So... I actually read through this whole post, and now I'm wondering if I should still respond. Will it be worth it to say what I have to say now that the discussion has died down? And will what I have to say be appreciated regardless?

More often than not, I answer "no" to those questions in my head. I don't feel like there is a lot of respect going around here on these forums, and I don't see it here in Intellectual Discussion, either. "Why don't you get your head out of your ass?" Is that an acceptable way to address someone in ID who you don't agree with? Apparently it is; I reported a post with a statement quite similar to it some time ago, and nothing was done about it. I don't really feel like talking to people who are going to take that tone with me.

They don't even have to be that obvious, either; they could just deliver a backhanded insult to me, like I've received time and time again in the Music Forum. I used to love the music forum, but the people who think their opinion is above all elses' have taken it down a notch for me. I see those same people post here in ID. Arrogance and looking down your nose at others is not going to earn you a great discussion, unless that person hasn't caught you in the act in the past.

Another part of the problem is that I don't feel educated enough on the subject half the time to give my opinion. I feel like I should be giving a college level essay whenever I'm posting in this forum. Clearly, I don't want to take the effort to do that with every post I make, so I'm not going to post in here a lot. Although it comes to my attention that others probably don't take the time to research like it's a college level essay, so maybe I shouldn't, either. A lot of people just spout stuff without backing their facts up, so maybe I shouldn't worry about it, either. Until someone calls me on it (or gives me a ridiculously long list of questions to answer all at once, where there's pretty much no possible way I'm going to answer it right there and then. I'm looking at you, Sasquatch ) Maybe I should call other people on it, too.

Really, it boils down to past experiences. A lot of times I tried to argue with people who were older, more mature, and/or more knowledgable than me on the subject we were discussing, and I really couldn't hold my own against that, so I have this perception that every time I post in ID, I'm going to make a fool of myself. Or at least half the time. Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom