Professor beaten; attackers cite KU creationism class

[solypsist]

LAWRENCE - A professor whose planned course on creationism and intelligent design was canceled after he sent e-mails deriding Christian conservatives was hospitalized Monday after what appeared to be a roadside beating.

http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/livi...n/13337930.htm


hmmmm.."Judge not lest ye be judged," seems to be an optional part (one of many, apparently) for American Christian radicals. Why are there so many Christians who feel the only solution to anything they can come up with is violence? Is our society creating these people? People who simply cannot accept that people have differing views or beliefs from their own and think that's justification for violence? I also have to wonder why he was beaten after his proposed class was cancelled.

[KukriKhan]

Smacking him around is, of course, stupid, senseless, and prosecutable, but the guy is not entirely blameless himself:

from the article:
...One recent e-mail from Mirecki to members of a student organization referred to religious conservatives as "fundies," and said a course describing intelligent design as mythology would be a "nice slap in their big fat face." ...

That's like walking onto a bull's field waving a red flag.

[solypsist]

things like that are posted in this very forum all the time. to say they deserve anything but a "warning" or personal opinion deriding their own bad decisions is pretty specious.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Wow, an intolerant professor got a dose of people not being tolerant of intolerance. Maybe if said prof. hadn't been such a jerk, he wouldn't have gotten beat.

Not to mention, he was really stupid for getting out of his car in the first place.

Crazed Rabbit

[Geoffrey S]

Stupid and intolerant he may have been, beating him is not going to change his or anyone else's opinion and is wrong despite the professor's provocation.

[Proletariat]

This sort of hypocrisy seems pretty rampant amongst many religious folk I know. I remember reading a history of the Byzantines and being shocked over the idiotic things people used to riot and wage war over, but maybe things just haven't changed as much as I had thought.

I guess the whole letting he who hasn't sinned thing is for fags.

[Kanamori]

Is our society creating these people? People who simply cannot accept that people have differing views or beliefs from their own and think that's justification for violence?

I don't think so. I think that a society such as ours, where there is little government censorship, fosters tolerance for ideas. But, that tolerance comes from conflicting ideals, and perhaps some people get a little too swept up in the conflict of ideas and take it to a physical level.

He appears to have taken only a mild-beating, not that it's any better or more comforting.

Wow, an intolerant professor got a dose of people not being tolerant of intolerance. Maybe if said prof. hadn't been such a jerk, he wouldn't have gotten beat.

And if the fundamentalists would've agreed w/ him, he wouldn't have been intolerant to them... His being a verbal jackass in no way justifies being beaten, and people should not have to censor themselves in fear of physical retaliation.

[solypsist]

so a personal/political opinion justifies physical violence. okay, you've answered what i wanted to know.

Wow, an intolerant professor got a dose of people not being tolerant of intolerance. Maybe if said prof. hadn't been such a jerk, he wouldn't have gotten beat.

[Proletariat]

I think CR was saying more that provoking people can often lead to unpleasant consequences.

Just because the professor was beaten doesn't mean he isn't a jackass.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

CR was suckered in by Soly's gambit, so we have to give this round to Soly.

Soly carefully labeled the "bad guys" as "American Christian Radicals" and then provided enough info to show how the prof had antagonized them. At least a few yahoos knocked the guy around -- stupid and pointless of them as well as illegal.

Soly was reasonably sure that at least one right-winger would say something vaguely along the lines of what CR said, jumped on it with a quote, and declared victory. He now smurks at any further response having achieved his objective.

CR, my pal, you just charged the skirmishers with your cavalry and landed on the hoplite spears during the follow through -- as Soly intended from the opening post.

[solypsist]

note that his comments were made public by a leaked e-mail. he wastn't standing around on the street with a bullhorn or screaming fire in a crowded theater.

open season on jackasses it is. anyone found to be offensive because of his/her opinion towards a certain group is now eligible to be physically attacked by said group.

woe unto anyone who creates a flash-based animation showing someone being humiliated via cgi - they obviously are in the wrong since real-life abuse is the way to go.

I think CR was saying more that provoking people can often lead to unpleasant consequences.

Just because the professor was beaten doesn't mean he isn't a jackass.

and

Does a woman who was dressed in extremely slutty/revealing clothes share any of the blame for her own rape because she was "asking for it?"

according to some users (and certain people roaming the streets of Kansas), she apparently is.

[Crazed Rabbit]

so a personal/political opinion justifies physical violence. okay, you've answered what i wanted to know.

This reminds me of something...

Number 2 probably comes closest to what you did, though I didn't even put forth an arguement, just commented.

And since when does not expressing surprise at an event mean I agree with what happened? If I were to say something like 'wow, another terrorist bombing in Iraq' would I then automatically support terrorist bombings in Iraq? Perhaps you could prove when I said anything similar to what you stated...oh, what's that you can't? Wow. Big surprise there.

I grow tired of this silliness.

Crazed Rabbit

P.S. One wonders what the prof said when he got out of his truck-a terribly stupid thing to do-and if he was lying about the reasons the men attacked him.

[Xiahou]

P.S. One wonders what the prof said when he got out of his truck-a terribly stupid thing to do-and if he was lying about the reasons the men attacked him.

You know, I had thought that the whole incident sounded more like road rage than anything else, given the situation that it occurred in. Also, given that the guy clearly hates Christian fundamentalists I wouldn't be totally blown away to discover that he attributed it to them after the fact. Of course, I have no evidence at all to say that's how it happened... then again he has no evidence at all to support his version either does he?

[Kralizec]

You'd have to be pretty insecure about your convictions to take offense from the opinions of some guy you don't even know.

That said, if I was a professor and I knew that my words would be read by a lot of people, I'd be more careful of what I'd say. Was it right to beat him? Of course not. Was it to be expected? Yes.

[Louis VI the Fat]

What is a learned man doing in Kansas in the first place? That's just asking for it...

[Soulforged]

Why are there so many Christians who feel the only solution to anything they can come up with is violence?

This is not only an atribute of christians. Many people, as people, tend to violence without fitting in any specifical category.

Is our society creating these people?

The answer is no. People tend to be violent if they're not properly educated, adding extremist phylosophies, such as religions, to the equation can lead to this undesirable ends. The context is not important, they existed in all times and places and will appear again.

People who simply cannot accept that people have differing views or beliefs from their own and think that's justification for violence?

Those actions were not justified as they're written in the article. The first thing I'll do is sue them civilly.

I also have to wonder why he was beaten after his proposed class was cancelled.

I think that the only thing this people cared about was the mensage and the freedom of the liberal system in wich, wheter they like it or not, they're living in.

[GoreBag]

People tend to be violent if they're not properly educated, adding extremist phylosophies, such as religions, to the equation can lead to this undesirable ends.

Yeah, listening to Beethoven's 5th is bad too, right? I disagree, my droogie.

open season on jackasses it is.

When is it not?

[Soulforged]

Yeah, listening to Beethoven's 5th is bad too, right? I disagree, my droogie.

No it isn't and I'm not sure where you want to go with that statement.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Conservatives ------------------ Enviormentalist wackos


Hmmm sounds like global warming.

[Bartix]

Same caption ------------------ Big Bad Oil/Bush Adm.


Hmmm sounds exactly like global warming.

[Viking]

Conservatives ------------------ Enviormentalist wackos


Hmmm sounds like global warming.

Same caption ------------------ Big Bad Oil/Bush Adm.


Hmmm sounds exactly like global warming.

Splendid.