I get email … from Michael Korn


The creationist fruit-loop du jour left another comment here in which he tried to taunt me with his proximity (“is Minneapolis-St. Paul close enough to Morris for you?”) which wasn’t very effective, since his IP address said he was commenting from a community college in North Carolina. And then he replied with more wacky comments:

very good. you know how to analyze an IP address.

you seem to think that i need to personally track you down. but no, its much simpler. i can rely on prayer to motivate the God you hate to destroy the godless heretic He hates.

your name is jewish. thanks for being a “light to the nations” and teaching Gentiles to hate their Creator.

are you one of those jews who whine perpetually about the Holocaust? why? Hitler greatly admired your pal Darwin and acted according to the dictates of his logic!

but in my experience, Jews like you who oppose Creationism received plenty of hebraic education in your youths and even believe in the Genesis account. your support of Darwin is simply a ploy to emasculate Christianity, while leaving Judaism to reign supreme. many, like my own biochemist father, think they are actually serving God’s interest by destroying the simple faith of the average Christian. but they are gravely mistaken, since rather than serving as a light to the nations they are blinding them to their Creator.

if Jews want the Gentile world to respect them, they must learn to respect the fact that the Gentile world also is created in God’s image. you vainly imagine that by denigrating the Godly image of Gentiles you alone will remain to reign supreme. but really in destroying the Divine image of the rest of humanity you also are dooming yourselves. like the fool who drills a hole in the bottom of a boat and imagines that he can enjoy the ride while everyone else drowns.

in fact Jesus rebuked them with these very same words in the famous parable in Luke 20:

The Parable of the Tenants

9He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time.
10At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
11He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed.
12He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.

13″Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’

14″But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’

15So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

16He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they said, “May this never be!”

17Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written:
” ‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone[a]'[b]? 18Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

19The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.

wake up before it is too late. the more you mess with God’s creation, the more reason you give for God to pour out His wrath upon you. He has withheld His anger because you too, as His creature, deserve His love. but His patience is not infinite. and your doom in hell will be when it finally runs out…

It’s mostly boring blather from a faith-head, but there was a revelation.

I’m Jewish?

My family is going to be so surprised. I suppose it’s possible that the original Myers who emigrated from the Netherlands to America in the 17th century could have had some Jewish link, but after all that time I don’t think I could really claim a connection other genetically or culturally.

Comments

  1. says

    Well at least as long as he keeps blustering, he keeps adding evidence for when they nail his butt to the wall.

    See? Good news can even come from psychopaths!

    Kisses

  2. gg says

    PZ wrote: “I don’t think I could really claim a connection other genetically or culturally.”

    I always assumed you were related to John Cusack’s Lane Meyer character in the movie ‘Better Off Dead’ (the mother does cook a tentacled creature up for dinner one night, after all…)

  3. J-Dog says

    Hey Korn – Have you always been this stupid, or did you have to work at it?

    Oh, by the way Korn. God spoke to me in a vision, and he told me that you are going to suffer eternal hellfire and damnation.

    HTH.

    Have a nice day.

  4. trj says

    Fundies who rub their hands in glee at the prospect of seeing heretics burn in Hell for eternity always make me sick.

    Ironically, it’s probably lost on him that he makes excellent advertisement for denouncing the crazy religion he preaches.

  5. Sarcastro says

    i can rely on prayer to motivate the God you hate to destroy the godless heretic He hates.

    Because, if anything, God is one lazy motherfucker. If it weren’t for the impassioned prayers of maniacal screwheads Yahweh would just kick in front of the tube watching Oprah rather than smite the all loving crap out of those He, in His infinite love and compassion, hates.

  6. says

    are you one of those jews who whine perpetually about the Holocaust? why? Hitler greatly admired your pal Darwin and acted according to the dictates of his logic!

    Great, he’s flirting with either Holocaust denial (“Jews whining about the Holocaust”) or anti-Semitism of the “Jews deserved the Holocaust” type (“Hitler greatly admired your pal Darwin and acted according to the dictates of his logic!”).

    Truly, PZ, you’ve shown me a new form of anti-Semitic wingnut.

    Well, not really. Sadly, I’ve encountered Korn’s kind many, many times before in my years refuting Holocaust deniers.

  7. Graculus says

    Oh hell, most “Jewish” surnames aren’t even Jewish. That’s a North American perception created by the immmigration pattern of Eastern European Jews.

    IIRC, the most common Jewish surname is “Miller”, or some variant thereof. That doesn’t mean that most Millers are Jews.

