Although I'm only an occasional reader of this list (for information and
insights on topics which seem might be of interest) I believe that the
lengthy discussion in this thread has been both healthy and - to me at least
- very informative.

Commentators here certainly have a much greater knowledge of the TJ - SH
subject than I do.  Yet I think it is unfortunate that something which might
have been discussed less stridently appears to have degenerated into
something commentators now seem quite bitter about.  Then too, I have not
been beating my head against the wall at length over certain aspects of this
subject the way it seems those commenting have done (and with quite
detailed, extensive knowledge and good credentials).

And while not wanting to jump in as a member on one side of a tag-team
wrestling match, IMO the search for "truth" does not include the suppression
of serious and well-founded minority reports.  Such minority reports may
indeed contain the "truth," and, even if it is ultimately shown that they
don't, common courtesy and academic rigor IMO demand that they be noted and
published for the record.

While I have many Jordan cousins, Dan Jordan is not among them.  I know
zilch about him.  But IMO the search for "truth" also does not include an
apparent unwillingness to address in detail the proposal - of someone
qualified to ask - asking for a restudy based on reviewing ALL the data
available.  I'm under the impression from this thread that that is what Dan
Jordan did.  By such re-looks we have often learned that the minority report
was correct - such as that the world is not flat was indeed "true."   As
someone mentioned, none of us is perfect and we all have faults -- and we
all should try to improve.

Perhaps part of the problem is that the "soft sciences" such as history,
sociology, psychology, etc., likely never will be able to "prove" hard
"truths" such as those provable by scientific methods as in physics, and as
I understand it, to an extent by DNA.  Hopefully "soft science"
practitioners will do the best they can with as much academic rigor and
honesty as they can muster.

BTW, is there some hard evidence (or preponderance of circumstantial
evidence) that TJ was aware of another free man (or a number of freemen)
having coerced sex with SH at the time it allegedly was going on?  I thought
he spent quite a lot of time in his library reading and writing.

Of course the law gives dead men no rights, so one certainly may make that
allegation with impunity and without having to establish it beyond a
reasonable doubt.  But is that moral and academically justifiable in today's
world?  I don't know - I only ask.

Mark
(Owner of only a BA in a soft science [not history] and now a retired field
grade military officer)

______________________________________
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html