Difference between revisions of "PZ Myers"

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(→‎Communion host: Put outcome in footnote, as it is getting rather off-topic.)
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On July 8, 2008, Myers posted an entry attacking the Christian practice of Communion.  After ridiculing Christians as "petty, hateful, and stupid," and asserting that "Nothing makes them stupider than religion," Myers requested that his readers steal consecrated Communion wafers for him, so that he could desecrate them on camera.  This rant predictably resulted in a strongly negative response from Catholics and those who support freedom of religious expression <ref>http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1459</ref>; Myers has since complained about the "hate mail" and "death threats" he has received, comparing the defense of Communion to a "witch hunt."  To date, the University of Minnesota has not taken official action against Myers for his inflammatory remarks, other than to remove the link to his blog from his faculty page.<ref>http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1460</ref> Myers quickly ducked behind the "satire and protest" defense<ref>'Like a madman shooting firebrands or deadly arrows is a man who deceives his neighbor and says, "I was only joking!" '({{Bible ref|Proverbs|26|18-19}})</ref> and backed down on his threat to desecrate Communion wafers.<ref>http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/faith/24313139.html</ref>
 
On July 8, 2008, Myers posted an entry attacking the Christian practice of Communion.  After ridiculing Christians as "petty, hateful, and stupid," and asserting that "Nothing makes them stupider than religion," Myers requested that his readers steal consecrated Communion wafers for him, so that he could desecrate them on camera.  This rant predictably resulted in a strongly negative response from Catholics and those who support freedom of religious expression <ref>http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1459</ref>; Myers has since complained about the "hate mail" and "death threats" he has received, comparing the defense of Communion to a "witch hunt."  To date, the University of Minnesota has not taken official action against Myers for his inflammatory remarks, other than to remove the link to his blog from his faculty page.<ref>http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1460</ref> Myers quickly ducked behind the "satire and protest" defense<ref>'Like a madman shooting firebrands or deadly arrows is a man who deceives his neighbor and says, "I was only joking!" '({{Bible ref|Proverbs|26|18-19}})</ref> and backed down on his threat to desecrate Communion wafers.<ref>http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/faith/24313139.html</ref>
  
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Meanwhile, Myers posted two vitriolic emails he had received and included the email addresses where they supposedly had come from. Predictably, his readers responded with their own threatening and harassing emails even though at the time it was not clear whether or not the email addresses (one of which was allegedly from someone at 1-800-Flowers) had been spoofed.<ref>The husband of the user of the the 1-800-Flowers address subsequently owned up to sending the e-mail.<ref>http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/071608-woman-fired-over-death-threat.html</ref> The account owner was fired by the company. Myers commented on the firing, saying, "She apparently did something stupid, which I don't have sympathy for. I would just rather not see people getting fired over an e-mail message." (http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/071608-woman-fired-over-death-threat.html?page=2)</ref>
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Meanwhile, Myers posted two vitriolic emails he had received and included the email addresses where they supposedly had come from. Predictably, his readers responded with their own threatening and harassing emails even though at the time it was not clear whether or not the email addresses (one of which was allegedly from someone at 1-800-Flowers) had been spoofed.<ref>The husband of the user of the the 1-800-Flowers address subsequently owned up to sending the e-mail. (http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/071608-woman-fired-over-death-threat.html) The account owner was fired by the company. Myers commented on the firing, saying, "She apparently did something stupid, which I don't have sympathy for. I would just rather not see people getting fired over an e-mail message." (http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/071608-woman-fired-over-death-threat.html?page=2)</ref>
 
Myers attempted to save face, claiming that the unsurprising behavior by his readers was not the intent behind his posting of the email addresses, and called for his readers to stop "dunning these people with email, threatening them back, signing them up for spam, or otherwise being a jerk." These pleas fell on deaf ears, while Myers continued to avoid doing the obvious thing in simply removing the email addresses from his blog.<ref>http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/07/stop_it_now_please.php</ref><ref>http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/07/mail_dump.php</ref>
 
Myers attempted to save face, claiming that the unsurprising behavior by his readers was not the intent behind his posting of the email addresses, and called for his readers to stop "dunning these people with email, threatening them back, signing them up for spam, or otherwise being a jerk." These pleas fell on deaf ears, while Myers continued to avoid doing the obvious thing in simply removing the email addresses from his blog.<ref>http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/07/stop_it_now_please.php</ref><ref>http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/07/mail_dump.php</ref>
  

Revision as of 07:14, July 18, 2008

Paul Zachary Myers, better known as PZ Myers, is an activist in the creation-evolution controversy, contributing to The Panda's Thumb and Pharyngula blogs. Myers is also an associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM)[1]