    Oh well, logic and familiarity with reality is not this idjit’s strong point….

  8. gg says

    crazychristian wrote: “i can rely on prayer to motivate the God you hate to destroy the godless heretic He hates.”

    I constantly find threats like these amusing. Hello, crazychristian, I thought you were mad at PZ ’cause he’s an atheist? Don’t you understand what that word means? Why not go all out and threaten to send ogres, trolls, elves, and hippogriffs after him, too? (oh, wait; you’ve got the ‘troll’ part covered…)

  9. says

    i can rely on prayer to motivate the God you hate to destroy the godless heretic He hates.

    Obviously not a Christian: the Christian God is meant to be a loving God.

    Bob

  10. b.schac says

    as if often the case, it takes only the slightest provocation for the facade of Israel support and Old Testament reading to break down, and the anti-Semitism of the Evangelical community to stand bare.

    In this case, the slight provocation was having a possibly Jewish name, lol.

    “Your name is Green?!…THE HOLOCAUST DIDN’T HAPPEN!”

  11. b.schac says

    also, as long as we’re making gross assumptions based on last names. Isn’t “Korn” often a Jewish name? Perhaps the biochemist father he seems to malign was Jewish!

    This all breaks down to serious daddy issues.

  12. says

    By the way, if my first thought upon seeing Korn’s comment was of Borges’s essay, “I, a Jew”, does that make me a member of the effete literati?

    You know, “our inquisitors are only interested in the Hebrews and not the Phoenicians, Numidians, Scythians, Babylonians, Huns, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Ethiopians, Illyrians, Paphlagonians, etc.”

  13. gg says

    If this is Michael Korn, it seems that he’s been spending too much time with Mel Gibson lately. Be thankful he didn’t call you ‘suger tits’!

  14. Willy says

    “…i can rely on prayer to motivate the God you hate to destroy the godless heretic He hates.”

    Now ya done it…he’s gonna sic his ghost on ya!

  15. Graculus says

    He will threaten the wrong person one day and end up dead for no good reason.

    That depends on whetehr it was “reasonable force” or not, doesn’t it?

  16. says

    What’s that one commandment? That one.. you know.. uhmm.. “Thou shalt not..” ..hmm… ah, ha! “Lie!”

    Does make me wonder, though, what his dad thinks. Or, if he’s not alive, what he thought about his son’s ridiculousness.

  17. says

    crazychristian wrote: “i can rely on prayer to motivate the God you hate to destroy the godless heretic He hates.”

    I constantly find threats like these amusing.

    Me too. If the best a fuckup like Korn can do is threaten you with the wrath of an imaginary being, that doesn’t exactly pack a lot of weight.

    Still, It’s good you’re saving these emails to show to law enforcement when it comes time to put this idjit away. This guy may not actually have the balls to become the domestic religious terrorist he desires to be, but it’s the thought that counts.

  18. TheFeshy says

    “you vainly imagine that by denigrating the Godly image of Gentiles you alone will remain to reign supreme.”

    He should read this site more before responding next time. Clearly, any plans PZ has to “reign supreme” involve hordes of 8 and 10 limbed beasties from the sea.

  19. says

    Michael Korn wrote:

    i can rely on prayer to motivate the God you hate to destroy the godless heretic He hates.

    John the Baptist wrote:

    He that loves his brother lives in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him. But he that hates his brother is in the darkness, and knows not where he goes, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.


    In other words, the Bible says that Mr Korn is a lying hypocrite.

  20. says

    PZ, I was initially going to warn you to re-check the IP address (my work’s proxy server makes me show up as being in Michigan when I’m actually in BC), but if all he’s threatening you with is the power of prayer then I’m not so worried.

  21. amph says

    Never knew you have a Dutch Y-chromosome. ‘Meijer’ and ‘Meyer’ are common Dutch names and many of those Meijers are Jewish. In addition Meyer occurs as given (I almost wrote Christian) name.
    Meanwhile this post tells us more about Michael Korn than about you. More than I wanted to know, actually. ‘Psychopath’ is way too kind, JanieBelle, (some of my best friends…etc.).

  22. Sven DiMilo says

    Hell, ya’ll know already that Darwinism is a huge conspiracy of JOOZ!! Also, Nazis. Yes, it’s an evil conspiracy of Nazis and JOOZ! Also atheists that aren’t already included as Nazis or JOOZ! Yes, I tell you, an evil worldwide conspiracy of Nazis, JOOZ, and non-Nazi, non-JOOZ atheists! Oh, and scientists, those that aren’t already atheists, Nazis, or JOOZ!!! They’re in on it too! Also the Media, but that’s mostly JOOZ…

  23. Bob says

    Is he still on the lam? Wouldn’t the FBI be interested in his whereabouts?

