Due to a confluence of factors I am going to terminate most of my participation at TOL. I need to thank Lon for inadvertently helping me come to that decision. The recent discussion with Lon dealing with Einstein prompted me to (once again) do a moderately in-depth review of Einstein’s life. Einstein realized the regime he was under in Germany was actively moving towards stifling an academic environment which it felt threatened by. When it became clear that he was powerless to halt the impending purge of both “undesirables” and academics, he opted to simply move to a new culture that was more receptive to an unfettered exchange of ideas.
I am not in any degree an Einstein, nor do I think TOL is moving towards a purge of all those who do not conform to its preferred beliefs. Nevertheless, I have spent a significant amount of my limited time at TOL, sometimes to the detriment of other studies that I should have been pursuing. And the moderators at TOL, using their quaint way of talking, have indicated they dislike me being too “disruptive.” My departure from TOL will allow me to do some seriously overdue reprioritizing, and will stop my "disruptive" participation in the TOL regime. I leave only a small legacy behind at TOL, but my 15+ years here have been quite fruitful in helping me gain a much clearer (though sad) understanding of the Creationist mindset.
Thanks to all, whether our interactions have been pleasant or not so much. Michael, thanks for the amazingly long and varied thread, and allowing me to own the thread these last few months since you passed it on to patrick jane and he passed it on to me last year. I now formally relinquish it back into your (and your many disembodied friends’) hands.
