A quick note of thanks to the UCF chapter of the Campus Freethought Alliance for the pleasant time in Florida (especially pleasant now that I’ve come home to the prospect of several inches of snow today). We did get a nice photo of our last supper together: pizza and beer, of course.
At one of my talks this weekend, I was asked if there was a list of secular charities somewhere…and alas, I didn’t have one off the top of my head. Now I have one: Techskeptic’s Data Daily: Atheist Charities. Give!
This must be why he used a flood, last time.
For the first time ever, my talk at UCF actually had protestors. Here’s photographic evidence:
They were just lining the sidewalk at the entrance to the hall where I spoke, silently playing with their rosary beads. We invited them in, but none bothered — they quietly disappeared sometime around the time it started. We also had a couple of security guards sitting in the back of the room, whether to make sure the rowdy atheists didn’t do something evil or to protect us from the fierce horde of prayerful Catholics, I don’t know.
I’m flattered. Thank you, devout true believers of Florida — you made me feel so special.
Cynthia Dunbar has written a book. It’s typical wingnut nonsense: it “refers to public education as ‘a subtly deceptive tool of perversion’ and calls the establishment of public schools unconstitutional and ‘tyrannical.’” It goes further and says that…
…she believes public schools are unconstitutional because they undermine the scriptural authority of families to direct their children’s education. Her own children have been privately educated and home-schooled.
Typical and unsurprising so far. It’s a shame that she’s abusing the intellectual development of her own children, but unfortunately, she has that right. At least she’s not harming other kids…uh, wait a moment.
Cynthia Dunbar is on the Texas State Board of Education.
Dunbar has served as the state board’s District 10 representative since 2006. Her district covers 16 counties in Southeast Texas, including half of Travis County. She is a member of the board’s instruction committee, which oversees curriculum and graduation requirements, student assessment programs, library standards, and the selection of textbooks.
America’s method of governing public education is severely broken when a kook and hater of public schools like this can be one of the top administrators of educational policy in one of the largest public school systems we have. And that she is evaluating textbooks and curriculum…I am appalled.
The Texas Freedom Network is on the case. I think we need something deeper than just booting this destructive lunatic off the board of education, though — we need sweeping structural change all across the country so that the only people put in charge of schools are those who have an interest in making them better. Do you think a corporation, for instance, would succeed if it promoted people to positions of power who openly admitted that all they wanted to do was destroy the company from within?
It must be the season. The godless are popping up all over.
Strange Doctrines is back after a hiatus. I suspect he was off in mystic Tibet studying the rituals of Dormammu.
Go say hello to the Hooping Humanist. He’s even got a picture of me!
I don’t know if we want to encourage this: atheists are also busting out in song. The Midwest Humanist channels Monty Python.
You can turn your godless musical talents into fame and glory: Q Transmissions is running a musical contest. They’ve already adapted some lyrics from Miss Prism, which you can listen to. If you must.
Austin Dacey is an interesting fellow who has written a book on the non-religious basis of morality, The Secular Conscience: Why Belief Belongs in Public Life(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), and he is going to be on Atheists Talk radio this morning at 9am Central time. He’ll be talking specifically about the Islamic threat to secular government. Tune in! I suspect he’ll have something to say about the UN resolution to condemn defamation of religions, but if he doesn’t, call in and ask. This is another day of traveling for me, so I’m going to have to miss it, but you probably don’t have that excuse — and if you do have an excuse, do like I will and get the podcast later.
Yeah, I get odd threats. Apparently, I can now expect every Christian in the country to now inundate my university with mail accusing me of Marxism and telling us that evolution is dead. It’s kind of a threat; if it happens, then I’ll post Bonnie’s full headers and we can wage a little internet war. I suspect, though, this will be nothing but a damp squib from an ignorant kook with delusions of competence.
Professor P.T. Myers
Dr. PZ Myers
Division of Science and Mathematics
600 E 4th Avenue
University of Minnesota, Morris
Morris, MN 56267Dear Mr. Myers,
I am writing to you concerning the email campaign you instigated against the Creation Museum and the Cincinnati Zoo and your personal vendetta against Mr. Hamm.
I don’t know what your ultimate agenda is in propagating a writing campaign to a Zoo in a state you don’t live in and your taxes don’t support, but your ignorance is apparent. How someone so intolerant and closed minded could possibly be considered educated is beyond my comprehension. What scares me more is that people like you are teaching our children. You don’t teach science. You indoctrinate with propaganda. Darwin has about as much evidence proving natural selection as you have in proving there is no God.
You are quite free to believe what you want to believe, but unless Hitler was your mentor, you should know that you have NO RIGHT to interfere with other organizations or businesses that want to colaborate just because you disagree with their arguement. This only proves your hatred of people of faith. What are you afraid of?
It is teachers like you that have exploded the growth of home schooling. It is professors like you that have encouraged the installation and growth of faith based and Christian Colleges. So for that, I guess I have people like you to thank. Thank God my children will have somewhere else to go. I don’t want them learning the fairy tale of evolution, I want them to be free to investigate ALL available arguments. All of them. I mean, the theory of evolution is all you have? Seriously? Science isn’t in the box, professor. You can’t prove evolution and you can’t prove creation. No one can. So why can’t we talk about both? We rehash the same dead, unproven, broken theory when there are so many other questions out there to be asked, researched and experimented with? That sir, is intolerance. That is bigotry. That is ignorance.
I don’t think the Cincinatti Zoo will be thanking you. As a result of your hatred and intolerance toward anyone that says “bless you”, The Cincinatti Zoo has lost a very valuable partner,and a lot of visitors to their website.
I would like to point out to you, Mr. Myers, that you are not the only one who runs a blog,and you are not the only one who can write.
I may not be a professor, but I know how to write a press release and I know how to advertise. That’s my business. So here’s what I will do for you.
Let’s see how your school handles an email blitz from Christians (which I will point out to you sir, comprises of approximately 97% of the population of the United States). I am suddenly motivated to hit every one of my news sources and let them know how marxist you are. I want every parent in this country to know exactly what dangers their kids face, risking having you as a professor in that school. I want them all to know that it’s not good enough to indoctrinate just the students in your lecture hall. You want to make sure NO ONE gets exposure to any possible answers.
I want all those Christian families to think twice before ever considering sending their kids to University of Minnesota . . . and don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get plenty of credit for their decision. Email campaigns can work both ways professor. Oh, I know your school is not the only culprit and you’re not the only marxist professor teaching in our colleges. However, we can start with this one.
Evolution is a failed hypothesis. It cannot even be scientifically tested. You know it, and most of your radical scientists know it. And this kind of attack from you is just evident of the death throes of the false theory of evolution. Much like the snake trying to get one last bite as you cut off it’s head, it knows it’s dying . . . it knows it’s not going to win, but it’s going to try like hell to do as much damage as it can before it dies. Real scientific, doc. Darwin is your god. We have proof that he is dead. Mine is not. You have no proof that he doesn’t exist. You won’t let anyone try to prove it, which I guess answers what you are afraid of. Let the kids discuss it professor. What are you afraid ot? Research is the mother of discovery.
Ninety-seven percent are Christian in this country, professor, think about that. It’s a well known statistic. . . I know state taxes don’t pay ALL your school’s bills.
You can post this on your blog, you can laugh or throw it away, delete it . . . I don’t care. It is of no consequence to me. I just wanted to let you know how I feel and what I’m about to embark on. Because marxists are not the only ones afforded freedom of speech and freedom to inquire in this country. If freedom to bully others is an ammedment I haven’t heard of yet, then I guess we both share that right as well.
I hope this doesn’t offend you, but I end most of my letters this way . . . God Bless you. You are the one who needs it.
Respectfully,
Bonnie Cox
People are responding to my request to avoid stealing or damaging nativity scenes with the suggestion that adding to a nativity scene ought to be ok. Maybe so; note this fine Catalonian tradition and examples of reverent statuary that belong in your local religious display.