    Just sayin’. Of course, how do you single out one xian nutjob in NC? Like my home in Virginia, you can’t swing a dead cat without knocking a cheeses fish off a car.

  24. Steve_C says

    From what I remember of his website. He was originally Jewish and then Korn became an antizionist christian and then a kinda-ok-with-zionism christian.

  25. says

    What a pathetic, pathological piece of crap. Jew-baiting an atheist. How much lower can you go? Wait, disregard that, he’ll only see it as a challenge.

  26. Leon says

    Jews like you who oppose Creationism . . . believe in the Genesis account. your support of Darwin is simply a ploy to emasculate Christianity, while leaving Judaism to reign supreme.

    So let me get this straight. These Jews are attempting to emasculate Christianity, thereby leaving Judaism in control. And their approach is to shake people’s belief in…a book from the OLD (i.e. Jewish) Testament, not one from the New?

    That’s some pretty twisted reasoning. But then, I suppose people with these kinds of ideas don’t generally stop and think about them, do they?

  27. Demented says

    I’m sorry, but I think God forogt to teach you proper grammar. I just hate it when people refuse to capitalize their sentences!

    If it is someone who is trying to make a point, the only point they make is that they are morons. This guys religious beliefs aside, he is still a bloody moron.

  28. Greg Peterson says

    I liked the response of Charlie Chaplin in the biopic about him, after someone “accused” him of being a Jew: “I am afraid that privilege is not mine.” Whether it’s actually a privilege is open to discussion, but it strikes me as a good way to shut up an ignorant bigot.

  29. says

    I reiterate a comment I made elsewhere:

    Who wants to join my pool on when someone plagiarises the Protocols of the Elders of Zion to implicate atheists in the world-domination plot?

    Because nothing says ‘My God is a Loving God’ like venomous, bigoted hate.

  30. says

    Thanks, Mr. Peterson. I’m going to have to steal that the next time someone calls me a Muslim because I know Arabic.

    Apparently right thinking people shouldn’t know Arabic, even if we’re going to wars in locations which make knowing that language fairly vital.

  31. says

    i can rely on prayer to motivate the God you hate to destroy the godless heretic He hates.

    Soooo … Michael sent you a suicide note?

  32. Steverino says

    It’s sad that he cannot come out of the closet to be himself. All the pent up anger.

  33. Leon says

    You speak Arabic? I’m jealous.

    Not jealous enough to take the time to learn it myself, but just enough to mention it. :-)

  34. barkdog says

    PZ’s name is one of a great many derived from Latin “major.” In German many of them refer to a medieval estate manager or imply office in a royal or noble court. The English names “Majors” and “Major” as well as the office of mayor come from the same source. This is the source many Jewish family names from Yiddish speaking areas, but only a samll fraction of the related names belong to Jewish families. I think, but do not know, that names like Meir (as in Golda)have a different origin from Hebrew sources.

  35. woozy says

    Um, the guy isn’t a creationist fruit loop de jeur. He’s a psychopathic racist death-threatening stalker.

    I know we like to say xian = nutjob and all but this guy is certifiable. I guess my point is it’s not really sporting or amusing to expose the psychotic as it is to expose the stupid, the weird, nor as useful as exposing the respected.

  36. wildcardjack says

    This is strange. Why are creationist type people the ones that sporadically capitalize and mainly capitalize the names of god and jesus?

    My ex was like this, and one time (statutes are way over) I had to hack into her email. The security question for reseting the password was “what is most important” and I knew after a moment of thought that it would be “Jesus” with the J capitalized. I was right and proceeded with the mayhem.

    And no, she wasn’t what sent me to atheism, the change came years later when I started to actually look for answers about the world

  37. raven says

    Korn is Jewish. He is a christian convert. Jewish can be an ethnic group and christian is a religion.

    The crude antisemitic baiting is pretty bizarre given his family history. This guy is very confused.

    He’s also on the run with an arrest warrant out on him. While he seems to be kooky, he doesn’t look like a lone kook. My best guess is that as a hero and martyr to the xian violence cults, he is getting a lot of safe house type help from sympathizers.

  38. DCP says

    Myers is a Jewish name, thus you are Jewish. WTF? Myers, Meyer, Meijer, Maier, Meier and any other derivate of this name are incredibly common in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and parts of Switzerland, iirc. Etimologically they are job designations (of some kind of farm administrator or some other high office, if I’m not mistaken).

    Are all these people Jews? Hardly. It’s much more likely that Jews also adopted this name as given name.

  39. DCP says

    Oops, not given name, I meant family name.

    @Wildcardjack:

    I think Jesus is capitalized just because any other name in English is also capitalized: because it’s a name.

  40. says

    Jews? I thought that we atheists were “really a subcult of Muslims.”

    What an ignoramous. North Carolina isn’t far enough from the Twin Cities for me.

  41. Leon says

    Right. Also, God is supposed to be capitalized, because the names of deities are supposed to be. That’s just a rule in English grammar. So not just God, but Allah, Odin, etc. are supposed to be capitalized. (If you’re talking about gods or just any old single god, don’t capitalize–but you should if you’re talking about the Abrahamic God.)

  42. says

    PZ Jewish?

    Yeah. This cat’s playing with a full deck. It’s really just baffling that he’s writing to scold you for being an atheist in one breath, and then somehow turns around to assume you’re Jewish.

    Anyway, if I am not mistaken, there are a whole heap of people looking for Manachem “Michael” Korn, so I hope you passed along the ISP for them to investigate (though, it could be some sort of poseur, I suppose).

  43. says

    All the same, forward the threat on to your campus cops, the Morris gendarmerie, the county sheriff if you have one, the State Police, and the FBI.

    The guy may be liable for interstate flight if he’s actually in North Carolina, and it’s quite likely the FBI would like a look at the e-mail.

    I hope your less open colleagues are doing the same.

  44. anevilmeme says

    That’s some of the best unintentional humor I’ve seen this side of Kent H.

  45. Howard Schamest says

    Your froot loop is enraged at his father, and is transferring the rage to you. What style of language sounds better for curses and imprecations than the biblical prophetic? I’ve often wondered, after hearing a baptist exclaim,”you’re goin to hell!” whether these peak emotive expressions are learned, or are they innate? Not the language, but the tendency to anathemize.

  46. says

    Frank said way back up yonder ways,

    “PZ, of course you’re Jewish. You have a beard. Moses had a beard. http://www.wga.hu/art/m/michelan/1sculptu/giulio_2/moses.jpg

    Moses was Jewish. Therefore, you are Jewish.

    Thus do creationists use their logic, wonders to perform. The fact that Moses’ beard has tentacles only proves the point.”

    Well, at least Dr. PZ doesn’t weigh the same as a duck. Then we’d be talkin’ ’bout a good ol’ fashioned stake burnin’.

  47. raven says

    MK:

    you seem to think that i need to personally track you down. but no, its much simpler. i can rely on prayer to motivate the God you hate to destroy the godless heretic He hates.

    Hmmm, this is a tough one. Might need to call in the Rabbis or theologians.

    Could god be considered a deadly weapon? I mean, what if PZ is struck by lightening today? If so, is MK liable for using a deadly weapon in a homicide?

    BTW, just who is running this universe anyway? I was under the impression that god didn’t take orders from humans. When was Jehovah demoted to hired killer?

    On second thought, scratch the holy thinkers. A psychiatrist might be more useful.

  48. phat says

    Jews? I thought that we atheists were “really a subcult of Muslims.”

    I’m not sure, but I’m going to guess that a lot of the real crazy Christians think the Muslims are Jews, too.

    phat

  49. Mike says

    You realize you have a risqué-looking ad for “eHardBodies” at the top of this page (as I view it).

  50. Chuck says

    Honestly I couldn’t read his rant all the way through. It’s like listening to rightwing talk radio. It’s funny for a few seconds, and afterwards just boring and mind-numbing.

  51. says

    Reading The Parable of the Tenants all I could think was if I were the landlord’s third servent I’d tell him, “Get off your lazy dumbass and get your own damn fruit.”

    But then I’m uppity that way.

  52. kmiers says

    Cool. That means I’m Jewish, too. I can’t wait to get to the money-lending!! (but I refuse to give up bacon and baby-back ribs. Mmmmmmm…..bacon…..)

  53. Sili says

    But … but … but …

    Judaism is matrilinear. It doesn’t matter what Dr. Myers’ family name is, since he presumably – like most westerners – got that from his father.

  54. schwa sticker says

    I’m sorry, but I think God forogt to teach you proper grammar. I just hate it when people refuse to capitalize their sentences!

    If it is someone who is trying to make a point, the only point they make is that they are morons. This guys religious beliefs aside, he is still a bloody moron.

