WolfishMusings,
[in response to popa_bar_abba:] Why is it so difficult to believe that, at the very least, I truly believe this?
Because you’re smarter than this.
I ended up speaking with someone about this situation.
<rant>
Who, mosherose?
I’m not sure why your game bothers me so much. Maybe it’s because, in some areas (as far as I can determine through your posts), we think in similar ways. You seem to care about your beliefs being logically consistent and despise anti-intellectualism or fallacies. Yet in threads like this, your arguments are rife with blatant fallacies, including (in just this thread alone):
Sweeping generalizations (a dicto simpliciter ad dictum secundum quid – you ignore universally acceptable exceptions to rules). For example, if state law said, “entering into a private domicile without consent of the owner is illegal”, I can see you writing an OP saying “I deserve to go to jail because I entered into someone’s house without permission yesterday…by the way, I’m an EMT.” The funniest example of your use of this fallacy is your, “I’m a sinner because I talk during leining (I’m the ba’al koreh)” shtick. This mechalel Shabbos one’s not so funny, however, because it can add stress or misery to a person who is depressed, doesn’t see the fallacy in your argument, and might take you seriously.
Appeal to anonymous authority – “I ended up speaking with someone about this situation”, and somehow this random person becomes the final word, ignoring what everyone else said on this thread. Also apparent is that you likely did not give this person all of the relevant information, which is not in the spirit of ????????? ?????? ??? ?????? ????????
False dilemmas – either you’re never sad on Shabbos, or you are a mechalel Shabbos who cannot cook for other Jews or handle wine, or say vayechulu with the tzibbur. No different than saying that someone either supports all of the president’s policies, or he is a traitor.
So, as popa_bar_abba asked, what is behind your drive to take every generalization, apply it rigidly or absurdly to your personal situation to come up with faux aveiros (which is not how a rav would operate IRL), and then parade your “shame” publically in the CR? Are you trying to bait extreme posters like mosherose to give crazy responses so you can prove their ignorance or have fodder for your blog? Are you trying to make halacha and/or Orthodox Jews look bad? I can’t understand it. But really, given how much knowledge you obviously have of Jewish law and tradition, I can’t possibly accept that you are being serious with this.
</rant>