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[[File:PZ Myers.jpg|thumbnail|210px|right|[[PZ Myers]],
[[File:PZ Myers.jpg|thumbnail|215px|right|[[PZ Myers]],
(photo obtained from [http://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinzac/4328612187/ Flickr], see [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.en license agreement]) ]]
(photo obtained from [http://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinzac/4328612187/ Flickr], see [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.en license agreement]) ]]
'''Paul Zachary Myers''', better known as '''PZ Myers''', is a [[liberal]] [[evolutionist]] activist in the [[creation-evolution controversy]], contributing to [[The Panda's Thumb (blog)|The Panda's Thumb]] and [[Pharyngula (blog)|Pharyngula]] blogs. Myers is also an associate [[professor]] of [[biology]] at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM)<ref name="citypages">[http://citypages.com/databank/26/1303/article13908.asp?page=1 ''The Mad Scientist''] City Pages, Volume 26 - Issue 1303, November 23, 2005 Cover story</ref>
'''Paul Zachary Myers''', better known as '''PZ Myers''', is a [[liberal]] [[atheism|atheist]] and [[evolution|evolutionist]] activist in the [[creation-evolution controversy]], contributing to [[The Panda's Thumb (blog)|The Panda's Thumb]] and [[Pharyngula (blog)|Pharyngula]] blogs. Myers is also an associate [[professor]] of [[biology]] at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM)<ref name="citypages">[http://citypages.com/databank/26/1303/article13908.asp?page=1 ''The Mad Scientist''] City Pages, Volume 26 - Issue 1303, November 23, 2005 Cover story</ref>
PZ Myers commented, while listening to [[Michael Behe]] lecture on [[Intelligent design]], that "In science, we scream a lot."<ref name="citypages"/> According to ''Evolution News'', he opposes democratically-elected school boards deciding how evolution should be taught; feeling that it should instead be done by "Scientists with years of training in the subject, and qualified science teachers who understand the fundamentals of the theory." <ref>Egnor, Michael [http://www.evolutionnews.org/2007/12/pz_myers_darwinists_know_whats.html ''P.Z. Myers: Darwinists Know What’s Best for Your Children''] Evolution News December 18, 2007</ref>
PZ Myers commented, while listening to [[Michael Behe]] lecture on [[Intelligent design]], that "In science, we scream a lot."<ref name="citypages"/> According to ''Evolution News'', he opposes democratically-elected school boards deciding how evolution should be taught; feeling that it should instead be done by "Scientists with years of training in the subject, and qualified science teachers who understand the fundamentals of the theory." <ref>Egnor, Michael [http://www.evolutionnews.org/2007/12/pz_myers_darwinists_know_whats.html ''P.Z. Myers: Darwinists Know What’s Best for Your Children''] Evolution News December 18, 2007</ref>
== PZ Myers and militant atheism ==
== PZ Myers and militant atheism ==
[[Image:Stalin-140508 27880t.jpg|right|150px|thumb|PZ Myers has yet to offer any scholarly works concerning the murderous [[atheism|atheist]] regimes of [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Mao Tse Tung]], [[Pol Pot]], and others. See: [[Atheism and mass murder]] ]]
[[Image:Stalin-140508 27880t.jpg|right|150px|thumb|PZ Myers has yet to offer any scholarly works concerning the murderous [[atheism|atheist]] regimes of [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Mao Tse Tung]], [[Pol Pot]], and others. See: [[Atheism and mass murder]] ]]
PZ Myers is an outspoken [[atheism|atheist]] who has openly advocated the elimination of religion, likening it to illiteracy.<ref>http://www.atheistrev.com/2008/03/pz-myers-on-eliminating-religion.html</ref>
PZ Myers is an [[militant atheism|militant atheist]] who has openly advocated the elimination of religion, likening it to illiteracy.<ref>http://www.atheistrev.com/2008/03/pz-myers-on-eliminating-religion.html</ref>
His language is extremely militant at times, and laced with expletives. In a diatribe in which he described those who believe in the Bible as "lunatics" and "bigots," Myers said:
His language is extremely militant at times, and laced with expletives. In a diatribe in which he described those who believe in the Bible as "lunatics" and "bigots," Myers said:
{{cquote|I say, screw the polite words and careful rhetoric. It's time for scientists to break out the steel-toed boots and brass knuckles, and get out there and hammer on the lunatics and idiots.<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20070420142719/http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/comments/perspective/</ref>}}
{{cquote|I say, screw the polite words and careful rhetoric. It's time for scientists to break out the steel-toed boots and brass knuckles, and get out there and hammer on the lunatics and idiots.<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20070420142719/http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/comments/perspective/</ref>}}
PZ Myers frequently rants against religion, religious people, and religious institutions (e.g. churches) on his blog. Myers has called evangelical Christianity "a blight upon the earth,"<ref>http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/03/left_or_right_religion_and_pol.php/</ref> religious people "ignorant, deluded, wicked, foolish, or oppressed victims of obsolete mythologies,"<ref>http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/07/im_surrounded.php</ref> and considers every church to be a "parasitic institution that contributes nothing to the tax base and encourages further ignorance in the population."<ref>http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/07/how_do_you_save_small_town_cha.php</ref> Myers has yet to offer scholarly work on the subject of [[atheism and mass murder]] nor has he created a scholarly work on the subject of [[atheism and uncharitableness]]. In addition, Myers has yet to offer any compelling atheist apologetic material rebutting the studies that indicate the [http://www.conservapedia.com/Atheism#Irreligion_and_Superstition irreligious are generally more superstitious than evangelical Christians].
PZ Myers frequently rants against religion, religious people, and religious institutions (e.g. churches) on his blog. Myers has called evangelical Christianity "a blight upon the earth,"<ref>http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/03/left_or_right_religion_and_pol.php/</ref> religious people "ignorant, deluded, wicked, foolish, or oppressed victims of obsolete mythologies,"<ref>http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/07/im_surrounded.php</ref> and considers every church to be a "parasitic institution that contributes nothing to the tax base and encourages further ignorance in the population."<ref>http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/07/how_do_you_save_small_town_cha.php</ref> Myers has yet to offer scholarly work on the subject of atheism<ref>http://www.truefreethinker.com/articles/pz-myers-emotively-vociferous-intellectually-mute</ref> (for example, PZ Myers has yet to offer scholarly works on the subjects of [[atheism and mass murder]] and [[atheism and uncharitableness]]). In addition given Myers' diatribes that religious people are allegedly ignorant and deluded, it is quite ironic that Myers has yet to offer any compelling atheist apologetic material rebutting the studies that indicate the [http://www.conservapedia.com/Atheism#Irreligion_and_Superstition irreligious are generally more superstitious than evangelical Christians].
Unsurprisingly, Myers' radical, hateful views on religion and religious people are [[Examples_of_Bias_in_Wikipedia|whitewashed from the Wikipedia article about him]] by pro-evolution/anti-Creationism/anti-Intelligent Design editors who are his fans. The Wikipedia article on [[Conservapedia]] lists Myers as a critic of Conservapedia founder [[Andy Schlafly]]'s attempts to secure [[Richard Lenski]]'s raw data.
Unsurprisingly, Myers' radical, hateful views on religion and religious people are [[Examples_of_Bias_in_Wikipedia|whitewashed from the Wikipedia article about him]] by pro-evolution/anti-Creationism/anti-Intelligent Design editors who are his fans. The Wikipedia article on [[Conservapedia]] lists Myers as a critic of Conservapedia founder [[Andy Schlafly]]'s attempts to secure [[Richard Lenski]]'s raw data.
=== Militant atheism and intellectual slothfulness of PZ Myers===
The [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologetic]] website [[True Free Thinker]] declares concerning the intellectual [[Sloth (sin)|slothfulness]] of PZ Myers:
{{cquote|That PZ Myers is emotively vociferous is evident to anyone who reads, well, virtually anything that he has ever written on any subject at all.
