The
argument with a friend still rattles me today, but I'm glad it happened, because it was a
clear reminder that we all have a moral obligation to learn the facts and then speak
from knowledge, not
from ignorance, fear, or unanswerable beliefs.
If you're going to despair of personal knowledge (the fallacy of
Argument from Ignorance) and surrender to the fallacy of Appeal to Authority, then you ought not appeal to an authority that has made
clear statements entirely the opposite of your claim: