Black-or-White Fallacy
See The Black-or-White Fallacy at Dr Gary N. Curtis's Fallacy Files.
There is no clear distinction between "false dichotomy" and "false dilemma", but the following may be helpful.
False Dichotomy
A Black-or-White Fallacy arises where a dichotomy is mistakenly perceived, such as between two competing explanations.
- People who believe that creation and evolution are Mutually Exclusive believe that if either is true then the other is false. By contrast, those who believe that God uses evolution as part of his creative repertoire see the choice "Creation or Evolution" as a false dichotomy. Thus, for example, they see the following paragraph by John Nicholls as illogical, based on the mistaken assumption that evolutionary methods cannot be employed in creative processes:
Science can be rightly used to give glory to the Creator. Great scientists such as Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday and Ernst Chain believed the Genesis account and worshipped the Creator. The theory of evolution, however, introduces a denial of God as the Creator of life. The theory is plainly contrary to Bible teaching, and must be rejected on Scriptural grounds. But there are also several scientific objections to evolution.— John Nicholls, The Testimony Handbook of Bible Principles, p.21
They might also disagree with concepts of progressive stages of creation as published with commendation by Robert Roberts here.
As Christadelphians we don't have a central authority that could tell us what to believe, so we have to be honest, and take care not to speak for others. What do Christadelphians who accept mainstream Biology think when they encounter others pretending to explain "why Christadelphians believe in creation and not evolution"? At least it's a good example of a false dichotomy![1]
False Dilemma
A Black-or-White Fallacy arises where an action must be chosen from a mistakenly narrowed range of options, such which brand of a product to buy.
- "Either we finish PQRC 2 or we give up" would be an example of a false dilemma.
