I wanted to share this opinion piece as an example of a tactic often used to mislead by use of metaphor and/or analogy.
This person starts off by telling a story, probably true, about something (it doesn't really matter what it is). Then, by being seen as meaningful or touching or real or whatever, the listener/reader is told this story is just like something unrelated, in this case Christianity. The BIG mistake people make is taking the original story to be proof (or an example) of the falsely attached claim.
Metaphors and analogies are not components of proof; they are only a way to try and help explain some point with added clarity. But we often mistake them for examples or outright proof of some claim being made, even if the connection is missing entirely. I think this error is usually done without knowing it, so we need to be careful.
This person starts off by telling a story, probably true, about something (it doesn't really matter what it is). Then, by being seen as meaningful or touching or real or whatever, the listener/reader is told this story is just like something unrelated, in this case Christianity. The BIG mistake people make is taking the original story to be proof (or an example) of the falsely attached claim.
Metaphors and analogies are not components of proof; they are only a way to try and help explain some point with added clarity. But we often mistake them for examples or outright proof of some claim being made, even if the connection is missing entirely. I think this error is usually done without knowing it, so we need to be careful.
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