[I agree with Duane's comments, but will add a few of my
own].
>This "dialogue" with Fern Jeremiah (or is it Jeremiah Fern?) is
>somewhat distressing. I'm inclined to think that someone with
>the faith meme this far ingrained is beyond help and any
>resources devoted to the discussion can be better spent elsewhere.
This is probably true, at least in Virus's early stages. Some people
will be more receptive than others, and we should try to convert
them before going after the "hard sells".
>Does that make me as close-minded as the fundamentalist?
I don't see how this would follow at all -- you're just making
an (informed) decision of how to allocate your resources.
>I never envisioned Virus to be an evangelical religion. Does
>the lack of proselytizing put us at a severe disadvantage with
>religions that do?
Yup. On the other hand, we *are* proselytizing somewhat, e.g.,
by mentioning Virus on the Extropy list. Such low-key strategies
are probably more effective with the people we are trying to
interest, most of whom probably have anti-proselytizing memes.
If and when Virus starts becoming a major force, we might want
to take a more active approach to "reaching the masses".
-Ken