Summations Only

I wouldn't say you're despised. As was pointed out, we don't know you. When we disagree with your points, it really is nothing personal. It's science and the way that science works. We all try to pick holes in other people's ideas, it's how science works - falsifiability.I always welcome attempts to pick holes in my opinions because it helps me to learn, to maybe change or refine my opinions and thus know more about a subject that fascinates me, namely science.It can be hard when you are told that many of your preconceived ideas don't hold water or that you have a fundamental misunderstanding of something, but that's how we all learn. So don't think you're despised because people disagree with you. Don't think you're despised at all because you're not.Stick around and learn, just like all of us on here learn every day from posters who are experts in fields we know nothing about. As a molecular biologist, I've learned so much about cosmology from our resident cosmologists, stuff that I'd never have had an opportunity to find out about if it wasn't for this forum.

First post in this thread Currently last post in this thread Hmmmm.

There is rage and there is anger. You don't, however, have to express them. As adults we have to control our feelings to an extent. It doesn't mean that we have to suppress or deny them, just control how they manifest themselves.Be honest here. If you had demonstrated an outburst like the one you demonstrated here when you put on all those replies dwise1 has highlighted because you got angry in McDonalds or in class, chances are you would have been bundled off as a nutter. Now, I'm not calling you a nutter, so don't go off on one. I'm saying that the perception would be that you belonged in a white coat with fashionable long sleeves and buckles.Being in touch with your feelings doesn't mean you have to explode into incoherence. Dig down and find out the cause of the rage. It was explained to you at the beginning of this thread that your perception of how everyone felt about you was wrong. You obviously don't believe this. No-one hates you, no-one despises you because of your point of view.Can you take a step back and look at the situation objectively? I think that a lot of the pressure would be taken off you if you got involved in a one on one debate, but first I think you should take some time away from the contentious threads and potter in the lighthearted ones, or even take a break from the forum if it's having such a detrimental effect on you. NOTHING is worth all this angst.

How on earth do I sum up this thread?It started with foreveryoung's post where he felt that he was despised. No amount of explaining that it wasn't personal has convinced him otherwise and I don't know if it ever will. I know I don't despise him for his views or hate him for his opinions, but how do I convince him of this?I think that there has been confusion in his mind over his position being despised and him being despised. I'd even go so far as to say that "despised" isn't really the right word, neither is "hated" - "held in contempt" may be more accurate.I'm going to use this post to summarise for foreveryoung where the contempt is directed. There are certain creationist and ID supporters and organisations which know what they are saying has been shown to be false, yet they continue to repeat their "facts". That is intentional lying. They can't tell the truth because it would show the intellectual and scientific bankruptcy of what they are teaching and that would be financial suicide.Unfortunately, they are able to make their arguments sound logical enough that many believers are taken in. These believers, as dwise1 said, are being sent out to "fight the good fight" with bows and arrows against machine guns and RPGs and the people who are sending them out know this. It's an utter betrayal of their followers. Is it surprising that these dishonest organisations are held in contempt? Not only do they lie, but they let down those who put their trust in them. Their lies are also held in contempt because they are lies - not mistakes, LIES!!!These organisations also give followers the false impression that opponents will not be able to withstand the onslaught when the truth is that the organisations themselves failed so they're sending out cannon-fodder in their place. This behaviour is held in contempt.I don't know if foreveryoung will finally understand that the contempt is not directed at him, but at his arguments and those who supplied him with those arguments in the full knowledge that they were false.foreveryoung is in the unfortunate position of having accepted that for the bible to be true Genesis must be true. That's a big stick used to keep adherents in line, representing that a denial of a literal Genesis is a denial of Christ. It presents the false dichotomy of believe Genesis or lose your faith and a loss of faith can be terrifying.I wish foreveryoung only the best, whatever he decides to do. I would hope that he will understand that no-one hates or despises him.