By the way I have never shot a crossbow...
Don't feel bad about that. Most people who voice an opinion for or against crossbows have never shot one. Fortunately, I have shot, and hunted with, crossbows. I've also shot, and hunted with, compounds so I know a bit about how they compare.
...but I don't feel I'm better than someone else that does.
I hesitate to speak for parker1, but I think you're reading more into his post than he actually wrote.
To be blunt, I think anyone who shoots and practices with his chosen hunting tool a lot during the offseason - be it bow, gun or crossbow - trying to improve his shooting skill and learning how it will perform in all weather conditions has every right to feel ethically, if not morally, superior to the guys who totally ignore shooting until the day before opening day. There are way too few of us that fall into the former category and way too many self-proclaimed hunters, across the board, that fall into the latter category. But it takes little imagination to see that a huge majority of the guys who shoot compounds now (remember that those of us on these forums comprise a very tiny portion of all bowhunters) will flock to the crossbow when they are eventually legalized because they think it will be easier.
They will THINK they are 'cheating' because they think they can finally have a weapon that demands none of their time or effort. How wrong they will be! But that will be their iintent.
And then, when all those guys start buying crossbows instead of compounds, what do you think will happen to compounds? Here's how I think it will play out...
The manufacturers will lose sales. Lost sales mean decreased profits. Decreased profits means less money will be spent on research and development. Compound bow technology will stagnate. The new bows won't be any better than the ones they came out with last year, so most folks that now buy one or two new bows every year will keep their money in their pockets and hang onto last year's bow instead of buying a new one. Compound sales will drop even further
That means most R&D money will flow into developing crossbows instead, because the manufacturers have to follow the market or go out of business. So, crossbow technology will flourish, that end of the market will run wild and compounds will become practially obsolete.
It's not a wild fantasy because I saw that exact thing happen to the recurve market when compounds got legalized. I wasn't around then, but the exact same thing happened to all-wood bows when Fred Bear started putting linear fiberglass on his bows. I'm talking historical precedent. Now, most of the traditional market is a montage of custom bowyers across the country. It's basically a cottage industry now, with a couple of exceptions.
Problem is, I can't see any way of preventing history from repeating itself. I'd bet within the next 20 years, the only people left hunting with bows will be traditionalists. Everyone else will be hunting with crossbows.