Kansas gets Slashdotted
Crazy crazy times. The news about the ongoing bizarre and disturbing turn of events surrounding the "battle" between religion and science became slashdot worthy today.
The particular war at the moment is between a Dr. Mirecki, an atheist and professor at KU who was going to teach a class on Creationism, and the fundamental Christians who apparently control much of Kansas.
He referred to them as "fundies" and then he got beat up, cancelled the class and resigned as chairman of the department of religion.
Though CNN messed up the details, and say he sent an email around to different people with these statements in them. My understanding, and what I read in the Kansan was that he posted to a Yahoo group for atheists. Completely different.
He also had previously made comments on this same Yahoo group about when he was a child he almost threw up when he thought about the wafer taken at communion turning into the flesh of Jesus Christ.
What hits me over the head every time I hear another chapter of this tale is how unchristian the Christians in this story appear to act.
If the original report was true (and I think that it is) then that means some Christian was actively searching through atheist Yahoo groups just trying to dig something up. To me, that seems a little ridiculous. Someone went out, found these comments that Dr. Mirecki made on a forum, and distributed it out to the masses in hopes that someone with power would make a ruckus. And of course someone did.
When did it become the Christian way to go stirring up trouble? I agree the professors comments were unprofessional and mean, but on the forum he was basically just puffing himself up a bit in front of his friends.
And then someone else went searching for all the other stupid stuff Dr. Mirecki said on this Yahoo group, just to try to get him in more trouble. And their plan worked great.
This isn't what Christianity is about!
Where is the calm persuasive discussion about differences in opinion?
Where is the acceptance of all people regardless of transgressions?
I don't want to go into this too much more, because it is too touchy of a subject to really speak your mind in a public place such as this, but just a few more things:
The particular war at the moment is between a Dr. Mirecki, an atheist and professor at KU who was going to teach a class on Creationism, and the fundamental Christians who apparently control much of Kansas.
He referred to them as "fundies" and then he got beat up, cancelled the class and resigned as chairman of the department of religion.
Though CNN messed up the details, and say he sent an email around to different people with these statements in them. My understanding, and what I read in the Kansan was that he posted to a Yahoo group for atheists. Completely different.
He also had previously made comments on this same Yahoo group about when he was a child he almost threw up when he thought about the wafer taken at communion turning into the flesh of Jesus Christ.
What hits me over the head every time I hear another chapter of this tale is how unchristian the Christians in this story appear to act.
If the original report was true (and I think that it is) then that means some Christian was actively searching through atheist Yahoo groups just trying to dig something up. To me, that seems a little ridiculous. Someone went out, found these comments that Dr. Mirecki made on a forum, and distributed it out to the masses in hopes that someone with power would make a ruckus. And of course someone did.
When did it become the Christian way to go stirring up trouble? I agree the professors comments were unprofessional and mean, but on the forum he was basically just puffing himself up a bit in front of his friends.
And then someone else went searching for all the other stupid stuff Dr. Mirecki said on this Yahoo group, just to try to get him in more trouble. And their plan worked great.
This isn't what Christianity is about!
Where is the calm persuasive discussion about differences in opinion?
Where is the acceptance of all people regardless of transgressions?
I don't want to go into this too much more, because it is too touchy of a subject to really speak your mind in a public place such as this, but just a few more things:
- No one who would have taken this class would have been converted in either way to one side or the other. This was a fight, not for the students, but for the politics of college.
- There were only 11 people signed up to take it before it was cancelled. (Out of 100 possible spots).
- This kind of behaviour just gives opponents of Christianity more fodder to throw at us and makes Christians in general look like bullies.
- Don't post rude things about people that can fire you, or who can and will beat you up on a country road
- "Fundies" is actually a pretty funny word, and should be used more often, with an expanded meaning to someone who is fanatical about any particular subject.
posted by vlandham at 10:56 PM
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