Maybe some of us haven’t evolved, after all:
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.
University of Kansas religious studies professor Paul Mirecki said that the two men who beat him made references to the class that was to be offered for the first time this spring.
Originally called “Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies,” the course was canceled last week at Mirecki’s request.
The class was added after the Kansas State Board of Education decided to include more criticism of evolution in science standards for elementary and secondary students.
“I didn’t know them,” Mirecki said of his assailants, “but I’m sure they knew me.”
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.” Mirecki has apologized for those comments.
Again, we know how a lot of these things turn out, so be skeptical, for now.
(h/t- Several emailers)
Zifnab
I suppose it’s good to know that Mirecki apologized. After all, brutally violating a person or organization… um… verbally, does more damage to our good sweet innocent students than I can possibly articulate.
Lines
And here I thought that since they had fired him from teaching the class, that this was all over. Little did I know there was a little ray of sunshine awaiting me.
Now I suspect that there will be more little tidbits of humor from the great state of Kansas over this flap.
srv
How did we know when they said “My Grandpa was not a monkey!” that it was meant as a compliment to the apes?
knayte
I’m calling shenanigans on this one. It all seems a little too convenient for Mr. Mirecki.
rilkefan
Some of us?
Lines
I sure Mr. Mirecki, on his overpaid teachers salary, volunteered to be beaten and hospitalized, after all, he called religious fundamentalists “fundies”. No one likes fundies, they taste bad, they are dry as hell and it takes at least 2 Mountain Dews to choke a bag down.
But to go back to the topic. Look, the guy is an insensitive ass, but I doubt he would voluntarily go into an expensive hospital stay just to get some attention.
jg
Spartan is a really cool movie.
What? This is a movie thread right?
DougJ
Paul Mirecki got lucky: it was supposed to be an extraordinary rendition.
Steve
He probably shot himself for sympathy, just like his hero John Kerry.
DougJ
And you know he said he spent Christmas in Lawrence? He was really in Wichita.
Richard Bennett
Is Mirecki the Robert Fisk of the anti-creationist movement?
Fisk notoriously blamed himself for being beaten by Arab fundamentalists, and Mirecki cancelled his course.
Contrarians aren’t what they used to be.
Ancient Purple
People! Please!
Getting beaten up and hospitalized are nothing more than harmless fraternity pranks.
You all are traitors because you want us to coddle university professors.
TallDave
Deplorable conduct by Christians, if true. This is certainly not what Christ taught, regardless of how offensive Mirecki was.
I’m sure numerous Kansas sermons will be making that very clear this Sunday.
aaronpacy
This must be what Malkin means when she talks about “Unhinged” liberals…….oh wait.
Joey
Actually, with all the other shit in that state (Godhatesfags.com, etc), I kinda doubt it. Hell, chances are one of those crazy churches told the guys to do it, if it happened.
The Disenfranchised Voter
Yea, he probably beat himself up like Fletcher “I’m kicking my ass” Reed in Liar, Liar.
Yea, that’s the ticket. Mirecki kicked his own ass!
demimondian
No, no, no. Not even DougJ would believe that.
But I’ll bet he’s believe that Mireki would pay some guys to give him some bruises to show off at the hospital. Or maybe that Mireki went out flagging black for some rough trade that night, and needed to conceal the fact from his “companion”.
knayte
Hey I’m not the only one who thinks this could be a hoax.
tonyskansascity.com/2005/12/god-listens-to-talk-radio.html
I go to KU, so I know a lot about Mirecki. Believe me, this guy is off his rocker, even as far as college professors go. I mean, there is literally no evidence for what happened besides Mirecki’s word. A few scrapes and bruises? After getting beaten by two guys with a metal object? And these guys just followed Mirecki around at 6 am on a south Lawrence country road?
ppGaz
Well, let’s see. What reason do I have to believe you, any more than I have one to believe him? And that link you provided? Not exactly convincing, of anything, other than that the writer is a smartass, whose main complaint against the professor is that he’s a smartass.
