Word of the Day: Fallacy

fal·la·cy ( P ) Pronunciation Key (fl-s)n. pl. fal·la·cies
A false notion.
A statement or an argument based on a false or invalid inference.
Incorrectness of reasoning or belief; erroneousness.
The quality of being deceptive.

It sometimes amazes me the way people see things so differently in life. How can one person view an issue with a totally different perspective as another when we live in the same world? It's like we literally each have a different set of eyes. Or, as my friend Kim said today, we're all wearing different colored glasses (which she was quick to point out was not an original thought). Since I can't find the original person to whom to attribute it, I'll give it in Kim's words:

If someone with blue glasses looks at something yellow it's green.
Someone else has on red glasses and looks at something yellow, it's orange.
Person1: it's GREEN, can't you SEE it?
Person2: it's ORANGE and it will always be orange and you can't say anything to change my mind ever.

For instance, it seems that some people (I dare say, mostly religious types) believe that the hurricane in New Orleans was brought on by God to cleanse a sinful city. One person stated that evidence of God's plan is contained in the word Katrina, which apparently means "cleansing". This same person said that God may have created Bird Flu (avian influenza) to wipe out an unbelieving and sinful America. "God's wrath is raining down on us."

How much of this can we stomach before we realize that we've just taken on a God-complex and distorted God's original intent. I'm not saying that God *didn't* send Katrina to serve a purpose, but it is beyond my human nature to presume what that purpose was or even that Katrina was his design. The thing that bothers me most about this is that we tend to believe self-appointed modern-day prophets who, because they hold a trusted position in society, can say anything they want and we'll believe it.

I suppose this guy, and all the others, are holding council with God that the rest of us are conveniently not invited to attend. I don't buy it.