From: Iain Strachan (iain.strachan.asa@ntlworld.com)
Date: Wed Oct 29 2003 - 15:25:18 EST
Since David F. Siemens has shown absolutely no remorse for the slanderous
comments he made, but simply reinforced them, I have decided that this list
is no longer a place where I belong. I believed (mistakenly) that this was
a place where ideas could be exchanged in a gentlemanly, even a Christian,
fashion.
However, it is quite clear that double-standards are being excercised by the
list as a whole (though there are some honourable exceptions). As long as
you accept the majority view that theistic evolution is the way things
happened, you can do no wrong and can get away with absolute murder - the
most disgraceful comments.
But if you doubt evolution, for whatever reason, then every word you utter
gets picked over and challenged, and you are accused of all sorts of things,
and told to apologise (witness George Murpy's recent sense of humour
failure at Vernon's ironic use of the word "Gulag").
I will no longer tolerate having to read this kind of stuff which simply
raises my hackles, and hence I am withdrawing from the ASA list immediately
in protest. I should have done it ages ago. Matthew 21:22 says "But anyone
who is angrywith his brother is in danger of judgement." At present, the
only way I can avoid this anger is to unsubscribe from the list and not to
have to listen to all this shameful stuff.
I would like to thank those members of the list with whom I have been able
to have interesting and gracious conversations. You know who you are. In
particular, Walter, thanks for the discussions we had off-list about my
thoughts on evolution and genetic algorithms. You encouraged me to post
them to the list in general, but I never got round to it; and frankly do not
believe they would be analysed in a fair or objective manner, just as
anything to do with Biblical numerics is not analysed here in a fair or
objective manner. However, if you think the comments I sent you off list
would be of some interest to the list, then please feel free to forward
them. I shall not, however be taking further parts in the discussion.
A final thought for David F. Siemens:
"But anyone who says 'You fool' will be in danger of the fire of hell".
(Matt 21:22b).
In the light of the above, I would say that "braying jackass" was distinctly
pushing your luck.
Goodbye.
Iain.
----- Original Message -----
From: "D. F. Siemens, Jr." <dfsiemensjr@juno.com>
To: <iain.strachan.asa@ntlworld.com>
Cc: <allenroy@peoplepc.com>; <asa@calvin.edu>
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2003 8:23 PM
Subject: Re: Wells and Molecular Phylogenies
>
> On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 16:56:31 -0000 "Iain Strachan"
> <iain.strachan.asa@ntlworld.com> writes:
> > David F. Siemens:
> > >
> > > This braying jackass refuses to recognize that bacterial and viral
> > genes
> > > have been incorporated in most genomes by transfer. It has nothing
> > to do
> > > with descent. I find it hard to believe that anyone with even the
> > most
> > > rudimentary familiarity with the literature would make a statement
> > like
> > > Anderson's. I conclude that such falsehood must be deliberate.
> > > Dave
> > >
> >
> > Since Vernon Jenkins has been taken to task and asked to apologise
> > for the
> > relatively minor slip of allowing the word "Gulag" to get into an
> > ironic
> > response, and told by G.M. to apologise, I feel compelled to take
> > issue with
> > the above piece of nastiness, typical of much that I see on the list
> > that
> > goes unchallenged because it is directed at YEC's rather than by
> > them.
> >
> > If the above had actually been directed to a poster on a list,
> > rather than
> > one being cited as a poster, it ought to have been condemned as an
> > outright
> > ad hominem attack, calling the person simultaneously a "braying
> > jackass",
> > and also a liar. I trust Siemens will do the decent thing and
> > apologise
> > for this intemperate outburst. However scientifically valid the
> > point
> > you're making is, David, you have absolutely no right to couch it in
> > such
> > language.
> >
> > Iain Strachan.
> >
> Sorry. I see that I have to apologize to all members of /Equus asinus/
> and /E. hemionus/. At lest one of their members rebuked an erring
> prophet. I should not have associated Anderson with creatures who have
> benefited mankind.
> Dave
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