These things take time. Back in the 1630s, a forum like this (had it existed) discussing the solar system would have been just as rancorous. Today, astronomers can peacefully discuss their ideas, generally free of strident opponents. There will come a time when evolution is the same. That time is not now, alas. All we can do is put the information out there. And try to behave.
You do ignore Medved's posts, don't you?
Back in the 1630's, it wouldn't have been any more of a forum than this is, I think. To me, "forum" implies a place where we listen and are heard, where we speak and are spoken to. This is more reminiscent of the Hatfields and McCoys. Bang! Bang!
It doesn't seem to matter what the ostensible topic is, the posts and arguments are virtually identical from thread to thread. No refutation will suffice, no argument is strong enough, no one even appears to moderate their positions. Every crevo thread is a fresh start, a new dawn, and it is as though no crevo thread has ever come before. It just seems silly to start every thread tabula rasa, with a blank slate.
I'm desperately trying to avoid indicting one side or the other - I have an opinion of my own, of course, and it should be fairly clear where my sympathies lie to anyone who cares to dig up my posts. But it just seems as though there's so much heat, and so little light. I cannot help but wonder if we don't spend more time and energy on this than it is really worth - the truth of the matter will out eventually, no matter what any of us say or do here.
And, if I may, there is so much out there in the world that we can change, that we can affect. We argue about the truth of evolution or of creation, while those arrayed against us all politically set their differences aside long enough to gain power. Because, after all, they know that there's little point in dividing a pot you haven't won yet. They know very well that they will have all the time in the world to hash out their internal differences after they have gained the brass ring.
We are, all of us, as one flavor of conservative or another, a minority in this country. Maybe we always have been - certainly for the last 70 years, anyway. I'd like to think that this fact is slowly changing, that the tide is shifting in our favor, but our political fortunes are now as they always have been - a matter of our own will and determination. And right now, what we are is outsiders looking in, and squabbling about who will hold the keys once we seize the kingdom.
But my point is simple - it doesn't matter, as long as we are outside looking in. We need a coherent sense of who we are, a coherent sense of what we can do, a coherent sense of us. Because they've got the numbers on us - they can afford to take some time out occasionally to fight amongst themselves. We can't. Hell, with Billy Jeff in power, we had a purpose, a mission. And now I fear that after we have clawed our way up from the muck by a single inch, we're getting fat and sassy and forgetting that, right now, in some smoky room somewhere, someone is plotting to depose us and erase what little we have gained since December of 2000, and what little we will gain in the coming months.
Do I think the crevo_list should really be retired? No. It serves a purpose - if not for the posters who are too battle-hardened and scarred now to ever change sides, it still serves for those lurking who haven't made up their minds about such things, or who are curious and wish to know more. I just wish that half the energy I see on these threads was directed to something that we all could really have a real, concrete impact upon. To make real changes, that we all can really affect. To spread ideas about how this nation should be to those who sit in darkness, because darkness is all they have ever known.
We have real work to do - do not think the election of GWB is the end. Let's make it a beginning. Let's split our gains amongst ourselves after we actually have them.
Come home, boys - this war is over, and a new one begins. Who's with me?