(October 8, 2012 at 10:42 am)Akincana Krishna dasa Wrote: It sounds like your religion is asking me to accept an authority too. Why? Aren't all authorities bad and suspect?
Of course not. The fallacy would more accurately be named 'Appeal to Inappropriate Authority'. Citing Einstein on the theory of relativity is valid, especially if you don't have a deep understanding of the physics involved yourself, as Einstein is verifiably an expert on this topic. Citing Einstein on theology is invalid, because although he was very smart, this was not his area of expertise.
In some fields of knowledge, citing an authority is ALWAYS problematic, because even the experts can't verify that their positions are true. In these cases, citing a learned rabbi on details about the Jewish position on YHWH can be valid, but citing him as an authority on what God really thinks is fallacious because being an expert on the Torah doesn't automatically grant inside information on whether there is a conscious being who created tha universe and what that being thinks.
