Posted on 12/11/2009 8:50:14 PM PST by Phileleutherus Franciscus
Too bad I got zapped. I was going to post this last night, but thought calmer heads would prevail. Guess I was wrong.
What has become of the FreeRepublic I joined so long ago?
Years ago, when this forum was young and gaining membership, the dedication to conservative principles was the theme that attracted many who were looking for an outlet to voice matters of political opinion in light of the Lewinsky Scandal. It was my primary reason for signing up. It gave me solace when I was racked in pain with a broken neck and back from an accident. It has been a place where returning the kindness shown to me has been easy, and rewarding. It has been a place to share the horror of 9/11, and the tears of the nation, the celebration of birth, and the tragedy of death and loss.
It has become a home of sorts, where I can share my experiences, and laugh at some of the wit and humor of so many valuable people. I have laughed with you, and cried for you and with you.
But that has all changed.
Through the years I have seen people come and go and be purged for political views that became, not one of debate, but one of demeaning personal attacks on those who did not agree with them politically. Once again, that has reared its ugly head here at FR and in the form of religious beliefs.
Recently, there has been a new creeping fascism by a small group of Creation Science believers into FR. These few individuals would have you believe that the Earth is 6000 years old, there is no other belief other than Jesus Christ, a great flood killed everyone and everything, leaving only a few survivors on a boat, which make little sense, and that any other opinion that does not agree with them either makes you either a ‘liberal’, an atheist, not worthy of posting here at FR, and not a ‘true’ conservative. They would have you believe the Theory of Evolution is the cause of every human disaster since the time of the printing of Origin of the Species and that all science is a lie. The threads promulgated by these very few proclaim the fact they are ‘right’, while anyone disagreeing or choosing to debate them are ‘wrong’. Some of these individuals have promoted bigotry and personal attacks, which would have gotten any other individual here banned.
Yet, under the protection of the owner of the site, these very few have had the audacity to instill their beliefs into the core of what was once a great conservative site, and is now one that determines your conservatism by your acceptability of Creation Science. It has now become a site that determines your conservatism based on rejection of Mormonism, the Roman Catholic faith, atheism, on any religious belief but their own, and not on conservative values that have nothing to do with religious beliefs, but on what is best for the country and what we revere as America.
This is the worst kind of fanaticism as it pits a particular religious belief against an individuals ability to think. Something that has developed over millions of years, from the use of rudimentary tools to the complexities we enjoy today, an individual’s ability to think sets us apart from most of the other animals. And we are still in the adolescence of that developing technology and intelligence. Look how far we have come from the written word to the printing press to the Internet.
This kind of fanaticism was used by Hitler against the Jews and just about every other race and culture, by the Italians against the African Continent, and by the Japanese against the Chinese. It was used by the Catholic Church in Spain as a weapon to force those not of the Catholic faith underground or tortured to death for heresy. It was part of the Crusades and the slaughter of millions of both Muslims and Christians. A struggle that continues even today, although it pits radical self-serving Islam against the free-thinking individual of any religious belief, basic human freedoms, and forces each of us to stand up to that type of extremism.
There are many religions in this world, and many beliefs in a different ‘god’. History is replete with various religious beliefs that either evolved or were discarded. Even those who do not adhere to the Christian belief should be free to choose what and how they think, and not be condemned by the few who see nothing but their way and dismiss their conservative values. This type of religious fanaticism degrades this forum to the very thing that the DUmmies expect from FR, intolerance of others.
Science is the quest for knowledge. That quest requires that each individual take a look at data and information and make a valued opinion. Science is not perfect, nor has it claimed to have all the answers, otherwise, cancer would be cured tomorrow, food would be grown enough to feed the world, and disease would be eliminated. But that is not the case. It is that quest that has sent us in directions to search for who we are, and where we came from. If the science leads us to god, or whatever deity that created the universe, then so be it, but to dismiss it is to ignore the progress of generations, and reinforces an ignorance that only education can alleviate. By using one book as the sole source to how everything has come to where it is now, is ignorance on the highest level. And to use that belief as a ruler to measure your worthiness as a conservative is beyond the pale.
I will miss the valuable wealth of knowledge of the gun-owners here. I will miss the total dedication to the memory of our brave fallen heroes, and the devotion to our military around the world. I will miss the realistic social and fiscal conservative values I found here that reinforces my own political views.
I will not miss the tolerated religious bigotry, the insulting, uneducated, demeaning tripe that passes for knowledge by those few who would dictate to the rest.
Yes, Jim, it is your site to do with as you please, but to allow the few to demean and dictate to the many what beliefs are acceptable and ‘conservative’, and with your blessing, is intolerable to me and probably many, many other conservatives here. It shows that the intolerance the left accuses conservatives of being does live on FreeRepublic. Maybe this kind of self purging is what you wanted allowing the sort of tripe we have seen lately. It serves conservatism very little and demeans everything you started this site to be.
I will continue to fight for conservative causes, pro-life causes, pro-gun legislation, and real conservative candidates to help us get this country of ours back to where it should be. It just won’t be here, where my beliefs in that conservatism will be questioned because my religious beliefs are not coincidental with the owner.
I pray for our country and those who fight for her, in whatever capacity they can.
Please remove my name from all ping lists.
Goodbye and good luck.
Black Swan.
Yes, pretty much!
I was unfamilliar with the term (had to look that one up), but the concept seems like an old friend. So much of what we call scientific advancement is just fortuitous serendipity.
Thank you!
I still love the site for the news and comments. There is an “abuse” button if needed.
If you don't read those threads, how do you know those people we're nuts?
I say don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.
Use it wisely!
Why? Does your phone ring at home every time you get pinged?
Cry me a river.....
IATZ
ping
“Yet, under the protection of the owner of the site, these very few have had the audacity to instill their beliefs into the core of what was once a great conservative site, and is now one that determines your conservatism by your acceptability of Creation Science.”
Uh.... Yeah, right. If I’m reading this right, the writer thinks we should ban people who believe in Creation Science. Sounds more like the Dummie site to me.
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I guess someone is disgruntled that THEY couldn’t install their beliefs into the core of a great site, even though they certainly had the audacity to try.
Merry Christmas!
If you leave just go. We don’t need to hear from your ego.
Curious. Taking a look at the posts of ‘Pistolshot’, I can see nothing that he is complaining about in his recent posting history.
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/by:pistolshot/index?brevity=full;tab=comments
Can you explain this???
Darwinists are so deluded about why they’ve gotten the axe.
It feels so much better to pretend that it was because of their belief and support of *science* and evolution.
SO much easier to be the martyr, which doesn’t wear well on a darwinist with the kind of obnoxious, troll like behavior they exhibit when a creationist thread is posted.
Nobody pings them to it and yet they find them, swarm them, and ridicule and mock everything anyone else believes and stands for.
I avoid religious discussions whenever possible. I’m not here to discuss religion, I’m here for the conservative political discussion.
Eleven years at FR and I concur ... if a subject line doesn't interest me, in terms of voicing an opinion or debating an issue, I simply don't go there.
Neither judging nor taking sides it does seem like a lot of the Religion threads are filled with some pretty cranky people on a regular basis.
In a totally gay way.
I go there and piss people off.
On purpose.
“Anytime Hitler is invoked in any form in a post, the debate is lost.”
I know what you mean, and you are right when that name is invoked as a kind of slur without argument.
It is a little broad though, I think. I’ve seen a few posts on the anti-environmentalism anti-global-warming threads pointing out the Nazi origins of modern-day environmentalism and Hitler’s envolvement with that. That is quite factual. For example:
Hank
I resemble that first remark, and expect you are spot-on with the rest.
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