Intellectual Dishonesty

One of the key tenants is not to lie or bear false witness But there is a form of lying that most people overlook, don’t acknowledge or give a pass to and this is what makes it so dangerous It is called intellectual dishonesty We each have beliefs that we hold, either religious or non-religious, that we consider to be true.  And it is scary to think that we have understandings and belief that may not be true. So rather than try to understand these fallacies that we may believe we ignore them. A description of a submitter should be truth-seeker, a person who loves the truth irrespective where it takes us. [43:78] "We have given you the truth, but most of you hate the truth." We all consider ourselves virtuous. We think that we would be on the side of righteousness. We try to avoid the disconnect we would feel to think that some of our beliefs may not be true. Don’t believe everything you think. My favorite definition of Truth is that which does not change. If we think we have the truth then that means there is no evidence that will change our belief But as Submitters we are constantly learning and evolving our beliefs. Foundationally our belief in God, in the last Day and leading a righteous life should never change, but as we learn our understanding continues to evolve and progress. But the only way that is going to happen is by being receptive to different points of views. Most people, when presented with differing points of views, will become immediately defensive. They see a different point of view as an attack on themselves [8:8] For He has decreed that the truth shall prevail, and the falsehood shall vanish, in spite of the evildoers. [17:81] Proclaim, "The truth has prevailed, and falsehood has vanished; falsehood will inevitably vanish.” If our beliefs are true they will stand on their own The truth doesn’t need us to exagerate, to fabricate or morph the other side argument to make it seem more appealing It is tempting to demonize the other side before you assess the validity of their argument Often times people believe that “My side is right the other side are terrible human beings” Or they cannot perceive how a decent human being can have a different opinion than they do  They think that anyone who disagrees with me is an idiot = they can’t be right and they must be stopped  We need to separate the beliefs we hold from ourselves This form of tribalism will not draw us any closer to God. You Shall Not Bear False Witness [4:135] O you who believe, you shall be absolutely equitable, and observe GOD, when you serve as witnesses, even against yourselves, or your parents, or your relatives. Whether the accused is rich or poor, GOD takes care of both. Therefore, do not be biased by your personal wishes. If you deviate or disregard (this commandment), then GOD is fully Cognizant of everything you do. In the Quran God tells us: How to Spread God's Message [16:125] You shall invite to the path of your Lord with wisdom and kind enlightenment, and debate with them in the best possible manner. Your Lord knows best who has strayed from His path, and He knows best who are the guided ones. It is tempting when debating with others to frame their argument in the weakest form imaginable or even worse to twist the other sides viewpoints to make them seem ridiculous to believe This is called a straw-man argument When we do this we are being intellectually dishonest We are framing the other side in a manner that they are not representing and when we do this we are bearing false witness: [5:8] O you who believe, you shall be absolutely equitable, and observe GOD, when you serve as witnesses. Do not be provoked by your conflicts with some people into committing injustice. You shall be absolutely equitable, for it is more righteous. You shall observe GOD. GOD is fully Cognizant of everything you do. When we lie we are revealing our insecurity and trying to preserve our egos  Create the strongest form of argum