The Flood, fossils, & the geologic evidence

Hi all!I posted to this thread as Percy before noticing that Adminnemooseus had requested summaries. I wasn't expecting this at around only 120 posts, and especially with Calypsis4 it does seem to take some time to engage him in discussion of the evidence he presents, so I posted a note to Adminnemooseus over at the admin forum.But I haven't heard back yet, so until I do I think normal discussion in this thread should resume.Edited by Admin, : Change author.

Hi everyone!I know I said I'm not moderating this thread, but the diminishing quality of discussion over the last couple pages is concerning, so I'd just like to encourage everyone to stick with it. Keep your focus on the topic and not on the misdeeds, supposed or otherwise, of those you're in debate with.We moderators have held a very light rein of late and allowed some threads to become more wild than is usually the case here, but truth be told, most participants have handled this difficult discussion environment with tact and aplomb and so we've kept our distance.We could hand out more suspensions, but this brings objections from both sides that are not without legitimacy. As long as discipline and decorum is only a minor casualty I'd like to continue maintaining a light moderation hand.Edited by Admin, : Grammar.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Hi Robert,As has been the case in other threads, you are posting unsupported assertions. Your history is that you distract attention from a thread's topic as attention increasingly focuses on trying to get you to support your assertions, which you never do. For this reason, please stop posting to this thread. Thanks.Your considerate manner of participation is greatly appreciated, and if you would begin providing the rationale and evidence behind your positions you could become a very valuable creationist contributor to EvC Forum.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Hi Buz,It wasn't so long ago that you were restricted from posting in the science forums because of your inability or unwillingness to argue from evidence. You were permitted back in to the science forums after committing to keep your arguments focused on evidence, but you're not doing this. Efforts to reach an understanding with you about what was desired in terms of evidence have not been successful.You only just joined this thread, I haven't interacted with you in this thread, and I'm only telling you precisely the same things I have been telling you in other threads and in PMs for quite some time now, so I have no compunction whatsoever in taking this action.You leave me no choice but to reinstate your restriction from the science forums. Please do not participate in threads in the science forums from this time forward.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Hi Robert,In your posts you always tell us what you believe, but you never tell us the evidence and rationale you used to reach your conclusions. If you like you could try describing the evidence that leads you to conclude that the layers in the geologic column were laid down by a single great event. For as long as you support your assertions with evidence you can continue participation, not only in this thread but in any thread.What I'd like to avoid seeing in any thread is repeated statements of viewpoint with nary any supporting evidence. It turns the rest of the thread's participants into beggars for evidence with the effect that the topic itself receives little attention. When I see that pattern I step in. Both you and Buzsaw are in this category, and you both seem to believe that merely stating what you think happened is evidence.So go ahead and resume participation, but don't forget the evidence. If I don't see evidence I will again ask you to cease participating in this thread.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Hi IamJoseph,You should keep your focus on the science in the science threads, not on the Bible. The Bible can serve as a source of ideas and inspiration, and as a guide to where to find evidence, but cannot itself be used as evidence.I'm not moderating this thread at the moment, but as of now I am recusing myself for two days, after which I will begin moderating this thread, and if you're still posting Biblical arguments in this thread then I will suspend you for 30 days.You've been posting Biblical arguments in a number of science threads recently, despite requests to stop. If this continues you will be suspended, and because of your persistence it will be for long periods. I appreciate the courtesy and cordiality you bring to discussions, but that is not a license for ignoring the Forum Guidelines.The creationist position is not just that the Bible is true, but that the Bible is true and that the evidence from the real world says its true. In the science threads you have to focus on the evidence that says the Bible is true, not the Bible.There are a number of religious threads here at EvC Forum where you may make your Bible-based arguments.

Hi IamJoseph,This is a response both to this message and to your previous one, Message 337.I am not taking any position on the issues in this debate. You were discussing women's rights in Message 335, and most of your post was quoting the Bible verses that Frako provided. This is both off-topic and inappropriate for a thread in one of the science forums. You started the off-topic diversion with this off-topic claim in your Message 331:

9. That all laws of the judiciary, ethicality, human rights, animal rights, women's rights, separation of religion and state - are contained in the Hebrew bible - exclusively.

Please stay on-topic and do not make Biblical claims in science threads. Focus on the evidence.

Hello everyone!I don't think Adminnemooseus was aware that I was already moderating the topic, so I've reopened it.Note to IamJoseph: Please stay on-topic. Adminnemooseus is a bit quicker on the trigger than I am with regard to threads drifting off-topic, but obviously we both thought you were off-topic. I'm having trouble keeping you on-topic in other threads. If you don't control this tendency yourself then eventually, to make it stop as it consumes a great deal of moderator time, I'll have to suspend you. I know you believe you're making sense, but the true measure of whether you're making sense is if others think you are making sense.

Hi Portillo,IamJoseph introduced the universe into the discussion and was alerted to the fact that he was off-topic. If you and Nuggin would like to discuss the universe then you should find a thread in the Big Bang and Cosmology forum.

Hello IamJoseph,If you're not going to constructively contribute to discussion of this thread's topic then please stop participating here. Thanks.

The Bible is not the topic here. Please stop posting to this thread.

I agree that it would be a mistake to take the originator's opening self characterization as a statement of the thread's topic. His second sentence and the subsequent presentation of evidence is why this was promoted as a science thread: If you would like to discuss evidence for the flood then please proceed, by all means.But let me add that you are exhausting moderator patience. The science forums are for science. I know you want to discuss the Bible, but that's what the religious threads are for. The moderator team has been very clear about this with you, over and over again. You can use the Bible as the source of inspiration for all your ideas, but if you want to discuss those ideas in the science forums then you must support them with evidence, not Bible discussion.