I really should know better then this. It's happened to me before, yet will happen to me again. It should be right up there with "Never get involved in a land war in Asia" and "Don't go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line." What, you may ask. "Never discuss anything controversial on a public message board."

I pop into a message board on customer reviews at Amazon to see what's going on every so often. In a thread on the review with the most unhelpful votes, someone posted a review on a creation/evolution topic that has 260 negative votes and only around 20-30 helpful. Someone else posted this response:

Pete, thanks for finding such a ridiculously bad review! I just love it when Christian creations attempt to justify their incredulous mythology by attacking theories that developed from simple observation & measurement of the physical world. If it were up to creationists, people would still believe that the universe is geocentric and the quality of life would be no better than it had been during the middle ages.

Well, being me, I just couldn't leave that alone, and posted the following:

Just have to jump in here. (Anyone who knows me surprised? Just checking.)

Galileo was an evolutionist? Didn't realize that since he lived 200 years before Darwin. Newton? Copernicus?

There were just as many great scientists before Darwin came along as after. Furthermore, there is just as much prejudice on both sides of the issue. And both sides are taking measurements of the world and observing it.

I read a book in college while I was taking a philosophy class. The assignment was to research a topic from both sides and present the arguements on both sides in light of the falicies we'd spent the entire semester learning about. I found a book called Scientists Confront Creationism in my school's library. I figured I was all set. However, article after article was full of nothing but logical falicies.

Just some food for thought. We now return you to your regularly scheduled discussion of reviews with lots of unhelpful votes.

Well, it went downhill from there, with the other person pointing out how anti-science the Roman Catholic Church was and how they didn't pardon Galileo until 1992 (as if I didn't know that). He completely missed my point that not everyone agrees that the THEORY of evolution is a fact. Yet he also is going off about how we need to teach many different view points in schools so that students learn tolerance. I didn't actually say it, but I'm thinking to myself, practice what you preach, buddy.

And now, in a completely unrelated rant, my dad called and left a message on my answering machine. They'd like me to see if I can find a small radio for Mom at Good Guys and bring it up for her to try over Thanksgiving.

We had this conversation last weekend. I dispise the Good Guys for the way they treated me at two different stores when I bought a camera from them. It was my last purchase from the Good Guys ever. Kinda like I will never buy a Toyota. Yet my parents, who have left stores for good for the same treatment, want me to go to the Good Guys and get the radio for Mom if they have it. I will probably give in to keep peace in the family, but it really does bug me that they don't have enough respect for me that they actually asked me to do this. I'm hoping I can find it at Circuit City or Best Buy so I don't have to support the Bad Guys.

Ok, ranting for the day over. Must go eat brunch so I can leave for the book signing in time or I can hit the Reagan and be back in time for a good movie showing. Seth K. and I decided to see it anyway.