    As an esteemed grammar-socialist, my opinion is that capitalization is not a big deal. It’s more of a convention than actual additional information. However, violating apo’strophe’s left, right, and center does change the meaning of what you are saying. In this example, by making you look like a bloody moron.
    Thanks for playing

  55. says

    He’s equating you with his father.

    This is a guy who hated his father and wanted to sleep with his mother, and probably still does. He’s latched onto his vengeful god to get revenge against the father who kept him from his love-object/mother.

    This guy is 100% certifiable nuts, and he IS going to hurt somebody at some point, no doubt someone who reminds him of his evil daddy. There are some serious issues here; Korn needs to be hospitalized ASAP. I hope law enforcement tracks him down soon, because from the sound of this email he’s going to lose it soon.

    BTW, it’s not coincidental that he’s in North Carolina. Eric Rudolph spent much of his time running from the authorities there, and Korn may be getting shelter from the same network of fanatics that kept Rudolph from being brought to justice after he committed murder.

    I hope you’re going to send these emails to the authorities. Korn is dangerous, probably psychotic, is projecting like crazy, and needs to be medicated before he starts shooting.

  56. molecanthro says

    I would not only notify your campus and the police that put out the warrant for him, but it might be good to see about letting the people at Forsyth Community College know about this issue. While it is a technical school, they do still have biotech programs so is he targetting them?

    Also, since this idiot most probably is not a student, why is he on campus using their computers? I know my university would not have allowed that.

  57. ike says

    I used to work with a moron who claimed all bankers were Jews. I pointed out that David Rockefeller ran the biggest bank in the US and he’s not Jewish. His reply was so he says.

  58. Peter McGrath says

    Email programmes really need ‘Green Ink’, ‘Underline Random Word Three Times’ and ‘INseRt randoM CaPital lettErs’ buttons to help these chaps format their epistles.

    Presumably Mr Korn is holed up somewhere. A man of his sincere beliefs really shouldn’t be kornholing.

  59. Bob L says

    “i can rely on prayer to motivate the God you hate to destroy the godless heretic He hates.”

    Clearly theists have a different definition of “omniscient” and “omnipotent” than I do. God not able to figure out PZ is atheist by himself unless Korn tells God about?

  60. gg says

    Peter wrote: “Email programmes really need ‘Green Ink’, ‘Underline Random Word Three Times’ and ‘INseRt randoM CaPital lettErs’ buttons to help these chaps format their epistles.”

    I was going to suggest a font which looks like random letters clipped out of newspapers…

  61. ice weasel says

    I agree with the contributor above who suggested taking all this the proper authorities. While it may be fun, at a distance, to tease a rabidly ignorant criminal, up close can be another thing altogether. Cover your bases.

    And maybe, in the interim, you’re doing a for law enforcement and helping them catch someone who obviously needs a lot of help.

  62. R says

    PZ, would you mind naming the community college?  Some of us may be in a position to find this loser and get him arrested.

  63. says

    Ooh! Random Newsletter font? That’d be cool.

    there are plenty of them out there. most are called “ransom” or “ransom note” or similar.

  64. Seamus Ruah says

    If we’re lucky he’ll piss off some local redneck and end up on the unsolved murders list.

  65. says

    you seem to think that i need to personally track you down. but no, its much simpler. i can rely on prayer to motivate the God you hate to destroy the godless heretic He hates.

    Yes, ’cause we all know that God needs the motivation. Ever since he got his new XBox 360 and Wii, it’s been Hell getting his attention. And now that the seventh volume of Harry Potter came out – well! It’s just been impossible!

  66. TheBlackCat says

    molecanthro, community colleges sometimes have libraries open to the public with computers.

    I do hope you are keeping these emails just in case he explicitly threatens you so you have a record.

  67. Digger says

    I agree completely with the commenters that said to notify the police in all three places- this guy is dangerous, and he needs to be taken down and put in a hospital before he kills someone/gets killed.

  68. says

    ‘I can rely on prayer’…hmmm. I think for once this delusion about prayer is serving a useful purpose: So long as Mr. Korn is counting on prayer to destroy his enemies, we can all sleep sound, but if the voices ever tell him that it’s up to him, he could well become dangerous.

  69. Bob says

    He should tell the LDS* about the power of prayer. Then they can quit pestering me at home and pray far far away.

    *This always makes me think “Learning Disabled…”

    PS “Well, at least Dr. PZ doesn’t weigh the same as a duck.”