Myers commented, while listening to Michael Behe lecture on Intelligent design, that "In science, we scream a lot."[1] According to Evolution News, he opposes democratically-elected school boards deciding how evolution should be taught.[2]

Militant atheism

Myers is an outspoken atheist who has openly advocated the elimination of religion, likening it to illiteracy.[3] 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:

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.[4]

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,"[5] religious people "ignorant, deluded, wicked, foolish, or oppressed victims of obsolete mythologies,"[6] and considers every church to be a "parasitic institution that contributes nothing to the tax base and encourages further ignorance in the population."[7]

Unsurprisingly, Myers' radical, hateful views on religion and religious people are whitewashed from the Wikipedia article about him by pro-evolution/anti-Creationism/anti-Intelligent Design editors who are his fans.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

Myers appeared in the film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. In the film, Myers compared religion to knitting and said it should be nothing more than "something fun that people get together and do on the weekend and really doesn't affect their life as much as it has been so far."[8] Up to and after the release of the film, Myers viciously attacked the film and its makers many times and engaged in bizarre behavior. Two of the most notable incidents involved his failed attempt to gate-crash a showing of the film at the Mall of America[9] and his crashing and disruption (including plugging himself) of a conference call held by Expelled's producers after calling in early (likely to eavesdrop) and overhearing and then dishonestly using the phone code that allowed two-way communication.[10][11] Most bizarrely, in the latter incident, Myers interruption of the producers' call began with his referring to himself in the third person, probably in an attempt to conceal both his identity and the fact that he used a phone code he was not authorized to use.

Communion host

On July 8, 2008, Myers posted an entry attacking the Christian practice of Communion. After ridiculing Christians as "petty, hateful, and stupid," and asserting that "Nothing makes them stupider than religion," Myers requested that his readers steal consecrated Communion wafers for him, so that he could desecrate them on camera. This rant predictably resulted in a strongly negative response from Catholics and those who support freedom of religious expression [12]; Myers has since complained about the "hate mail" and "death threats" he has received, comparing the defense of Communion to a "witch hunt." To date, the University of Minnesota has not taken official action against Myers for his inflammatory remarks, other than to remove the link to his blog from his faculty page.[13] Myers quickly ducked behind the "satire and protest" defense[14] and backed down on his threat to desecrate Communion wafers.[15]

Meanwhile, Myers posted two vitriolic emails he had received and included the email addresses where they supposedly had come from. Predictably, his readers responded with their own threatening and harassing emails even though at the time it was not clear whether or not the email addresses (one of which was allegedly from someone at 1-800-Flowers) had been spoofed.[16] Myers attempted to save face, claiming that the unsurprising behavior by his readers was not the intent behind his posting of the email addresses, and called for his readers to stop "dunning these people with email, threatening them back, signing them up for spam, or otherwise being a jerk." These pleas fell on deaf ears, while Myers continued to avoid doing the obvious thing in simply removing the email addresses from his blog.[17][18]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Mad Scientist City Pages, Volume 26 - Issue 1303, November 23, 2005 Cover story
  2. ↑ Egnor, Michael P.Z. Myers: Darwinists Know What’s Best for Your Children Evolution News December 18, 2007
  3. ↑ http://www.atheistrev.com/2008/03/pz-myers-on-eliminating-religion.html
  4. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20070420142719/http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/comments/perspective/
  5. ↑ http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/03/left_or_right_religion_and_pol.php/
  6. ↑ http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/07/im_surrounded.php
  7. ↑ http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/07/how_do_you_save_small_town_cha.php
  8. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHiZjOH1NmQ
  9. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/science/21expelledw.html
  10. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYAblaZmogA
  11. ↑ http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/03/i_always_aim_to_misbehave.php
  12. ↑ http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1459
  13. ↑ http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1460
  14. ↑ 'Like a madman shooting firebrands or deadly arrows is a man who deceives his neighbor and says, "I was only joking!" '(Proverbs 26:18-19 )
  15. ↑ http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/faith/24313139.html
  16. ↑ The husband of the user of the the 1-800-Flowers address subsequently owned up to sending the e-mail. (http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/071608-woman-fired-over-death-threat.html) The account owner was fired by the company. Myers commented on the firing, saying, "She apparently did something stupid, which I don't have sympathy for. I would just rather not see people getting fired over an e-mail message." (http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/071608-woman-fired-over-death-threat.html?page=2)
  17. ↑ http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/07/stop_it_now_please.php
  18. ↑ http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/07/mail_dump.php

External Links

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