Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Niels Peter Lemche <npl AT teol.ku.dk>]

It is rather interesting--illustrated by the attached mail--that some people
on the list seem constantly to play the trick: Your are going after me
rather than after what I said, thereby sidestepping the issue that you have
to answer an attack on your opinions at all. Some take any negative reply to
be ad hominem. To a--excuse me--ultra conservative, any attack on one's
position seems to be the same as to attack the person in question ad
hominem. You are attacking this person's religion since the
ultra-conservative knows the truth in advance. Therefore anyy attack on an
opinion expressed by such a person must be 'ad hominem'. This trick has been
played so many times over the last few months that it creates a kind of
pattern, but it is not very decent to hide behind the charter of the list:
You are attacking me ad hominem and that is not allowed! It is an abuse of
the concept and only says that the people in question do not want to discuss
at all except on their own premises and within their own parameters.

So undoubtedly this will also be taken as 'ad hominem' or as concerning
religious matters--and it really only concerns proper and improper behavior
in a discussion involving the lay as well as the academy.

NPL



Fra:    Peter Kirk[SMTP:peter_kirk AT sil.org]
Svar til:       Peter Kirk
Sendt:  17. februar 2000 18:13
Til:    Biblical Hebrew
Emne:   Re[5]: FW: Just a clarification

Bringing the name "Velikovsky" into this argument can have no purpose 
other than ad hominem argument, which is not permitted on this list. 
Aside from that, you are relying only on hearsay, see the comments 
below.

Peter Kirk