Comments on: Comment Policy

By: Solo

Solo — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:12:43 +0000

I don’t generally comment on here, though I read a few days a week, primarily because I am not as level-headed and skilled in rhetoric as Ron and as other commenters. I’m glad, though, that the policy is such that one must have backup for idiotic claims and there won’t be endless threads re-explaining and re-countering all kinds of said claims.

By: Ron Britton

Ron Britton — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 07:15:36 +0000

It’s actually good that it’s spelled out. That way if I ever have to spank somebody, they can’t say they weren’t warned. It also makes it clearer to people that I’m not being arbitrary. Anyway, I’m hoping that people will stay nice, and I won’t have to use it much.

By: ausyoyo

ausyoyo — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 02:06:19 +0000

sorry you’ve had to spell it out but the rules appear ok by me (basic politeness really).

By: ParrotLover77

ParrotLover77 — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 21:23:53 +0000

I stand blissfully corrected! Thanks for the link.

By: ericsan

ericsan — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 21:18:43 +0000

I like the rules. It’s an opinion. I don’t have to back it up.

By: Ron Britton

Ron Britton — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 17:55:32 +0000

Sorry, ParrotLover. You've missed an important detail. Evolution is a Fact and a Theory. ("Animals change over time. That's a fact." And that is the very definition of evolution. The theory — how it works — explains the fact.)

By: Arkonbey

Arkonbey — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:45:43 +0000

Aye aye!

By: ParrotLover77

ParrotLover77 — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:42:06 +0000

Man I hate to sound like a fundie apologist, but I always cringe when I see “evolution is a fact.” Evolution is a theory. Now, in real science, a theory is the best thing something can be and that is not a bad thing! For instance, gravity is a theory. Whereas an apple falling to the ground is the fact. The theory explains the fact. Animals change over time. That’s a fact. How they change is explained by the process of evolution, which is a theory.

Sorry, Ron. I know you know the difference, but when we sink to the fundie level and start making the word “theory” sound like less than it is (eg, making it sound like just a “hypothesis”), then we let the fundies win a little bit by letting them change the argument…