MzEllen’s Law

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Godwin's Law:  "As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."
MzEllen's Law: "As an internet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Islam or Muslims approaches one.”
Godwin wrote: “Although deliberately framed as if it were a law of nature or of mathematics, its purpose has always been rhetorical and pedagogical: I wanted folks who glibly compared someone else to Hitler or to Nazis to think a bit harder about the Holocaust,”Well, when a person compares [something] to Islam, I’d like them to think a bit harder about
  • female circumcision
  • honor killings
  • forced arranged marriages
  • beheadings for being raped.
  • being stoned to death for pre-marital intercourse.
  • being killed by your father for dating the wrong boy
  • being stabbed by your brother for going to a dance club

I want you to think a bit harder about those things.
Again, MzEllen’s Law (if it’s out there someplace else, let me know!)

“As an internet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Islam or Muslims approaches one.”

From Wiki:

The concept appears to have entered the public consciousness more broadly, as well. In 2005, the aphorism was the subject of a question in the British television quiz show University Challenge. By 2007, The Economist had declared that “a good rule in most discussions is that the first person to call the other a Nazi automatically loses the argument.” And in October 2007, the “Last Page” columnist in The Smithsonian stated that when an adversary uses an inappropriate Hitler or Nazi comparison, “you have only to say ‘Godwin’s Law’ and a trapdoor falls open, plunging your rival into a pool of hungry crocodiles.”

“As an internet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Islam or Muslims approaches one.”

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4 thoughts on “MzEllen’s Law”

  1. Good job, Ellen!

    I think the insult that [] has written about i a general-purpose ad hominem which is bad policy anyway but not quite what was being addressed in this post. Now if she had been called a "feminazi" I think that would have covered ad hominem and Godwin's law might have applied as well.

  2.

    AND (yes...cynical and becoming very much more so)

    Two of my comments (one referencing the "mental burqa" button) were deleted. My opinion was (and now really is) that moderate examples will not be accepted on the "comp-egal" blog. Even comments stating so are now deleted - after being originally allowed to stand.

    Will this be noticed? "Dollars to donuts"? No. Or at least not mentioned. I think the bog should change its name.

  3.

    OK, how's this for violating Godwin: The "mental burqua" concept is like Nazi propaganda. I'm joking of course. I can't even follow most of this stuff.

  4.

    Ah...my lovely daughter (the one I should have killed for wearing blue jeans and getting her face pierced - NOT) is willing to pose for a sidebar button. 😉

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