I hate to pick up String's cause but wasn't "ether" postulated because scientists of the day could not imagine a wave being propagated without a medium? It is what wasn't there that they finally discovered, thanks to the Michelson/Morley experiment. From there, physics took a quantum leap, you might say.

By way of analogy an artist will often use negative space to imply the object of the work. It's everything around the subject and what is NOT there that defines the object. Alas, I can use this same analogy to portray God, so grains of salt all around.

And Stringsinger, any extremist for any cause will attempt to use moderates as patsies or buffers or promoters or whatever they feel will advance their ideology. Marxs called them "useful idiots". It seems that extremists of every stripe have both contempt and plans for someone of more moderate views.