To all with whom I have enjoyed discussions on this forum, I have been asked to leave and of course respect the wishes of the forum owner. I cannot respect the reasons given, or the approach taken, but this is his property so I will no longer be posting here.

Good luck to you all, and I hope that contrary to the implications, some good has been found by others here in our discussions, as I found a great deal of good for myself in the perspectives, approaches, and knowledge of others here.

TXStorm

Well, TXStorm, I feel as though we were two ships passing in the night - but it's not as if there aren't plenty of atheist message boards out there. Maybe I'll see you around!

TX,

Believe it or not, I truly respect your intellect. You clearly think through your answers. At the same time, I find your style abrasive. It often seems to me that you feel you had the answer (my interpretation - I am not trying to put words in your mouth), and no matter how much time or thought I put into a reply I would be accused of all manner of logical problems, including but not limited to ad hominem attacks.

That being said, your comments gave me reason to leave and do more reading on some of the logical fallacies you accused me of. Some I now agree with your assessment, and others I do not. Either way, you forced me to read, think, and learn. Regardless of my personal feelings, I have you to thank for that.

Sadly, I will not miss your comments, but I do wish you the best.

Jim

Jim,

I doubt you will believe it but I instantly liked you, even when you were choosing to engage in personal attacks and false accusations. I had hoped that you could overcome the knee-jerk reaction of hating the individual for the existence of refutations of an idea, and in fact still hold onto that hope, though obviously I will never know the end result.

As for our agreement or disagreement on the fallacies in your argument, one of the things I celebrate about reason and reality is that I (and every other individual) is trivial with regard to determining truth. I pointed out what was in fact there, and the fact that I did it is completely unimportant. Had I never noticed or commented upon the fallacies, they would remain fallacies.

As for what you consider abrasive, I understand, and refer to two things which may shed some light on the subject. 1. Even in Socrates time, there was the same reaction against refutation of ideas and arguments, the same treating of some idea or belief as inherent or worse yet identical to the person who held the idea. Socrates was known for saying "Ideas are not our children, we ought not treat them as if they were." 2. The second is offered without any ego, for after all I have nothing whatsoever to do with the existence of this text, but I cannot strongly enough recommend Wendy McElroy's The Reasonable Woman: A Guide to Intellectual Survival, which goes a long way to explaining that refutations and other aspects of good honest, civil, intellectual conversations are not as sadly Pedro and you have characterized them, "Abrasive" and worse.

Unbeliever, Sorry that we did not get a chance to interact. Sadly I crossed the invisible line of daring to point out gross fault with a position Pedro chose to take and so suffered the consequences. Perhaps I will check out another board, but then again, perhaps not.. If you would like to make any recommendations feel free. I will check them out on this thread later.

Kren,

I will miss our discussions. I truly respect and appreciate your zest for life, your ambition, your honesty and your integrity. Seldom is it that we come across others who are so willing to allow reality to determine truth, to drop beliefs shown to be false, and for having that willingness you have my highest respect. Keep up the great attitude and keep strong.

Pedro, I trust I am not violating your "request" by peacefully and considerately ending communication with others here.

TX

This post was last modified: 06-21-2007 11:07 AM by TXStorm.

TX,

I'm a little torn...

On the one hand I wonder if I will breath a little easier now that your will not be around. The fact is that you scared the crap out of me because of your knowledge. You have read and you know a lot. Every time I put my fingers to the keys I wondered, "What hole is TX going to find in this post?" Because of that thought I backed off my postings, not from having nothing to say, I had (and have) plenty, but because I knew I had to earn the post by actually thinking. (Which is what made it any fun) With you not around it might be a little easier.

One the other hand (and this is the side I lean toward), this forum is a much smaller and boring place without you. Thanks to you I have been taking the time and reading some logic books. I knew I had to actually have some knowledge in order to have any meaningful conversation with you. I have been preparing to spar and with you gone I don't know what to do with myself. Its good to know there is somebody out there who is willing to call others out on their fallacies as well as keep reason and logic alive in a world that is getting more stupid by the second. Let me know if you take up residence in a new forum or start your own. I'll be there ready to talk, argue, and learn.

RD

I must say I am greatly upset about your leaving, as one of the main reasons I joined these forums was due to you. If you have another forum you post at or an email address or anything, it would be cool to be able to talk with you. I read before that you refuted the idea that morality was merely a manmade system...I wanted to challenge you on that lol.

If by any chance you felt like doing so, my MSN/Windows Live address is esaul17@gmail.com, as is my email.

Good luck in the future!


EDIT: Also, while I do admire Pedro and The Way of the Mind blog, I must say I am somewhat disappointed that he would ban a member of his forums for arguing against him, even if he believed they were somewhat "abrasive". I think what you had to say had enough merit that he should have been more concerned with the truth of the matter then if you hurt someones feelings. But I agree it is his forum and his decision.

This post was last modified: 06-27-2007 12:43 PM by esaul7.

TX,
As it is much overdue, Goodbye.

Keep in mind though, cyber space is big.

Pedro is right to do whatever he sees fit with his blog and though it means goodbye to you, I do remember it taking quite a long time for me to understand you, and I can understand his point of view.

See you around,

-Kren

A salute to one of our fallen brethren!

Much prop, this forum wont be the same without your witty controversy!