I have tried to ague my case articulately - eventually I received far more abuse than I gave (some people even descended to typos - not mentioning any names!) - people seem to have a cupboard where they hide facts like those so they can concentrate on the handy bits.
You want to talk about abuse - talk about it all
I believe that if to redefine folk song in the way people are doing without open and honest discussion is suicidal in respect of keeping our music alive.
To do so is to junk over a century's research - we have already had an example where Francis J Child couldn't tell the difference between his formal poetry arse from his ballad elbow.
Respect is a multi-way street involving the people who discuss now and the countless number from the past whose work is being undermined by a Brave New Theory
Jim Carroll