Controversy
A
controversy is an
opinion or opinions over which parties are actively arguing. Controversies can range from private disputes between two to large scale disagreements.
Benford's law of controversy, as expressed by science-fiction author
Gregory Benford in 1980, states "Passion is inversely proportional to the amount of real information available."
Present-day areas of controversy include
religion,
politics,
art,
war,
property,
social class, , and most recently in
sports. Controversy in matters of
theology has traditionally been particularly heated, giving rise to
odium theologicum.
In
jurisprudence, a controversy differs from a
case. While the latter includes all suits,
criminal as well as
civil, a controversy is a purely civil proceeding. For example, the
Constitution of the United States states that "the judicial Power shall extend to ... Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party" (
Article 3, Section 2). The meaning to be attached to the word
Controversy in the constitution is that given above.
The
Case or Controversy Clause of Article III of the USs Constitution ( Art. III, Section 2, Clause 1) has been deemed to impose a requirement that United States federal courts are not permitted to hear cases that do not pose an actual controversy—that is, an actual dispute between adverse parties which is capable of being resolved by the court.
The term is not always used in a purely noble manner. The use of the word tends itself to create controversy where none may have authentically existed, acting as a
self-fulfilling prophecy.
Propagandists, therefore, may employ it as a "tar-brush,"
pejoratively, and thus create a perceived atmosphere of controversy, discrediting the subject:
:"Beatrix Potter's creation, Peter Rabbit..."::vs.::"Beatrix Potter's controversial creation, Peter Rabbit..."
Thus
controversy may itself be judged controversial: see
list of controversial books.
On the other hand,
controversy is also used in
advertising to try to draw attention to a product or idea by labeling it as controversial, even if the idea has become widely accepted to a given segment of the population. By doing this, the company hopes that people will wish to "see what all the commotion is" and pay to view the medium. This strategy has been known to be especially successful in promoting
books and
films.
Many of the early
Christian writers, among them
Irenaeus,
Athanasius, and
Jerome, were famed as "controversialists"; they wrote works against perceived
heresy or heretical individuals, works whose titles begin "Adversus..." such as Irenaeus'
Adversus haeresis. The Christian writers inherited from the classical
rhetors the conviction that controversial confrontations, even over trivial matters, were a demonstration of intellectual superiority. See
Christian theological controversy.
Social/political controversy
*
Cantor's theory controversy*
Capital controversy*
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: controversies*
Amateur radio contesting controversies*
Mormon controversies*
Newton v. Leibniz calculus controversySocial/political controversy: local US interest
*
2004 United States election voting controversies*
2005 NSA controversy*
Air America-Gloria Wise loan controversy*
American Idol controversy*
Biscuit Fire publication controversy*
Boy Scouts of America membership controversies*
George W. Bush military service controversy*
Californian Hindu textbook controversy*
Ward Churchill 9/11 essay controversy*
Bill Clinton pardons controversy*
Hillary Rodham Clinton controversies*
Dubai Ports World controversy*
Fahrenheit 9/11 controversy*
Firestone and Ford tire controversy*
Al Gore controversies*
HGH controversies*
Michael Jackson controversies*
Kanawha County textbook controversy*
John Kerry military service controversy*
John Kerry VVAW controversy*
Limbaugh controversies*
Mortgage GSE controversy*
Native American name controversy*
NSA telephone records controversy*
NSA warrantless surveillance controversy*
Bill O'Reilly controversies*
Qur'an desecration controversy of 2005*
Redbud Woods controversy*
Santorum controversy*
Seigenthaler Wikipedia biography controversy*
Sternberg peer review controversy*
Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy*
USA PATRIOT Act controversy*
White House personnel file controversy*
Whitewater (controversy)Social/political controversy: other recent
*
2006 rugby union handbag controversy*
2006 Kapa O Pango controversy*
9/11 conspiracy theories*
10 Agorot controversy*
2005 NSA controversy*
Australian Football League siren controversy, 2006*
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: controversies*
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: controversies*
Autism: cointroversies*
BBC controversies*
Belmarsh Controversy*
Breast implant controversy*
Dental amalgam controversy*
Fahrenheit 9/11 controversy*
Free trade controversy*
Global warming controversy*
GNU/Linux naming controversy*
Horse racing: controversy in*
Hindi-Urdu controversy*
Hacker definition controversy*
HGH controversies*
Indian Institute of Planning and Management advertising controversy*
IQ test controversy*
Islamic veil controversy in France*
Japanese history textbook controversies*
Japanese imperial succession controversy*
Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy*
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo: Hello Garci scandal*
Media controversy*
New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy*
Nuclear power controversy*
Qur'an desecration controversy of 2005*
Race and intelligence (Public controversy)*
Rakyat Merdeka dingo cartoon controversy*
SCO-Linux controversies*
Scientology controversy*
Stem cell controversy*
Thaksin Shinawatra $1.88 billion deal controversy*
Thimerosal controversy*
Vaccine controversy*
Video game controversy*
Water fluoridation controversySecular controversy: intellectual and historical
*
Abraham-Minkowski controversy*
Amount in controversy*
Devonian: the Great Devonian Controversy*
Element naming controversy*
Great rites controversy*
Hay-Schild controversy*
Indian renaming controversy*
Nobel Prize controversies*
Multiple_personality_controversy*
Pinchot-Ballinger Controversy*
Spontaneous human combustion controversy*
West Florida ControversyChristian controversy
*
Bangorian Controversy*
Chinese Rites controversy*
Creation-evolution controversy*
Great Controversy*
Investiture Controversy*
Jehovah's Witnesses: controversies*
King James Only Controversy (disambiguation)*
Marprelate Controversy*
Quinquarticular Controversy*
Three-Chapter Controversy*
Vestments controversyOther religious controversy
*
Almah Controversy*
Karmapa controversy*
List of words of disputed pronunciation*
List of controversial books of poetry*
Non-fiction books Categorized bibliography of controversial issues and topics.
*
Party-Directed Mediation - Mediation of interpersonal disputes, including free PDF book. University of California.
