“I Say That a Child is Not Guilty Because of Its Parents”

"This argument is called a straw man. That is, he attributed to Giddonah something that Giddonah does not believe—the idea that children inherit guilt through Adam’s transgression. Korihor knows that he cannot fight truth fairly and come off victorious, so he attributes bad doctrine to Giddonah, a straw man to which he can give a good verbal licking.

“The straw man device seems to be a mandatory ploy in attacks on the doctrines of the Church…It is usually necessary to prop the straw man up by quoting some Mormon leader as having made some supporting comment. The rule here is to never quote anyone still living, and the longer they have been dead the safer you are.” (Millet & McConkie, Sustaining and Defending the Faith, p. 90)