I'm sure the regulars here are noticing that I'm putting a lot of links to various areas. Since almost none of the people here (IF ANY people here) are experts, I figure we could all use a bit of authorities to back ourselves up. As long as the source really is an authority on the topic, I don't see why anyone should have a problem with this. But if you do, speak up.

What defines an authority, someone who has a degree and tells us they're right and everyone else below them is wrong?

Authorities eat, sleep, and dream their area of knowledge. For example, the Pharisees were experts and authorities on the Jewish law. Compassion may or may not be shown by them, but they DO know what they're talking about. Would you complain to a car mechanic and tell him he doesn't know his job without any sort of factual knowledge of what's going on? How about your family doctor? And these guys aren't even considered experts in their fields!

Yea having the right credentials for a particular subject is more than just saying there right and everyone else is wrong. And so if you have an expert backing what you say, than your veiw is able to hold more weight. Otherwise it would just be another sheezy kid opinion. Which it seems that most of the veiws on these forums are from kids that havent even finished high school yet.

an authority figure is just someone who you let control you

I'd rather do the research myself and form my own opinion on things.

[quote]Authorities eat, sleep, and dream their area of knowledge. For example, the Pharisees were experts and authorities on the Jewish law. Compassion may or may not be shown by them, but they DO know what they're talking about. Would you complain to a car mechanic and tell him he doesn't know his job without any sort of factual knowledge of what's going on? How about your family doctor? And these guys aren't even considered experts in their fields![/quote] I'll take the position of the Christian in this forum. I don't really see anyone else following any full system of belief anyways.

What saddens me is that people here are more interested in having their own opinions than being right.

[quote]What saddens me is that people here are more interested in having their own opinions than being right.[/quote] Yeah, that's true.

On the topic of bald facts, references are indeed good things to have. In matters of subjective quality, they are unnecessary. In short, there are times here in the religion forum that an authority may be appropriate or unneeded.

[quote]I'm sure the regulars here are noticing that I'm putting a lot of links to various areas. Since almost none of the people here (IF ANY people here) are experts, I figure we could all use a bit of authorities to back ourselves up. As long as the source really is an authority on the topic, I don't see why anyone should have a problem with this. But if you do, speak up.[/quote] [url=http://www.fallacyfiles.org/authorit.html][b][u]You will... most likely never understand why no one cares about your appeal to authority.[/u][/b][/url] <- LINK TO SOURCE OF AUTHORITARY STATUS. OH SHIT PARADOX? You might want to stick around that site and learn something. On the other hand the big words will scare you away quite quickly. Ah delicious necromancy.

HAHAHAHAHA Thanks for proving my point, dumbass!

[quote]HAHAHAHAHA Thanks for proving my point, dumbass![/quote] Oh. And how did I prove anything other than your obsession with authority is a typical symptom found in people not able to wrap their minds around logic?

Uh, firstly? That link contained nothing I didn't know. And [i]fistly[/i]? I doubt you'll EVER be able to show the authorities I've cited thus far to fall under fallacious use.

Moar authorities != moar true

[quote]Uh, firstly? That link contained nothing I didn't know. And [i]fistly[/i]? I doubt you'll EVER be able to show the authorities I've cited thus far to fall under fallacious use.[/quote] [i]There is an old saying: "A doctor who treats himself has a fool for a patient," and a similar version for attorneys: "A lawyer who defends himself has a fool for a client." Why should these be true if the doctor or lawyer is an expert on medicine or the law? [/i][b]The answer is that we are all biased in our own causes.[/b][i] A physician who tries to diagnose his own illness is more likely to make a mistake out of wishful thinking, or out of fear, than another physician would be.[/i] ...and... [i]While the authority is an expert, his opinion is unrepresentative of expert opinion on the subject. [/i][b]The fact is that if one looks hard enough, it is possible to find an expert who supports virtually any position that one wishes to take.[/b][i] "Such is human perversity", to quote Lewis Carroll. This is a great boon for debaters, who can easily find expert opinion on their side of a question, whatever that side is, but it is confusing for those of us listening to debates and trying to form an opinion.[/i] No Doomie. You neither know what that site contains nor understand it. Otherwise your arguments wouldn't be flawed by basic logic fallacies.

I think you misunderstood, Gom. He seems to want to [i]fist[/i] you. D:

[quote]He seems to want to [i]fist[/i] you. D:[/quote] I just assumed he doesn't know how to count.

Fascinating, pulling the bias card like it means something. I figured as much. No, Gom, YOU do not understand what that is. Again, I already know you will never bother to actually demonstrate how the sources I cited are actually unrepresentative of expert consensus (considering that most of it wsa in fact scholarly consensus!) or somehow unfairly biased (aka not biased the way YOU want them to be), so it boggles me why you keep posting like you have a point.

[quote]Fascinating, pulling the bias card like it means something.[/quote] The "bias card" means exactly what it means. And is the reason why authority will never matter when it comes to religion. Most? Nope. Some - yes. Others only if you ask Christian scholars. Which means they are biased.