I’m gonna need some solid information from somewhere before I form any opinion about this story. Right I got bupkis.
DougJ
Great post knayte. Indeed, God does listen to talk radio as that link suggests.
Here’s some great links you will enjoy
Joe Wilson is a French spy.
Here’s another
Dinosaurs more recent than you think.
DougJ
And some more
Hillary had Vince Foster killed.
and
Angels talk: are you listening?
knayte
Hey, I’m just saying, let’s wait for some actual evidence. Because right now, there is none.
By the way, I was enrolled in his class before it was cancelled. I enrolled because I believe ID is a crock. I’ve also come to believe within the last week that Prof. Mirecki is a nutjob.
knayte
“I’m gonna need some solid information from somewhere before I form any opinion about this story. Right I got bupkis.”
Exactly, that’s the same position I’m in.
ppGaz
That’s the second time you’ve made that assertion.
Is there any supporting evidence or information, other than a high-school level piece of blog writing you pointed to, written by an obvious smartass, who accuses the prof of being a smartass?
Or is everyone in Kansas just a smartass? Where’s William Least Heat Moon when you need him?
DougJ
Knayte: are you an ID person or a young earth person? I believe the earth is 6000 years old and I’ve taken no end of guff about that here on this site, which seems mostly to be inhabited by liberals. You should stick around: I could use the help.
ppGaz
Copies of “My Steam Shovel and How I Dug the Grand Canyon” by Dougj are available from me for $13.95 plus S&H.
DougJ
Hey, some people get off on that sort of thing. And, really, if you think about it, by allowing gay marriage we’re just paving the way for a lot more of that sort of thing.
ppGaz
You know no shame.
knayte
DougJ,
Sorry man. I don’t believe the earth is 6000 years old.
ppGaz,
“I don’t think most Catholics really know what they are supposed to believe, they just go home and use condoms and some of them beat their wives and husbands.”
That’s from Mirecki. He also said that teaching this class “will be a hoot” and that it “will be a nice slap in their (the fundies’, his word) big fat face…I expect it will draw much media attention.” He has also explicitly described how partaking in communion when he was younger made him want to literally throw up. And has compared Christians to Nazis. All of this stuff is easy to find.
Maybe “nutjob” is too strong a word, but I have no faith that a man like this can adequately and objectively teach a religous course. Do you? I mean, he actually said that he started this course in part to gain media attention. Why should I rule out the possibilty that this whole “beating” thing is any different, especially when we don’t have any evidence yet?
DougJ
I agree, Knayte — this guy is a nutjob and he probably had himself beaten up. It’s really quite typical of the victim mentality that afflicts so much of the looney left. I suppose you see quite a lot of the looney left living in a college town.
knayte
I don’t know about “victim mentality,” but I wouldn’t put it past this guy to try and make himself a martyr of sorts. I bet he’s loving the media attention right now.
ppGaz
It’s like watching a lion bring down a wildebeest.
DougJ
Do you think maybe he’s Al Qaeda? This is pretty much their M.O. — try to get the media’s sympathy with cheap stunts: pretend your Koran was flushed down the toilet, make up some story about extreme rendition, pretend you were beaten up by rednecks.
knayte
Not sure what that means, but I hope I get to be the lion.
ppGaz
It’s an inside joke.
DougJ
I’m not sure what ppGaz is talking about either.
knayte
Oh, I see that you’re referring that DougJ is pretending to be a right-wing douchebag in order to try and make me look like an idiot. I’ve only been cordial with DougJ because at first I thought he was a right-wing douchebag, but I don’t like to be mean to people.
DougJ
You’re a good sport, knayte, even if you are a Republican plant posing as University of Kansas undergraduate. Hint: next time, only mention that you’re a KU student (or whatever you’re pretending to be) once. It was the second mention that gave it away.
knayte
Sorry, I actually am a KU student.
knayte
But you’re right that I am a Republican plant, I got my orders from Rove this morning to come to Balloon Juice and start some shit. Rove’s been working my ass off lately.
