Logic Lesson: If you are a Republican, you are probably white & Christian.

[Bleacher Creature]

Anyone who ever took a logic class in high-school knows that this statement does CANNOT be interpreted to mean:

If you are white and Christian, then you are a Republican.

The only thing that you can derive from the initial statement is this: If you are NOT white and Christian, you are NOT a Republican.

So what the hell is the problem!?!?!?


(I got a little too into the LSAT before I went to law school)

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. I am white. I am nominally Christian.

I am not a member of the party that despoils America.

So there.

[ogradda]

2. Me too.

What you said.

[seabeyond]

3. re read, still works with you

if you are white and a christian, you dont have to be republican. but.....if you arent white, and you arent a christian you are probably not a republican

[Bleacher Creature]

6. I suck at explaining this. . .

I was talking about sufficient and necessary conditions.

If you are white and Christian, then than you are NOT NECESSARILY a Republican.

I probably shouldn't have tried this post -- since I'm just confusing myself.

[killbotfactory]

4. republicans don't believe in logic or critical thinking

they just run on emotion and faith

[Karenina]

5. What I find SOOO FUNNY...

is that Dr. Dean is also a white Christian. OH THE IRONY!!! :rofl:

[JDPriestly]

11. What's so funny about that.

He was not saying there was anything wrong with being white and Christian, he was just describing the Republican Party as being rather monolithic. Actually, some hispanics support the Republican Party, especially Cubans, and some other groups like the Vietnamese, but they make up a minority of party. Compare that to the diversity of members in the Democratic Party, which includes white Christians (like most of the people in my family), but isn't almost entirely white Christians.

[Karenina]

13. You miss my point

HOW is he "disparaging" or somehow "insulting" a group of which he is a part with his simple statements?

I read and grokked what he said, in BOTH instances. Dr. Dean the Diagnostician! I'm JUST.LOVING.IT!!!

[TahitiNut]

7. If you're a member of the Ku Klux Klan, you're probably white & Kristian.

:shrug:

Even as a Deist, I prefer to distinguish between Christians and Kristians.

[whistle]

8. You can derive from the initial statement....

.... that if you are NOT white and Christian, you are PROBABLY NOT a Republican.

[TahitiNut]

9. That's called the 'contrapositive'.

:shrug:

[whistle]

12. Oh, thank you...but isn't that the only logical statement that can be

...derived from the original statement?

[TahitiNut]

14. Yep. Logic 101.

(Actually, it's taught in Geometry and Algebra II. Simple syllogisms.) Neither the inverse nor the converse of such statements are necessarily equal in truth value to the orignal statement, but the contrapositive is.

Statement: A -> B
Inverse: ~A -> ~B
Converse: B -> A
Contrapositive: ~B -> ~A


(Indeed, if both the statement is true and the converse/inverse is true, then we're dealing with congruent sets and the converse/inverse will be true as well.)

[whistle]

17. That's why I got only Bs in geometry and algebra......

...I understood what was logically true most of the time, but I never new the correct terms to use.:shrug: Oh well.

[TahitiNut]

19. Well, you're lucky.

I had to teach it. :evilgrin: But that was a loooong time ago, and I still get it wrong a lot.

[KittyWampus]

10. Reality Lesson: GOP Christians Are Extremists & Dean Screwed Up By

not making that distinction.

[Eloriel]

15. NOMINATED! Based on your post, I'll bet this drives you nuts:

This construction, I mean:

"All white Christians are not Republican."

For those who may be wondering what is wrong with that sentence, the "not" is in the wrong place. It should be:

"NOT all white Christians are Republican."

For roughly the same reasons as outlined in the OP. We can start with "All Christians are Republican," which we know is not true, so to make it a properly qualified statement, the "not" goes in fromt of "all" else you make the statement the logical opposite of this one:

All white Christians AREN'T Republicans," and we know that's not true either. So to have a logically valid and TRUE statement, the NOT has to be in the right place.

[OrlandoGator]

16. 2000 Census: U.S. is 69% white. GOP is 82% white.

n/t

[whistle]

18. Does the 2000 census have religious affiliation?

...You know that after this year, the 2010 census is just four years away. Our data references have nearly hit the 60% obsolete level, which says that basing current understanding on data that is 60% out-of-date is probably worse than having no data at all.

[Iris]

20. or, could be you are white and just SAY your a Christian so

you'll ftt in with your Republican buddies.

[whistle]

21. Actually, I read someplace that although 90% of all Americans...

...(I assume adult Americans) say they believe in God or some super higher power, only 50% say they are Christian. The other 40% identify with some other organized religion, or claim to have no affiliation with any particular religious belief. Also, the 2000 census claims that 75.1% of Americans are white/Caucasian, based on a count of 281.4 million residents in the U.S. That population number has apparently grown to 296 million in the current year based on certain census estimates.

http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/dp1/2kh00.pdf

[DearAbby]

22. Just a thought, how many freeper members are White and Christian?

:shrug: Who would want to poll them?