    We could build a bridge out of ‘im!

  70. says

    Bryson said

    So long as Mr. Korn is counting on prayer to destroy his enemies, we can all sleep sound, but if the voices ever tell him that it’s up to him, he could well become dangerous.

    Problem is, it won’t take someone like that long to get frustrated that his prayers aren’t working – er…I mean… suddenly hear the Voice Of God telling him that he’s been anointed to do the deed.

  71. Matty Smith says

    It’s sort of hard not to feel sorry for him after reading that. How warped.

  72. Adam S says

    He mentioned Hitler so according to Godwin’s law, the creationists lose. Now we all can move on from this stupid argument.

  73. says

    Interesting diatribe from somebody so “devout.” I wonder if he’s heard about those Commandmenty thingamabobs, like this one:

    5. “Honor your father and your mother, so that your days will be lengthened upon the land that Hashem, your G-d, gives you.”

    He might also want to check this out, before talking about his father any more:

    Deuteronomy 21:18-21

    18 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, 19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. 20 They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard.” 21 Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.

  74. AlanWCan says

    Hmmm…it’s interesting that my RSS feed reader has trouble rendering those ellipses so the headline here reads I get email &andhellip; from Michael Korn I thought it was a hidden cry for assistance.

  75. says

    I really doubt that this guy is a harmless crank. He’s going to do something, somewhere soon that will not be a laughing matter, and someone’s going to get hurt. PZ, you should report this to the NC community college’s library and campus police. He may still be there, using resources in a rather obvious way. The sooner this guy is detained and questioned, the better for all concerned…SH

  76. says

    Just so it doesn’t get lost, his IP address was 198.86.116.230. This geolocates to Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

    Oh just GREAT. Where I grew up.

  77. Ross says

    To follow up on post #25, a strong Jewish connection to the Netherlands comes through Spain. When Queen Isabella turned up the the heat on non-Christians via the Spanish Inquisition, many Jewish families left for the more tolerant Netherlands.

    One famous example is the philosopher Spinoza, who’s forebears had fled first for Portugal and then to the Dutch city of Amsterdam.

  78. Inky says

    You don’t think he’ll put on Jesus holy diapers for a trip across the country?

    What a wackjob.

  79. Kseniya says

    All bankers are Jews? But Gringots is run by Goblins. All Goblins are Jews? Or is it all Jews are Goblins? David Rockefeller is a Goblin? He’s not? (“So he says.”) This is a puzzler!

    I agree with Scott. I don’t like the sound of that letter one bit, and be aware that one of that last terms I’d select to describe myself (after “squid-like”) is “alarmist”. It is true that he’s trying to rattle PZ by pretending to be right down the street, so may be a rank coward, but I’d file this one under Better Safe Than Sorry.

    Pretty ugly stuff in any case. An atheophobe AND anti-Semite. Charming. Possibly not an uncommon combination, though, now that I think about it.

  80. Peter McGrath says

    many, like my own biochemist father, think they are actually serving God’s interest by destroying the simple faith of the average Christian

    Hello. We atheists must gather at the dark of the moon and conjour Freud from his Unhallowed grave to cast an eye over this sentence.

    Tell me about your relationship with your father…

  81. says

    It’s too bad that both our prisons and our psych wards are in such disarray…but i’ll sleep fine with him in one or the other…Not PZ, the other guy…which, coincidently, was the name of a nice jewish guy I grew up with…prob not the same.

  82. Christian Burnham says

    Nice ad for eHardBodies at top.

    I am a Man/Woman/Cephalopod seeking Man/Woman/Cephalopod for *Fun and Games * A serious relationship * A many tentacled snog * insertion of spermatophores into your cavity.

  83. Justin Moretti says

    PZ, tell your kids (esp. Skatje, given her visible web-presence, of which this idiot is almost certainly aware) to also watch their backs – wingnuts who cut loose do not always go after the primary target first.

  84. wrg says

    This geolocates to Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

    Given his lack of any proper comeback, you’d think the guy’d never heard of mysterious ways. Why not just claim that he’s only pretending to be far away by logging in somewhere else to send the message? Perhaps that’s not consistent with claiming to be nearby, but it’d still make more sense than most of his notions.

    This one’s still a classic, though. What remarkably detailed projection, wherein Dr. Myers is cast to fill a role in Korn’s personal conflicts! When he says “in my experience”, one’s led to wonder whether the experience to which Korn refers actually involves anyone other than himself. Of course, it’s easiest to rationalize hostility when you think of other people as symbolic flat cutouts.