Steve S
Well he is from Kansas… and they do lead the nation in nutjob’s per capita, seconded only by Texas.
DougJ
No way you’re a student, knayte. I know how college students write — all lower case with lots of use of the phrases “hooking up” and “bling”. No way you’re s college student.
The Disenfranchised Voter
Why should we take your word for it?
I mean if we should be skeptical about Mirecki getting a beat down, why shouldn’t we hold you to the same standard?
ppGaz
Nicely played.
The Disenfranchised Voter
Ahhh but that isn’t what is at issue here. Noone is saying it isn’t at all possible.
You see, you made it seem as if it was not only possible that the beating was staged or made up, you gave the impression that more than likely this is the case.
Even you, yourself, said that we don’t have any evidence yet, so then why are you jumping to conclusions and calling “shenanigans”?
SeesThroughIt
Hahahaha! Good one, Senator Santorum.
demimondian
DougJ, have I mention that it’s a pleasure to have you back?
knayte — TDV has it nailed. I don’t believe the story is accurate as stated. I do, however, believe that Mireki was probably beaten: the give away is the chipped tooth reported by the hospital. Metal pipes seem like a bit of exaggeration to me — but my guess is that the beating itself probably happened. Why did it happen? Did it happen as he said? I don’t know, and I’m reserving judgement on that score.
demimondian
By the way, ppG. Lions are actually poor hunters. Many more live kills are pulled down by hyenas.
The most common mechanism by which a lion actually pulls down an animal is due to a pack of hyenas flushing it and woudning i…hmm…that’s not a very nice thing to say about me, ppG.
jg
HDTV and Victoria’s Secret.
There is a God.
ppGaz
You’re right. Most of the ones I’ve seen are fed Purina Lion Chow.
CaseyL
Why is Mireki automatically suspect, just because he’s an irreverent sort studying theology and makes unkind comments about believers?
I’m not sure why someone who studies theology would have to be reverent, or even a believer, any more than someone who studies medicine must of necessity be a hypochondriac. In any case, why does this undermine his credibility?
Mireki’s comment about Catholics, though rude, isn’t inaccurate: some (many; possibly most) Catholics do defy Church doctrine and use contraception; and Catholics are no more immune than any other group to domestic violence. Regarding his likening Christians to Nazis – I’d need to see the context of the quote; if he’s talking about the radical fundie fringe, he’s not far off. If he’s comparing automatic obedience to religious doctrine with automatic obedience to ideological doctrine… again, he’s not so far off.
BlogReeder
Your Nazi window is open pretty wide. It’s getting drafty.
Juan Gewanfri
I believe DougJ’s ideas are only 6000 years old.
Perry Como
No one is talking about the way Jesus would handle this:
In this case it is obvious that the alleged assailants were acting in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, and Professor Mirecki was a money changer.
I am tired of Liberals portraying Jesus as some peace loving hippy. Jesus is the Lord of action. He confronts evil and would never cut and run in the face of some leftist ideology about “peace and goodwill towards men”.
9/11 changed everything.
knayte
First of all, wether or not I’m a KU student seems irrelevant to me, but I did leave a comment in John’s initial post about this course a few weeks ago, saying I was proud to attend the University of Kansas thanks to Prof. Mirecki. Someone should explain to me why I would want to pretend to be a KU student back then.
Secondly, I guess I should take a step back here. Obviously there is no evidence that this is a hoax, and we should let this play out before making any judgements. All I really wanted to say was that my first impression of the story was that it was a little fishy. I can’t believe I’m the only one who thinks that. I mean, who were these assailants? Were they members of some Intelligent Design stree gang? And what were they doing, waiting outside Mirecki’s house for the perfect time to follow him into the countryside at 6 in the morning. Or were they just driving around on a country road and happened to notice, while it was still dark mind you, Mirecki’s vehicle and then decided to tailgate him until he pulled over? Of course, all of this could have happened like he said, but the story just seems so damn weird to me. And it doesn’t make me a brainwashed Republican plant to say so. And like I said, I was actually happy that Mirecki tried to start this course at KU. I loathe intelligent design. But everything he’s done since then has made me lose respect for the guy.
bago
Perhaps this dougJ fellow should visit here.
