Before I say anything else, I want to take a moment to honor Bill Dembski. That this site exists at all is a tribute to his foresight, and its stature as one of the premier ID forums in the world speaks to his dedication and tireless efforts. When I say “tireless,” I mean it quite literally. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve checked the “sent” line in one of his emails, only to see that he dashed it off at 2:00 AM or some other outrageously late (or is it early?) hour. Bill, thank you for all have done, for all you are doing, and for all you will doubtless continue to do, both here at UD and in your research ventures.
With this change of the guard, what can UD readers expect in the weeks and months ahead? First, let me say what will not change. I am very happy to report that DaveScot will be staying on as our primary moderator. Also, all of our previous contributors, including Dr. Dembski, are staying on, and we can look forward to many more excellent and informative posts from them. Finally, at the present time we have no plans to change the overall “look and feel” of the site.
So what is changing?
First, we have a fantastic new webmaster who has already devoted a great deal of time to improving the technical aspects of the site (e.g., WordPress functionality). Secondly, we have established a non-profit corporation to take ownership of the site. Thirdly, we have embedded a Paypal contribution link and an Amazon “click through” function, and we will soon be adding a Google Ad in our sidebar.
Older readers might say, “This site has always been free. Why have you installed these revenue generators now?” That is a good question, and let me assure you that the site will continue to be absolutely free. Clicking on the Paypal, Amazon, or Google links is, and will be, strictly voluntary. Nevertheless, we hope our readers – if they find this site valuable – will help us financially so that we can improve the quality of the product we deliver to the internet ID community. We will use the funds not to get rich (it is after all, a “non-profit” corporation), but to make further technical improvements to the site and (this is the exciting part to me) to commission scholarly articles for original publication right here at UD!
As for the day-to-day business here at UD, I don’t think you’ll see any huge changes at first. We have decided to loosen our moderation policy somewhat. Trolls and abusive commenters will continue to get the boot – we have no interest in allowing this site to degenerate into an obscene PT-style free-for-all. On the other hand, we want to encourage all commenters who come to us in good faith and respectfully, even if (or perhaps “especially if”) they disagree with us or exasperate us by requiring us to squash the stupid “who designed the designer” argument for the 10,000th time.
We live in exciting times. The Darwinist/materialist hegemony over our culture has definitely peaked, and we are privileged to watch the initial tremors that are shaking the Darwinist house of cards. These are only the beginning of woes for St. Charles’ disciples, and I look forward to one day watching the entire rotten edifice come crashing down. I am persuaded that just as when the Soviet Union went seemingly overnight from “menacing colossus astride the globe” to “non-existent,” the final crash of the House of Darwin will happen with astonishing suddenness. You can be sure that we at UD will be there not only reporting on events, but also lending our intellectual pry bars to the effort.
Best regards to all,
Barry Arrington