You may classify this as a rant, but I classify it as something that needs to be discussed in general.
Every FE'er, ever, believes they are open-minded, alternative thinkers. They also believe that we RE'ers are all close-minded conformists. Just as athiests think of Christians.
Well here is what I am getting at. You people are no more open-minded than anyone else. In order to be "open-minded," you would have to be susceptible to a mind change when proper proof is given. So far, anytime some sort of proof has been put into place that clearly proves that the Earth cannot be flat, you dismiss it and answer with a childish "no that's wrong" or the FE equivalent of "just read the FAQ"
Nobody is truly "open-minded." You people think that just because you believe in something that is out of the ordinary, that makes you think you are "open-minded." You will all argue your point until you die, just as RE'ers will argue that the Earth is spherical. You are not "open-minded," because you are also stuck on one idea without chance of change.
Now for the "Alternative thinker" part. What makes a person an "Alternative thinker?" I would say it is the fact that you think something that is not conforming to the general public. Boasting that you are an "Alternative thinker" does not say anything to anyone, so just keep it to yourself, because anybody can think alternatively if they feel like being different.
Tom Bishop is nothing special. He has no degree in Flat Earth beliefs. I have read the things he writes, and his problem is that he doesn't truly have any sort of proof. Somewhere he wrote that he knows that the Earth is flat. Whenever he is presented with something countering the FE theory, he replies once, then is proved wrong, then proceeds to write completely unimportant things. For instance, one person showed a picture of the curvature of the Earth, then Tom says "The camera is a wide angled lense." Afterwards, a person who is a photographer listed out some important information proving him wrong. Where was Tom after that? Nowhere. He simply wants to believe the Earth is flat, but in the back of his mind, he knows he is wrong. That is how everyone that believes in the Flat Earth theory acts.
So next time you read a thread about the Earth being round and you don't have anyway to counteract it, instead of saying "read the FAQ," think to yourself, "Gee, I am open-minded, and this guy is right" and then say "Good point, I guess the Earth really is a sphere."
I want to hear what others think of this. I want a ***GENERAL DISCUSSION*** of this.