I totally sympathise Coyote, this is one of the reasons why I barely participate at EVC anymore, it is virtually pointless.
These people are not interested in learning anything, but their ignorance and stubborness is very frustrating. There was a time when I posted here a lot, but it gets very repetitive as one ignoramus is replaced by another and the same old arguments begin again and again. I used to justify my participance by hoping that some lurkers are grateful for the information that I posted, and I did get quite a lot of emails thanking me for the hard work I put in, I even got a proposal to co-write a book on the origins of ancient Israel! But this constant ignorant and blatant ignoring of evidence is very tedious, and the sad thing is you do know that Peg and Icant will chalk up your leaving as a victory!
They wont think you left for the reasons you gave, they will think that you have left because you cannot defeat their arguments!
But you are doing the right thing, sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and save your sanity.