I never found Holmes's contributions anything to celebrate
If ever you leave for personal matters and decide to come back, perhaps people will feel the same of you since you have a tendency to alienate. Or maybe they'd have enough common courtesy to not drag you through the mud the first chance they get.
But honesty, NJ, we already have the POTM threads; is all of EvC to be a mutual admiration society for a select few individuals?
Because saying hello to someone after a hiatus is different than nominating them for a POTM.
Holmes, in his past incarnation, was one of the chief figures guilty of the latter.
Holmes and I are vastly different in many ways. We don't see eye to eye about most things. But we seem to be able to converse positively despite our differences. Hands down, the quality I liked most admired was his candor, which seems to be the one quality you think he lacks. Chiroptera is another affable fellow who happens also to be my polar opposite. I don't think we see one thing eye to eye. And that's fine. We seem to be able to discuss our different view points constructively.
Yeah, and I helped. I'm doing my best to change. Is Holmes?
I just really don't see the things you describe about Holmes. Sure, we're all fallible beings who can be tempted to do things we shouldn't do. I'm sure most of us could have handled things better in certain instances than we have. In my honest opinion, I think Holmes handles criticism better than most.
If the past few days are any indication he's just going to keep doing what he's been doing, using dishonesty and misrepresentation to defend positions like everybody knows he does, like I've proven he does, even as they become more and more ridiculous, because he simply can't ever bear to admit when he's wrong.
Give me an example so I can understand your frustration. Please understand, it seems you talk more poorly about him than me! That seems inconceivable given the fact you have less in common with me, with just as many, if not more, heated arguments.
And how is a thread about Holmes's return not the appropriate topic to raise concerns about the return of Holmes?
Alright, you make a good point here. It is perhaps an appropriate place, and you aren't violating any forum rules. Maybe for me its a question of good manners...? If you left and came back, and some people were rejoicing your return, I wouldn't trash you. I'd keep it to myself. I guess I would think of it as mean-spirited at the worst and tacky in the least.
Plenty of people trash Faith every time it's suggested she be "allowed" to return. Holmes's conduct was just as bad, potentially even worse for how it usually went unnoticed.
You and Holmes have been here about three years longer than I have, so it is possible that I have missed a lot of nasty dialogue over the years. But in the time that I've known the both of you, I haven't seen anything so egregious that you feel this upset over.
A good start would be if he started taking on some of the creationists with some good science. I'd savor the chance to actually learn something from Holmes, like I used to, years ago. (So, actually, I guess when I said "never", I was lying. There actually was a time when I would look forward to what Holmes had to say.)
What changed?
“This life’s dim windows of the soul, distorts the heavens from pole to pole, and goads you to believe a lie, when you see with and not through the eye.” -William Blake