Krista
Dammit! It’s one thing to spray coffee into your keyboard, but I’m using a laptop!
Don’t take it personally, Knayte. He does that to everybody. It’s like basic training. If you pass the gauntlet that is DougJ, you are then better prepared to take on the likes of Stormy, Defense Guy, Darrell and Mac Buckets.
demimondian
Knayte — the thing about college professors is that DougJ *is* a college professor. (As are a number of other posters, as well as Cole himself.) As a result, saying someone is wacky, “even by the standards of a college professor” might not be the most politically adept choice of words, doncha know?
Now, go back and look at what he said about how students write. Do you think he really believes that? How does that relate to what you wrote, do you think?
(Bonus question: who else in this discussion has, at some time in their lives, taught college students?)
BlogReeder
Damn, I didn’t make the cut. :)
Krista
I wish my profs had been half as interesting as DougJ. I probably would have gotten much higher marks. (Or are you very serious and forthright in class, saving all your snark ‘n’ spark for us, DougJ?)
Krista
BlogReeder – sorry, hon. I’ll blame the lack of coffee (which I would have ingested, had ppGaz not made me spray it all over my laptop with his “Purina Lion Chow” commment.)
demimondian
Algebraic geometry is not a field notorious for opportunities to engage in higher metacriticism, Krista.
(Although I do recall a professor I knew whose lectures in theoretical neurobiology were described as “sounding like technical gibberish presented by a Southern Baptist preacher.” The guy was technically sound as a bell, and taught awesome classes — but I could never listen to him speak after that without laughing.)
BIRDZILLA
The evolutionist freaks brians have,nt gotten much past their usial walnut size
Steve S
BIRDZILLA is clearly a Kansas U. student!
nyrev
Every time Birdzilla posts, an English teacher sticks his head in the oven.
Krista
There are always opportunities for higher metacriticism. Always. :)
That prof you had sounds interesting. All right, best prof/worst prof time. Best prof was my Human Sexuality prof…funny, funny guy named Richard, smart as a whip, and in light of the course material, told us that we’d fail the course if we ever called him “Dick”. Worst was an English prof (don’t remember his name), for a course on the Arthurian Legend, who made us buy the book with the original Welsh spelling, and during the class, would stand facing the board, mumble incoherently, and occasionally write a disjointed word on the blackboard.
Krista
That’s kind of neat…I didn’t know that every evolutionist freak had their own, walnut-sized Brian. Do they leave them at home when they go to work, or do they bring them everywhere in case they mess up the house?
Eric Scheie
Sean Gleeson is skeptical, and he lays out his reasons why:
sean.gleeson.us/2005/12/07/kansas-bigot-invents-crazy-attack-story
Fruitbat
I believe “Walnut-sized Brian” is a euphemism for…um…some other organ.
docG
How dare you insult one of our Kansas State University philosophy graduate students? KU student, indeed.
The Disenfranchised Voter
Hahaha.
knayte
That link to Sean Gleeson’s blog does a good job of explaining why I think this whole thing could be bogus.
jahyarain
so, i take it inbreeding is NOT illegal in the unevolved state of kansas
DougJ
I don’t snark in class or talk about politics in class. This semester, though, I have been teaching my liner algebra class from in front of a banner that reads “Plan For Row Reduction”.
demimondian
Never mind, Krista — you’re right. Any subject offers opportunities for higher metacriticism.
Shark
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.” Mirecki has apologized for those comments
Sounds like a nice dose of justice to me. You deliberately set out to fuck with a group, you’re going to get fucked with in return. It’s common sense.
Maybe he’ll learn a lesson for next time…
Krista
Just like any subject offers opportunities for higher perversion.
Kimmitt
What, that fundies are brutal thugs who people shouldn’t criticize out of fear?