what kind of language should be regarded as personal attacks?

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Osee  #532130  Wed, 25 Jun 08 02:16 AM

I am not a native English speaker, so sometimes I do not know what a word exactly means or how to use a suitable word in a specific situation. So I need your comments with something.

Imagine this:
If you are an Amercian, do you think the following comments are offensive and/or should be regarded as a personal attack (because as one of the American people you are being attacked):

 The floods, the event of 911, or the 4000 soldiers died in Iraq is a punishment to the American people for what the American governments have been doing to the world.

Further, if someone points out that, judging from these comments, the guy making these comments has a kind of hostile to USA, do you think this is a personal attack to that guy who makes the above comments?

 

  
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CalifJim  #532132  Wed, 25 Jun 08 02:50 AM
Osee
do you think the following comments are offensive and/or should be regarded as a personal attack 
I'm not completely convinced that it's an attack, and even if it is, I don't view it as a personal attack on me, if that's what you're asking.  Others might interpret the words differently, of course, and find them offensive. 

Osee
is a punishment to the American people for what the American governments have been doing
My comments:

1.  If the government is the wrong-doer, why is the punishment directed at the people?  A very large percentage of the people didn't even vote in favor of putting that government in power.  (Recently, one can even argue that the majority of people didn't vote to put that government in power. Smile)

2.  Punishment is delivered by some sort of person, so a flood, for example, can't be a "punisher".  The implication is that someone did the punishing, and that's often, in these sorts of reasonings (depending on the culture), God.  So the statement is saying indirectly that God (or some such culture-dependent entity) is punishing American people (by sending floods to make them suffer, for example).

Osee
if someone points out that, judging from these comments, the guy making these comments has a kind of hostile to USA, do you think this is a personal attack to that guy who makes the above comments?
I'm not sure it's an attack, but it is certainly a claim that the guy is hostile to the USA.  It would depend entirely on whether the guy who made the comments actually felt attacked.

Typically in such conversations, both people

1.  believe they are just relating the facts quite objectively, and

2.  believe the other person is being over-emotional, hostile, and offensive.  

Smile 

CJ 

  
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Akavall  #532136  Wed, 25 Jun 08 03:26 AM

I think normally "personal attack" refers to a form of logical fallacy, where one party attacks the party who is making an argument instead of the argument itself. For example, an American has presented an argument, to which his opponent replies, "You are an American, and look at the crimes your government has committed. Your argument can't be valid."

  
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