  85. Brain Hertz says

    …since his IP address said he was commenting from a community college in North Carolina

    ROFLMAO. Idjits will be idjits… you just can’t train them out of it.

    Perhaps he’s channeling Hermann Goering?

    If an enemy bomber reaches the Ruhr, my name is not Hermann Göring: you can call me Meier!*

    But seriously, if I was in your position, I’d be forwarding this stuff to the FBI (IANAL, but I’m reasonably sure they are the appropriate authority in such a case). His threats may be considered harmless, depending on your disposition, but nobody should have to put up with repeated belligerence and veiled threats such as these.

    *widely, but apparently erroneously, attributed to an allusion to being Jewish. I’m informed it’s actually a German idiom based on one of the more common German surnames (including spelling variants, which is obviously important here). That latter fact kind of raises a question about his assumption, though…

  86. says

    Mazel tov on your newfound ethnic/religious identity!

    Yes indeed, but as a leftist I have to hate him now. It’s all part and parcel of the “New Anti-Semitism”, at least according to the New Anti-Anti-Semitism, which looks a lot like the Old AntiSemitism.

  87. says

    After this e-mail, I think it is well worth revisiting the predicting that this lunatic would turn out to be a secular “Darwinist.”

    And let’s not forget the resident anti-atheist bigots who will most likely still swear blind that it’s all just an EAC plot to frame the poor innocent Christian.

    Yeah I had a few trolls that are convinced this is some massive conspiracy to give Christians a bad name.

  88. MartinM says

    Yeah I had a few trolls that are convinced this is some massive conspiracy to give Christians a bad name.

    I particularly like the part where they try to make something of the fact that Korn is Jewish, in light of his above screed.

  89. Scotty B says

    “i can rely on prayer to motivate the God you hate…”

    Wait, which god is he referring to?
    I think I probably hate Ra the most, always making me sneeze when I go outside…

  90. says

    While that man did sound anti-semitic, true christian churches are not teaching that. Jesus taught us to love everyone, nazi, atheist and jew alike. Anyone can be helped and forgiven. I do not believe in the speculation, fakeries(homemade fossils) and pompous opinions of evolution, But Hitler did. (Lamarkism) As well as Stalin, Mao. I think that’s what the writer was trying to get at. Have a good day.

  91. says

    #113: Hitler was Christian. i’ve had to read all of his works, and he was a bona fide pro-Jesus God-bothering Nazi. he thought the Volk movement was finishing what Jesus started, so to speak.

    (haha. he’ll believe me if he doesn’t notice i’m Jewish.)

    Lepht

  92. says

    My husband’s family is a long line of Lutheran Meyers. I’ve known at least as many non-Jewish people with variations on that surname as Jewish ones. How silly that people would make that assumption – but good for hubby years ago when he got his job at a family business, whose owners assumed he was just as Jewish as they are.

    I think we should get the screaming fundies in a room together, where they can argue that atheists are worshipping Darwin – no, clearing a path for Islam – no, Jews who are trying to destroy the Gentiles – no, filthy Satanists! Korn can be the first one in the room. There’s probably a jail somewhere that can be used. Let them all fight it out where sensible people don’t have to listen, and where they won’t be able to do any harm. Korn is undoubtedly going to snap and hurt someone soon, so I hope the police find some legal reason to put him away.

  93. MartinM says

    I think we should get the screaming fundies in a room together, where they can argue that atheists are worshipping Darwin – no, clearing a path for Islam – no, Jews who are trying to destroy the Gentiles – no, filthy Satanists!

    While those options may seem mutually exclusive to us, that’s merely because we’re not crazy.

  94. MartinM says

    I do not believe in the speculation, fakeries(homemade fossils) and pompous opinions of evolution

    Fortunately, neither reality nor science care what you believe in.

  95. zero says

    Forget sicking God on people with prayer. IF you really want to take someone out, send Odin to get the job done. God’s got robes and a beard, and sure he can smite but Odin’s got armor… shiny armor, and spears! I mean really… smiting is soooo old testament. Let’s get some spears up on this guy’s ass. I’ll do my part and perform that sacrificial rites every day, but I’m not sure I have enough juju or mojo or whatever it is that motivates the Norse Gods, so I’ll need help. Who’s with me?!

  96. josh says

    I always find it hilarious that they often think that we beleive in God and even genisis. Like anyone would be stupid enough to piss off an all powerful being if they really thought it was there!

  97. DragonScholar says

    All humor from this wackjob aside, do keep on your guard. He may talk about the power of prayer, but he might decide at some point that he should get his hands dirty.

