In the early days of Twitter - I guess all Twitter’s days are fairly early, actually - I used to run a somewhat controversial but popular parody account. I thought it was funny and so did lots of other people, but not everyone agreed. From time to time, someone who apparently didn’t get the joke would fire off an angry tweet about it, usually full of profanity and crude epithets.

This bothered me a little at first, because I was trying to walk a fine line, aiming for gallows humor without being actually offensive. If my tweets were making people really angry, I wasn’t doing it right. So when I saw one of these furious tweets, threatening to kick my adopted persona’s virtual ass, I would look at the tweet stream of the poster, trying to work out why they were so riled up.

The thing that I discovered was that in pretty much every case, the people who sent these things were … how shall I put this … “not the sharpest knives in the drawer”. Few of them seemed to have anything substantive to say, and when they did, their grammar and spelling left a lot to be desired. For many of them, Twitter just seemed to be an extension of their SMS chats, so that their streams consisted of little more than a string of @-names followed by one-word messages such as ‘lol’. There was a lot of anger, a lot of braggadocio and crude sexual boasting. Those who had political opinions trotted out the kind of thuggish expressions of knee-jerk patriotism and prejudice that are about tribalism rather than reason. They were the kind of people, in short, who might pick a political side in much the same way that they would pick a sports team, and express their support for it in the same way.

Once I realized that the people who didn’t get the joke were mostly cretins, I stopped worrying about them.

Fast forward to today: the outspoken atheist writer Christopher Hitchens has died, and the hashtag #godisnotgreat (and its twin #godisgreat) is doing the rounds on Twitter. Needless to say, the existence of this tag has sparked a furious reaction, and the counter-attack is going full force.

There have been many great thinkers who were people of faith. Even today, religion has its share of brilliant minds. Like Hitchens, I don’t agree with their conclusions, but there’s no denying the sheer intellectual horsepower they can bring to the debate. However, I think it’s safe to say that most of them are not on Twitter. The counter-charge against the late Mr Hitchens is being led by people who are, once again, not the swiftest armadillos on the highway.

Reactions to the #godisnotgreat tag include a variety of logical (or illogical) modes. Predictably, the argumentum ad baculum features prominently:

Mr_ICENATION

#GodIsNotGreat whoevee made this ^^^^ DIE!!!!!

12/16/11 7:49 AM

DELOFROZE

#GodIsNotGreat…WHO EVA MADE THIS A TRENDIN TOPIC …ILL PERSONALLY KILL EM MYSELF….GOD IS THE BEST THANG EVA MANE…AMEN

12/16/11 1:34 AM

YuGottaLovette

@theReasonists lol you need help & to go to church .. GOD will punish you lol. #GODISGREAT ..

12/16/11 5:07 AM

as does the argumentum ad populum:

JazzeRadioChica

RT @RealWizKhallifa: #GodIsNotGreat… He’s more than great! RT if you agree!

12/16/11 7:54 AM

SamMight69Her

#GodIsNotGreat because he’s the GREATEST Retweet If You Agree

12/16/11 1:08 AM

('SamMight69Her’? Really?)

The argumentum ad hominemis also popular:

tatishurtado12

You must be a fucking dumbass if you think that #godisnotgreat

12/16/11 8:04 AM

consuelolarsen1

@raynevandunem #godisnotgreat is a sad tweet. Sad people think so when life isn’t working out for them. #smh

12/16/11 8:23 AM

and the ignoratio elenchi also gets some airplay, as in:

MyLife_hisTory

Christopher Hitchens wrote a book called #GodIsNotGreat. now tell me you Christopher Hitchens fans, WHERE IS HE??? OH YEA 6 FEET UNDER!!

12/16/11 7:56 AM

Many of the arguments offered appear to be simple assertions offered without evidence (possibly classifiable as petitio principii):

MissesEricaKane

What kind of tt is #godisnotgreat… are you kidding? He is beyond greatness

12/16/11 8:05 AM

KushNdOJNigga

#godisnotgreat , he’s the greatest

12/16/11 8:15 AM

based_goddess23

who ever started this #GodIsNotGreat TT is an idiot. With out God you wouldn’t be here

12/16/11 8:20 AM

iserve_JESUS

#GodIsGreat JUST because he is….

12/16/11 7:59 AM

The following example is difficult to classify, but it could be seen as a kind of implicit ad hominem, tacked onto the end of a simple assertion.

kelo3adi

#GodIsGreat and anyone that doesn’t think so can stick their heads where the sun don’t shine

12/16/11 4:26 AM

Explicit examples of argumentum ad verecundiam are oddly rare:

AlexSagot

God is a rock, fortress, my strength. Life is found in Him, and can not be lived away from Him. #GodIsGreat Psalm 18:2

12/16/11 7:14 AM

although arguments that appeal to faith can be seen as an instance of this type:

claire_bear_98

“God is not great” the people who hashtagged this have not experienced my God!! #Godisgreat

12/16/11 8:03 AM

Some commenters don’t make any argument at all:

leslienewton3

@KandisSofyaNGGV Do yall see that trending topic #GodIsNotGreat dat shit just made me mad

12/16/11 8:08 AM

while others demonstrate that their beliefs are part of a complete package:

FratfricnMericn

I find out #Godisnotgreat is a trending topic? What the FUCK. This isn’t fucking Iraq or Russia or some shit, this is America!! #Godisgreat

12/16/11 4:59 AM

For this commenter, two unsupported axioms are joined by implication, which might be formally correct, but is not likely to convince anyone who questions either of the two axioms.

KenChris_

I’m smart cause #GodIsGreat

12/16/11 4:47 AM

Interestingly, God’s most important role in the lives of many believers appears to be that of 'alarm clock’:

TBlount10

Thank you lord for waking me up this morning. #GodisGreat

12/16/11 7:00 AM

Acshawtie

#blessme dear lord,#GodIsGreat #thankful everyday he wakes me up.

12/16/11 7:23 AM

Artina_Nadroj

You woke up this morning, you should agree that #GodIsGreat

12/16/11 7:37 AM

Finally, one believer provides an example of a hitherto unknown logical form that can only be described as an argumentum ad what is this I don’t even:

BryceFregia

Hey atheist that are saying #GodIsNotGreat try watching a leg grow out and even, then try telling me that. Cause #GodIsAmazing

12/16/11 7:53 AM

There’s really not a great deal that anyone can say to that.