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Straw man
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===Related usage=== Reverend [[William Harrison (priest)|William Harrison]], in ''A Description of England'' (1577), complained that when men lived in houses of willow they were men of oak, but now they lived in houses of oak and had become men of willow and "a great manie altogither of straw, which is a sore alteration [i.e. a sad change]".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harrison |first1=William|author-link=William Harrison (priest)|title=The Description of England : The Classic Contemporary Account of Tudor Social Life|editor=George Edelen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4qwDICPz6OoC&dq=oaken&pg=PA276|publisher=[[Folger Shakespeare Library]], [[Dover Publications]]|access-date=14 September 2023|page=276|date=1994|isbn=978-0-486-28275-6}}</ref> The phrase 'men of straw' appears to refer to pampered softness and a lack of character, rather than the modern meaning. [[Martin Luther]] blames his opponents for misrepresenting his arguments in his work ''[[On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church]]'' (1520): {| ! Latin ! Unattributed English translation ! Philadelphia Edition translation |- |{{lang|la|2=Respondeo, id genus disputandi omnibus familiare esse, qui contra Lutherum scribunt, ut hoc asserant quod impugnant, aut fingant quod impugnent.}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Luther |first1=Martin|author-link=Martin Luther|title=De captivitate ecclesiae babylonica|trans-title=On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church|lang=la|url=http://www.martinluther.dk/CAPT.htm |website=martinluther.dk |publisher=Ricardt Riis |page=section 15 |format=online text based on Weimar Edition, vol. 6, p. 497 |date=1520}}</ref> |I answer that this kind of discussion is familiar to all who write against Luther, so they can assert (or: 'plant', literally: 'sow') what they attack, or pretend what they attack. |My answer is, that this sort of argument is common to all those who write against Luther. They assert the very things they assail, or they set up a man of straw whom they may attack.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Luther |first1=Martin |title=Works of Martin Luther : With Introductions and Notes, Volume 2 |date=1915 |publisher=A.J. Holman Company |page=173 |isbn=978-0-7222-2123-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3xIAAAAMAAJ&q=straw&pg=PA170 |access-date=14 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Luther |first1=Martin |title=The Babylonian Captivity of the Church [from the Philadelphia Edition of Luther's works] |url=http://www.lutherdansk.dk/web-babylonian%20captivitate/martin%20luther.htm |website=lutherdansk.dk |publisher=Robert E. Smith, Project Wittenberg, Wesley R. Smith, Lucas C. Smith. |access-date=14 September 2023}}</ref> |} In the quote, he responds to arguments of the Roman Catholic Church and clergy attempting to delegitimize his criticisms, specifically on the correct way to serve the [[Eucharist]]. The church claimed Martin Luther is arguing against serving the Eucharist according to one type of serving practice; Martin Luther states he never asserted that in his criticisms towards them and in fact they themselves are making this argument. Luther's Latin text does not use the phrase "man of straw", but it is used in a widespread early 20th century English translation of his work, the Philadelphia Edition.<ref>Luther, M. et al. (1915β1943) ''Works of Martin Luther β With Introduction and Notes''. Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press</ref>
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