A Fallacy of Ethos

            For me, the most distinct and memorable experiences with rhetorical fallacy have come in the form of ethos.  It seems that this world craves authority.  As part of the pride of the natural man instilled within each of us, we want to be the boss and the leader.  Admittedly, I have these very same tendencies.  However, this has helped me to better distinguish between authority and fallacy.

            I distinctly remember an experience early in my mission in Litchfield Park, Arizona.  I had been serving for six months, and my companion had just stepped off the airplane a few weeks prior.  We were both new to the ward, and our goal was to meet every member on the roster.  We stopped by the Jones’ home.  We knew that both Brother and Sister Jones were returned missionaries, but had wavered in testimony in recent years.  Brother Jones had previously served in a ward bishopric, and was an attorney by profession.  We shared a message with them, and offered a kneeling prayer with their family.  It was a simple and brief visit.

            Brother Jones walked us to the front door, and continued on to the driveway with us as we walked to our bikes.  He began asking us very probing questions about race and the Priesthood, Joseph Smith and the history of polygamy in the church.  With ethical fallacy and cunning devices, he began to divulge to us the extensive research he had done to unfold the details of each of these mysteries within the church.  As an attorney, Brother Jones was an effective orator of rhetoric.  His arguments were convincing.  Many of his main points were difficult to dispute with our seemingly minuscule knowledge and wisdom.

            We rode home that night feeling belittled and abused.  I remember the puzzled look on my companion’s face, and I could see his mind racing and searching for answers to this condescending conversation.  I asked him a simple question that yielded a simple reply.  “Did you feel the Spirit while we were talking to Brother Jones?”  He replied “no,” and we decided that this clearly meant that his points had no validity. 

            In this experience, we were able to discern between fact and fiction.  Although we may have been temporarily deceived by a fallacy of ethos, we were ultimately able to distinguish the unreliability of this man and his contradictory opinion. 

            The Book of Mormon prophet Moroni teaches, “the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge. . .”  What a tremendous blessing!  Not only can we utilize the Spirit to discern between right and wrong, but we can use this gift as a tool to separate rhetorical fallacy from actuality.