GraaRrrgHhhh *squeezes snidget in one hand*

[2F2Type_R]

I've never been sooooo angry, the ignorance of this man~!!
if only he had a forum, i'd flame it inside out!

http://personal.centenary.edu/~jnorwood/critique.html

its a long read, don't bother if you prefer not to read serious stuff etc.

[yasmane]

Well,
as he said at the end of the paper, he wanted to to write an opposing argument, without beleiving it or not.
Of course when you read that, you only want to grab him by the shoulders and throw him away through the window, but I think if was only trying to be the devil's advocate, well I hope he was...
anyway, Martin Luther King has been one of the most brilliant man in America during the 20th century, just to be clear with you.

[Stargazer]

While reading that I was getting more and more at the guy but he does say that he doesn't believe them. As a paper I still don't think he did a good job -- there are so many arguments I could throw in his face based on that paper that he doesn't deal with at all. For example he makes it seem as 'legal' and 'right' are the same. Does anybody really think that's a fact? For example virus-protection programmes have been illegal uptil very recently. The law does not change as society does -- it's often well behind it. And that's not even the best example there is about legal not being the same as right. Many would argue that capital punishment is a good example. !!! Sorry, I just don't like poorly written, ill-argumented pieces especially when they're saying something like this one is! I wonder if this was written in high school or university, cause it doesn't sound very good to me.

* Stargazer *

[yasmane]

Well, the content of this article is highly crticable, and most of the thoughts are not far from being stupid.
I didn't even want to start to say why this man had argued so poorly.
Apparently we all agree on the content to say this is only [removed - please do not attempt to circumvent the forum's word censors. They are there to protect people, particularly younger members of this forum. Paul. ]

[Nacht]

For example virus-protection programmes have been illegal uptil very recently.

Huh

[Iluvatar]

Before I say anything I would like to clearly state that I DO NOT agree with the arguments presented in the essay in question. I simply wish to take into defense the author of the essay. He DID say that he doesn't agree with the paper he wrote. You would naturally wonder: why did he write it then? My opinion is that he is studying law. As a lawyer you have to be able to defend a cause even if you don't agree with it. Take an example. I know someone who recently finished his law studies. Part of examination was to defend a man who had abused a little girl. (no need to go into details) He defended this man even though he utterly despised what he had done. The ability to defend a cause with which you do not agree is very important for a lawyer especially in a country like the US where everyone has the right to a lawyer.

Once again in order to be very clear, I do NOT agree with anything in the paper and firmly believe that Martin Luther King was right in doing what he did.

[Gwared]

The paper is short, pathetic and highly "critique-able". I don't really think I will think any more on it.

[2F2Type_R]

i know he says at the bottom that they weren't his opinions

but think of it logically

if you're going to write an essay arguing against it
obviously you're going to have to find flaws in the argument
so he'd have to put the flaws in himself, wouldn't he?

its pointless and unproductive
wouldn't it make more sense to find a real essay and argue against it?

when i first picked up this article, it just seemed to me that these we're his opinions and his claim of arguing against it was merely a ruse to keep his feet on both sides of the river.

His article is aimed at people who agree him
*shrugz* my two cents

[Charis]

When you write a persuasive paper (like this one) it needs to sound like you agree with everything you're writing (even if you don't). if you want people to be persuaded (or... perhaps, get a good grade ), you have to seem persuaded yourself. really, would you even finish reading the paper if it started out like, "I really don't believe at all what I'm writing and don't think you should either, but I'm writing this to be devil's advocate." I understand his reasons for writing the paper like he did, as Iluvatar said, I think he was probably studying law or debate.

That is NOT to say, of course, that I agree with what he wrote; it has many flaws and I doubt it would stand a chance in a debate with people who knew their stuff.

[2F2Type_R]

hmm... i understand what you mean Charis, basically what Iluvatar said (I thought his ideas were exceptional, didn't occur to me)

The whole thing was published in 1998 and all he does is write horrible things and leaves it in a public domain like that--without his supposed subjective opposing argument

sure, he's a poor writer... but influential young mionds could come across it, and all the horrible stuff (which he supposedly wasn't intending to say) suddenly serves an opposite purpose, its irresponsible!

just thinking about other possibilities besides negligence... probably a bit too dramatic

[Iluvatar]

Right you are 2f2Type_R.

It's true that his arguments are very weak but that just shows how difficult it is to defend something that you don't believe in, hence the need to practice. Furthermore I personally think it would be VERY difficult to defend a cause opposed to Martin Luther King's ideas (if possible at all).
Like you said, he may be trying to keep his feet on both sides of the river. I'm not ruling that out. I'm just trying to keep people from flaming others because of misunderstandings. Don't be too quick to judge.

As for putting it in a public domain, I find that very irresponsable as well.

Iluvatar Allmighty Ruler of Ea

[Friar Tuck]

You know what? I, who hapeens to be African-American and consider Dr. King one of my heroes, I was flat out ready to scream at the monitor. Then, I read the end. If it was made for one person to read, why is it on the Internet where bilions of people could read it, including African-Americans and others of African descent.