Showcase Forum Issues and Requests

Since joining it I have been struggling to understand a lot of things about this forum. First there was the messages from moderators right there in the threads, and then I realized there was no personal message system. The strict review of new topics was hard to get used to, but maybe its a good idea. But before the one topic I proposed was accepted I struggled to understand criteria used in judging other proposals.And now what seems to be the most senior of members with 5130 posts (randman) has been yanked from our threads into "showcase" for reasons unknown. Is it a punishment or an honor? I feel more than a little baffled.I must admit however that the quality of posts and discussion here is pretty impressive.

I request access to a new thread in Showcase where randman and I can continue our unfinished conversation started in the thread The implications of quantum physics. without moving the whole thread into Showcase, so that the original thread remains a free discussion of the issue in the EvC forum.Edited by mitchellmckain, : dBCode mistake

---

See my relativistic physics of space flight simimulator at Astahost.com

That is fine with me, but there is some resistance to keeping it open in both places. Maybe someone thinks the whole discussion belongs in Showcase: Since the failure of the dream of the logical positivist, it seems like metaphysics (the study of the nature of reality) is a forbidden subject. It is as if it was decided that if the logical positivists could not get what they wanted then the whole subject of metaphysics must be meaningless. Many simply do not care because the physics obviously must be consulted, which gives the physicists an "unfair" advantage.

---

See my relativistic physics of space flight simimulator at Astahost.com

Another difficulty I have with this EvC forum is that it is purportedly dedicated to the Creation versus Evolution debate, which is an issue that tramples all over the boundaries between science and religion. I see myself as a defender of the boundaries between these two. I consider Creationist "Science" and ID to be pseudoscience, for it is religious rhetoric pretending to be science. And yet I find this discussion of the implications of quantum mechanics wandering over the boundary into a philosophical and religous discussion and so I am puzzled as to why this happened since this has never happened to any of my threads in thescienceforum. And it my effort to discover the reason for this is what uncovered troubling things about this EvC forum. It was a moderator who put the thread in the science section, but the real trouble is that there is no proper place for my thread at all.I now percieve that this forum only recognizes a one sided boundary. Religion cannot speak on scientific issues but apparently it thinks that science can speak on religious issues. It sets up a large forum area entitled Science. If the science section was really science it would not pretend to address the issue of creation versus evolution at all, but at most would simply talk about evolution as would the classes in the Biology department at a university. At least thescienceforum had a religion section in which I could put a thread that I knew would go over the boundary into religious issues. By the way this EvC forum is set up, it seems to put science in the position of passing judgement on religious belief and that is very wrong. It is not the task of science to do any such thing.The section on social and religious issues does not balance the science section at all. The very title (not to mention subsections) clearly suggest that this is intended to be an objective discussion of religion and social issue and NOT to represent the religious point of view. So while I was initially impressed by the quality of discusssion here, I am quickly becoming disapointed. I think that the claim that this EvC forum provides a place for the discussion of the controversy between Creation and Evolution is a fraud. I can understand this as a counter to the fraud of Christians putting up Creationism and ID as science. But one fraud does not justify another.Maybe my thread belongs in Showcase after all. In fact, maybe the whole debate on Creationism versus Evolution belongs in Showcase.Edited by mitchellmckain, : added explanation

---

See my relativistic physics of space flight simimulator at Astahost.com

Well I shall think about what you say. I admit that the Evolution vs Creation issue is not an easy one to handle and you guys have been working on it a while, and I cannot claim experience in a similar effort.In "The implications of quantum qhysics", I clearly acknowledge that I am leaving the realm of science to discuss philosophy, to explore the nature of reality in ways that there can be no scientific evidence to support it. So I am still not entirely sure where this thread belongs. In thescienceforum I would have put it in the either the religion or philosophy section.How about something like a philosophy section. A kind of neutral territory which relies on reason alone and niether scientific nor biblical evidence. At least there should be a section like this under "Social and Relious issues". I mean you already know that I do not think the title "Social and Relious Issues" is quite right, but their should be a philosophy section somewhere. What about calling the "Science" section "Scientific evidence" and the other section "Other Considerations: Biblical, Philosophical and Social".

---

See my relativistic physics of space flight simimulator at Astahost.com

That is what I was afraid of. A place ruled by smugness for the torture of fools. Not much place in that for a Christian with contempt this creation "science" nonsense is there. As for educating fellow Christians I prefer to do this in an atmosphere of friendship. I shall leave the job of crushing humiliation for the more stubborn fools to someone else. I am more interested in reconcillation by a clear recognition of the limitations of both science and religion.

---

See my relativistic physics of space flight simimulator at Astahost.com

In my effort to describe and explain the uneasiness that I have been feeling about the setup of this place (this EvC Forum), I have used too much "eloquence" (more concerned with displaying my own clever use of words than with the feelings of the people I was writing to).It was not my intention to threaten leaving, criticize the administrators, or to tell anyone else what they should do. The word "smugness" was intended to explain my distaste for the activity I was describing not to pass judgement upon anyone, so my choice of words were not the best. Nor do I feel qualified to pass judgement on the efforts of this forum. It is difficult to compare with other forums because few are so ambitious to dedicate themselves to such a controversial subject.I really am a rather passive and inoffensive guy, quite unsuited to evangelism, prefering apologetics for Christianity. I can lose my temper but I assure you that nothing said in this forum has offended me. It is only I who have stumbled and offended others (perhaps). I am also not a great fan of debate, whether I am good at it or not, for I aspire to communication and I think debate is limiting. Debate can get a little too involved in playing games of rhetoric for the sake of victory.In any case, I was only expressing the difficulty I was having in finding an appropriate place in this forum. So... the Science section may not be a place where I will post very often (there are other options anyway) OR... maybe I will get more used to the place and understand it better with time. Edited by mitchellmckain, : spellingEdited by mitchellmckain, : more spelling

---

See my relativistic physics of space flight simimulator at Astahost.com