opinions based on facts so long as it is clear that they are opinions (For example: A documentarian might say that President Lincoln thought slavery was wrong and if he can prove this it is fine).
Now here's a question that can be debated forever. Can one lie even if one never strays from the truth? The instinctive answer to this question is "no, of course not!" But think for a moment. Is it not dishonest to omit pertinant facts? If I said, for example, that a person was shot on the street you might ask me who the murderer was. What I didn't tell you was that the person shot himself on the street. It is a fact that this theoretical person was shot on a street but the full story is that he shot himself. So even though I told nothing but the truth, I was dishonest and therefore lying.
I could also tell you that the NRA was founded the same exact year that the KKK was essentially outlawed as a terrorist organization. Micheal Moore states this fact in Bowling For Columbine. This is, indeed a fact. However, Moore doesn't go into this very deeply. All he does is show us a cartoon Klansman giving a hood to a cartoon NRA member thus showing us that the NRA was founded in response to the laws passed against the KKK in 1871. Moore comes to this conclusion based on one fact and one fact alone. The NRA was founded the same year laws were passed specifically to surpress the KKK's actions. However here are some facts that muck up Moore's conclusion that the NRA and KKK are linked together:
1. The KKK was founded (as we all leanred in Forrest Gump by Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate calvary commander in the Civil War
2. The KKK focused on the southern states in an effort to prevent blacks from receiving the full benefits of being American citizens, specifically the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
3. The actions of the KKK (murder, violence, arson) had been against US law since the founding of the country
4. The man who signed and enforced the laws against the KKK was former Union General Ulysses S. Grant
5. Grant deployed troops against the KKK and under his presidency 5,000 Klansmen were arrested
6. The National Rifle Association was founded by Union officers in New York in 1871
7. Eight of the first ten NRA President's were Union officers
8. Grant was elected the 8th NRA President
9. Grant was followed by General Sheridan who removed the governors of Texas and Louisianna for their failure to inforce Reconstruction laws.
These are facts. Does Moore mention the fact that the KKK was founded by Confederates and the NRA by Union soldiers? Or that the NRA continued to be run by Union officers after it was founded? Or that murder has always been illegal in the USA? Nope. He just simply mentions the fact that the NRA was founded the same year that laws were passed against the KKK. I wonder what else happened in 1871 that might have come about from the laws passed against the KKK. In England, the Rugby Football Union was started, I guess it was made up mostly of Klansmen too. The German Empire was established uniting Germany as one country, I guess that was made mostly of former Klansmen like the NRA. Moore's argument is as follows:
1. The NRA was founded in 1871
2. There were laws passed in 1871 that focused on the halting of illegal KKK activities
Conclusion: The NRA was founded in order to provide a safe haven for KKK members to meet and carry out their racist agendas
Unfortunately, this argument makes no sense unless a third premise is added to the original two, it is as follows:
3. If an organisation ends in a year any organisation that begins in that year was started because of the ending of the first organisation
Unfortunately for Mr. Moore, this is not true at all. Although there are examples of organisations that end and then are reborn in a different form (Example: sports teams move to a new city, play under a new name, and play in a different stadium). However, examples of organisations taking on different forms but retaining the same basic characteristics do not prove anything. As stated above, the nation of Germany was unified in 1871 and it had nothing to do with the KKK nor did England's Rugby Union.
Anyhoo, this was inspired by this site:
http://www.hardylaw.net/Truth_About_Bowling.html
Now here's a question that can be debated forever. Can one lie even if one never strays from the truth? The instinctive answer to this question is "no, of course not!" But think for a moment. Is it not dishonest to omit pertinant facts? If I said, for example, that a person was shot on the street you might ask me who the murderer was. What I didn't tell you was that the person shot himself on the street. It is a fact that this theoretical person was shot on a street but the full story is that he shot himself. So even though I told nothing but the truth, I was dishonest and therefore lying.
I could also tell you that the NRA was founded the same exact year that the KKK was essentially outlawed as a terrorist organization. Micheal Moore states this fact in Bowling For Columbine. This is, indeed a fact. However, Moore doesn't go into this very deeply. All he does is show us a cartoon Klansman giving a hood to a cartoon NRA member thus showing us that the NRA was founded in response to the laws passed against the KKK in 1871. Moore comes to this conclusion based on one fact and one fact alone. The NRA was founded the same year laws were passed specifically to surpress the KKK's actions. However here are some facts that muck up Moore's conclusion that the NRA and KKK are linked together:
1. The KKK was founded (as we all leanred in Forrest Gump by Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate calvary commander in the Civil War
2. The KKK focused on the southern states in an effort to prevent blacks from receiving the full benefits of being American citizens, specifically the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
3. The actions of the KKK (murder, violence, arson) had been against US law since the founding of the country
4. The man who signed and enforced the laws against the KKK was former Union General Ulysses S. Grant
5. Grant deployed troops against the KKK and under his presidency 5,000 Klansmen were arrested
6. The National Rifle Association was founded by Union officers in New York in 1871
7. Eight of the first ten NRA President's were Union officers
8. Grant was elected the 8th NRA President
9. Grant was followed by General Sheridan who removed the governors of Texas and Louisianna for their failure to inforce Reconstruction laws.
These are facts. Does Moore mention the fact that the KKK was founded by Confederates and the NRA by Union soldiers? Or that the NRA continued to be run by Union officers after it was founded? Or that murder has always been illegal in the USA? Nope. He just simply mentions the fact that the NRA was founded the same year that laws were passed against the KKK. I wonder what else happened in 1871 that might have come about from the laws passed against the KKK. In England, the Rugby Football Union was started, I guess it was made up mostly of Klansmen too. The German Empire was established uniting Germany as one country, I guess that was made mostly of former Klansmen like the NRA. Moore's argument is as follows:
1. The NRA was founded in 1871
2. There were laws passed in 1871 that focused on the halting of illegal KKK activities
Conclusion: The NRA was founded in order to provide a safe haven for KKK members to meet and carry out their racist agendas
Unfortunately, this argument makes no sense unless a third premise is added to the original two, it is as follows:
3. If an organisation ends in a year any organisation that begins in that year was started because of the ending of the first organisation
Unfortunately for Mr. Moore, this is not true at all. Although there are examples of organisations that end and then are reborn in a different form (Example: sports teams move to a new city, play under a new name, and play in a different stadium). However, examples of organisations taking on different forms but retaining the same basic characteristics do not prove anything. As stated above, the nation of Germany was unified in 1871 and it had nothing to do with the KKK nor did England's Rugby Union.
Anyhoo, this was inspired by this site:
http://www.hardylaw.net/Truth_About_Bowling.html
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home