Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Veterans Are a Treasure





LOST TREASURE


As an injury attorney, I have been blessed to represent many veterans. Today, while you read this paper and go about your day, more than 700 World War II veterans will die. This happens every single day. The youngest are now in their mid-80s, and some have never talked about their experiences at all. This "Greatest Generation" that we are losing constitute a lost treasure of stories, life and bravery.

Just sixty (60) years ago, this heroic generation stood agains the Germans and the Japanese, invaded the Philippines and Normandy, and they are the only reason you live in this free country.

The people in Germany, somewhat like the U.S. now, never thought that a regime that promised peace, promoted education and peace through gun control would end in the Nazi's extermination of six (6) million Jews. The empire of Japan thought they could take out our entire Pacific fleet in one well-coordinated strike, and almost succeeded.

Children of the Great Depression, this WWII Generation manned the the tank and airplane factories, the atomic research facilities, the powder plants and the had the work ethic, duty and commitment to supply an army that was ranked low in capability in the world to be the sole superpower. Many of our veterans have never told about their experiences.

I just helped take a group of Boy Scouts on a private tour of the Battleship USS Alabama in Mobile. There, we saw the inner workings of the immense guns that fired a 2700 shell over 21 miles, propelled with 500 pounds of powder.  That would be like shooting a Volkswagen bug from around Millington to Covington!  We were able to sleep on the bunks overnight, and see the massive boilers, huge turbines and the anti-aircraft guns. We were abel to talk with veterans who served in World War II.

Many of the Scout Dads had fathers who had fought in the War, and a majority had not talked much about the War before they died.

I encourage you strongly to talk with them and get their histories before they become one the 700 that will pass away each day. They are a treasure that we are losing all too fast.

What about you? Do you know an aging veteran? Would you go this week and just sit and ask to listen. We are all busy, but we are often busy doing "good" things, and not the "best" things. If I told you there was lost treasure in your yard, you would make the time to start digging. There is lost treasure in our communities, they are there and many will be happy to talk with you about what occurred from 1941-1945. One mor ething, bring your kids to hear, too.

From our home to yours, thank you Veterans!

Friday, January 4, 2013

Lawyer Logic


As a Christian Injury Lawyer, I look at issues quite differently than most people do. There are many examples of logical-sounding statements that are actually “fallacies.” 

Argument: “Guns only kill people, killing people is wrong, so guns should be banned.” Sound familiar?  This is the “Fallacy of Generalization.” It sounds logical, but is it inaccurate and flatly untrue. (If you shot a gun, and did not kill a human, then you know the truth. Further, killing some people is regretfully necessary.)

Argument: “You are against gun control, so your statistics cannot be trusted.” This is an attack on the person, not the argument itself. In Latin, its called “Argumentum Ad Hominem.” If you think of a cartoon strip, when the comment attacks the speaker and not the idea in the white balloon above him showing what he is saying, you have it. (The statistics are accurate or not no matter who states them.) Another example is: “Fred argues that gun control works, but he is a communist, so he cannot be right. (His political affiliation doesn't pertain to the truth of his claim).

Advertisers love “Argumentum Ad Populum” or “Appeal to the Majority.”  Argument: “More sports fans choose Direct TV.” A related one, “Appeal to Authority,” includes: “More doctors smoke Camels: you should too!" (The doctors could still be wrong to do so, and were).

Another fallacy is “Circular Reasoning,” wherein two conclusions are used as premises to support each other. (For instance, some geologists date a layer of sediment by using certain fossils, but then also date those fossils by using that layer in which it is found.)

Then there is the famous “Non Sequitur.” This has given its name to a popular comic strip. It means, “It does not follow.” For example, “All men are humans. Martha is human. Therefore, Martha is a man.”

Another one that kids love to use on their parents is called a “Red Herring." Dog trainers would drag a fish across the path of the animal the dog was to be tracking and throw him off the path. It sounds like this: “Son, you can’t go, till your homework is done.” “But Dad, you did not let me have a friend over last week, and I had done all my homework then. You never let me do anything” (This is trail that leads to last week, and not the current homework, which still remains undone.)

Others create a "False Dilemma" also called the "Either-or Fallacy" in which the situation is oversimplified. Examples you might hear include, “I don’t believe in divorce and I cannot change him, so I guess I am just stuck.”  (It assumes that there are only two choices: divorce or no change. Common efforts like counseling, separation and mediation are all falsely excluded).

Logic has been called the Language of God.  Jesus Himself said, "Come let us reason together."

It should be used more by believers, as we are to be, "innocent as doves, but wise as serpents."