A recent article in Politico titled Culture of conspiracy: the Birthers contained the paragraph, “But belief in obscure, discredited theories is a constant in a country with a history of partisan division - a country in which, a recent survey showed, 34 percent of the public believes in UFOs and 24 percent believes in witches..”  This files UFOs and witches squarely in the “obscure, discredited theories” box.

It bothers me when people choose one narrow segment of a subject, and tar the entire subject with that view.  In this case the writers chose to hold up belief in UFOs and witches to ridicule.  If one defines UFOs as flying saucers piloted by aliens from outer space, and witches as broom-riding incarnations of the Wicked Witch of the West then ridicule might be in order.

UFOs, however, are by definition Unidentified Flying Objects of which there are many.  I may see a light in the sky and decide that I have no idea what it is (that makes it unidentified and flying) without believing in aliens.  (Yes, I write about aliens.  Some of my best characters are not human.  It’s fiction-made up in my admittedly odd imagination.  If you enjoy it, I’m glad.  If you make any of it into a core belief, you need help.)  

There is a large and growing movement called Wicca.  Many of the women in this movement define themselves as witches.  Not believing in witches is like not believing in Baptists, or atheists. 

So you see, I believe in Unidentified Flying Objects and witches, and I refuse to be marginalized. Using that sort of straw man fallacy is simply a lazy person’s way of “proving” a point.  If you would like to move my point of view in your chosen direction, I’d recommend better research and better writing.

Tags: politico, straw man, UFO, witches