It is likewise evident that he is intellectually mute. How so? Where are his scholarly works on the truth of atheism? He has produced none.
He merely presupposes God’s non-existence without evidence, see:
[http://www.truefreethinker.com/articles/its-name-doom-%E2%80%94-pz-myers%E2%80%99-priori-presuppositional-presumption-atheism ITS NAME IS DOOM — PZ Myers’ A Priori Presuppositional Presumption of Atheism]
[http://www.truefreethinker.com/articles/pz-myers-refreshingly-honest-doom-gloom-and-positive-affirmation-god%E2%80%99s-non-existence-boot PZ Myers is Refreshingly Honest: Doom, Gloom and a Positive Affirmation of God’s Non-Existence to Boot!]
[http://www.truefreethinker.com/articles/pz-myers-%E2%80%93-contra-mitch-daniels-and-pro-positive-affirmation-god%E2%80%99s-non-existence-part-1-2 PZ Myers – Contra Mitch Daniels and Pro Positive Affirmation of God’s Non-Existence, part 1 of 2]
[http://www.truefreethinker.com/articles/pz-myers-%E2%80%93-contra-mitch-daniels-and-pro-positive-affirmation-god%E2%80%99s-non-existence-part-1-2 PZ Myers’ Dogmatheism Catechism]
Etc., etc., etc.....
Where then are his proofs of atheism and disproof of theism?
None exist but merely emotive besmirchments of straw-men and straw-gods.
His lack of scholarship and intellectual rigor in these areas, as well as the truth of my statements above, may be demonstrated in the following examples (which are a mere few of many).
PZ Myers dismisses Vox Day’s book ''The Irrational Atheist: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens'' while admitting to only having read a few chapters.
[[Image:Stephen Meyer.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Dr. [[Stephen Meyer]] published an article favoring [[intelligent design]] in a peer reviewed science journal which had traditionally only published material advocating the [[evolution|evolutionary]] position.<ref>http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/filesDB-download.php?command=download&id=1489</ref>]]
Yet, he refuses to debate Vox Day on the existence of God, or evolution for that matter (Myers being a professor of biology) based on dismissing a book he barely read (yes, it is merely a lame excuse which he peppered with a barrage of emotive ad hominems) — see [http://www.truefreethinker.com/articles/speaking-assiduous-absconders%E2%80%A6yet-again-vox-day-challenges-pz-myers-debate Speaking of Assiduous Absconders…Yet Again, Vox Day Challenges PZ Myers to Debate].
PZ Myers also dismissed [[Stephen Meyer]]’s book ''Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for [[Intelligent Design]]'' referring to it as a “stinker,” “drivel” and “[[Discovery Institute]] Bulldung” whilst stating that, “Stephen Meyer lies.” Yet, he stated all of this, and more, whilst stating, “I suppose I’ll have to read that 600 page pile of slop sometime…”....This fact alone shows that he needs to read it, as Intelligent Design proponents are constantly begging their opponents to stop mischaracterizing Intelligent Design theory as holding to something to the likes of it’s so complex, it must have been . . . designed!
PZ Myers also refused to debate anyone from [[Creation Ministries International]] (CMI) even while he was in Australia for the preaching-to-the-choir-back-patting Global Atheist Convention - The Rise of Atheism – the “biggest ever atheist event in Australia’s history”...
Clearly, PZ Myers is popular because he scratches where many atheists itch: atheism is an [[Causes of atheism|emotional rejection of God]] very, very thinly veneered in a facade of scientific and intellectual respectability. Thus, PZ Myers plays upon and stokes the fires of emotion yet, he has not, is not and who knows if he ever will engage the intellect.<ref>http://www.truefreethinker.com/articles/pz-myers-emotively-vociferous-intellectually-mute</ref>}}
=== Refusal to debate at atheist global conference and brief radio debate ===
=== Refusal to debate at atheist global conference and brief radio debate ===