    It’s odd to me, but does it seem that our culture has a weird thing about people who might be Jewish? My name has no Jewish connotations, but due to my appearance (thin, dark-haired, etc.) people have assumed I’m Jewish. My response usually is “why do you CARE?”

  98. Mechalith says

    “Like anyone would be stupid enough to piss off an all powerful being if they really thought it was there!”

    One word for you Josh: Satanists.

    (Not, mind you the Church of Satan-types that Anton LaVey started. They’re all kind of weird for other reasons, but don’t believe in a literal God or Satan. They just use the archetype of Satan as a handy metaphor and to piss off Christians. That said, there ARE actually people out there who seriously worship the Christian devil, I’ve met a few. They were pretty much all dumb as a post though.)

    I think the people who assume that Atheists believe in parts of the Bible do so for the same reason I tend to assume without thinking about it that people know basic things like how to turn on a light switch. It’s so ingrained in their culture that it never occurs to them that someone might could not believe it. The assumption that Jesus was real and divine and all that rot is so inherent that even if someone says they don’t believe in God or the bible or whatever, they still can’t really process that idea without conscious effort.

    I’ve run up against this when dealing with a friend who went to a private Christian school or home school all her life a number of times. I’ve had to explain tectonic plates, why I was laughing about the Creatard ‘vapor layer’ theory, and that there are in fact examples of evolution and speciation we can observe and prove. She’s not a stupid woman, just terminally misinformed, and it generally never occurs to her that something might be wrong until I point it out.

    /my 2 denarii

  99. khan says

    IF you really want to take someone out, send Odin to get the job done. God’s got robes and a beard, and sure he can smite but Odin’s got armor… shiny armor, and spears!

    “If I had a hammer…”

  100. says

    Mary Gordon, a novelist, wrote an essay called “Offences of the Pope” (John Paul II). One of them was beatifing Edith Stein, a Catholic nun who had converted from Judaism.

    The germ of Jewish self-hatred, implanted by a hostile world, is so endemic to the psychic experience of every Jew that I suspect that no decision to convert can be made free of it. To convert from a minority and despised religion to a majority and revered one is an easier process… than the opposite course.

    Stein suggests in her letters that the Holocaust was God’s punishment for the Jews’ role in the death of Christ. Even a hint of this should be grounds for exclusion from beatification…

    Edith Stein was killed by the Nazis for being a Jew.

    This was written about 1991. It shows a similar psychological path to Korn but without the violence.

    Incidentally, this same book (Good Boys and Dead Girls) quotes Christopher Hitchens speaking in 1989 about abortion. He takes attitude that pregnancy punishes bad girls for having fun, so they should not get abortions. I hope that he is more enlightened these days.

  101. says

    I’m Jewish?

    My family is going to be so surprised. I suppose it’s possible that the original Myers who emigrated from the Netherlands to America in the 17th century

    Oh, so you’re Dutch, eh?

    What have you got against American elms?

  102. windy says

    Myers, Meyer, Meijer, Maier, Meier and any other derivate of this name are incredibly common in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and parts of Switzerland, iirc. Etimologically they are job designations (of some kind of farm administrator or some other high office, if I’m not mistaken).

    One of the professions where these names originated was probably dairy farming, since Swedish mejeri and Finnish meijeri are modern words for a dairy/creamery, from the German (somewhat obsolete?) word Meierei. Etymology works in mysterious ways!

  103. Mooser says

    Hits most of the standard anti-semetic bases.
    I’ve, myself, outside of political idiots like, well, take your choice, have rarely seen a person so eager to display his own stupidity.

  104. says

    Satan was supposedly an angel, not a god. He was stirring the pot so they fired him and he set up his own competing business. He actually sounds like a nice guy but he became bitter after being thrown under the bus. He took the fall for the rest of him. That’s why he’s called the Fallen Angel.

    As for the insanity displayed in those emails, I have to stop reading that stuff. It’s tiresome.

    So these religious guys are into other-world domination of the Fairyland? Weird.

    As an atheist, that’s the farthest thing from my mind. I don’t really care what these custard brains believe. I just want them to keep it to themselves.

    And they’d best watch it or their puppetmaster might get angry for criticizing other religions and atheism…god’s creations and all that…

  105. says

    barkdog:

    PZ’s name is one of a great many derived from Latin “major.”

    No wonder he works at a university. That’s the most appropriate name for academia since the North Administration Building here was renamed to the Grant Building.