The people who post here are those (on both sides) who are already convinced of their "rightness" and while we sometimes see some minor shifts (generally in scientific terms and away from literal creation science), most of the long-term posters are complete entrenched.
i want to contradict this, slightly. i can't speak for other members, but i can speak for myself. one of the threads brought up recently was started a while ago, and contains a post or two mine from two year ago.
so i had the opportunity to see how my own views had changed in that time. and it was much more than i thought.
The important battle is here is for the hearts and minds of the lurkers and those who end up here via google or other mechanisms.
maybe i'm abnormal, but i'm here for myself. i'm here so i think about things, so i learn new things, and so i refine my arguments and beliefs the hard way -- by grinding them against those of others. i consider this sort of thing quite vital. otherwise i sit content in my knowledge and convinced of my own correctness.
from the lurker's point of view, i fear i may be misrepresented. even phat was suprised when i trotted out and displayed my former fundamentalist colors. i argue what i think are good arguments, often for the sake of argument alone. simply testing HOW good the argument is. often (though i try to indicate it) i will actually argue points contrary to my own belief. i find it very entertaining and educational.
Am I attacking the messenger? No I'm just highlighting aspects of their expertise and their bias that the reader should consider.
there was a debate a few months back where i dismissed something from aig out of hand, saying that aig was not an honest or reputable source regarding the bible. i was accused, of course, of an ad-hominem attack. probably rightly so -- but i had to explain that the sheer number of times i have caught them in falsehoods and distortions in attempts at apology has lead me to believe that they do not intend to be honest at all. if a source continually misrepresents things, it's wise to be skeptical of their material in general.
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