I thought Canadians were supposed to be nice. It’s rather strange — I’m used to getting one or two death threats in my mailbox a week, but lately I’ve been getting several a day…and it’s not as if I’ve done anything particularly dramatic lately. Or have I? Are my horns showing?
From: thanatos_4u@hotmail.com
Subject: Greetings from Vancouver, Canada
Date: March 9, 2009 3:53:21 PM CDT
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X-Originalarrivaltime: 09 Mar 2009 20:53:21.0606 (UTC) FILETIME=[14FAEE60:01C9A0F9]Mr. Meyers,
If your in the neighborhood and would like to descrate some more Hosts. Please feel free to let me know……..and I will give you a welcome more befitting a man of your stature. Let’s just say that some Catholics are willing to kill to defend the Lord God Almighty.
I will pray for you and your lost soul.
Thanatos
He talks about the willingness of religious fanatics to commit murder as if it were something new and unusual.
…also just in: the Pope is Catholic.
/Hope everyone was sitting down.
I’m rather impressed that he didn’t bring up Fatwah envy. No, he’s ready to commit the Catholics to treating blasphemers as they deserve. Death.
“…some Catholics are willing to kill to defend the Lord God Almighty”
But not willing to protect little girls from rape by their step-fathers, apparently.
“Greetings from Vancouver, Canada” – The subject heading made it sound so nice. You’re just being rude and/or arrogant because you’re an evolutionist who hates that almighty God. Maybe you evolutionists need to be nice and everything will go away…
Notice how Christians never leave an omnipotent omniscient being to defend itself?
Ah cute; Thanatos, a Greek god of death. But don’t worry PZ, his power only affects mortals.
“thanatos_4u” is certainly more imaginative than many names, at least.
According to Wikipedia, “In Greek religion, Thánatos (in Greek, θάνατος – “Death”) was the dæmon personification of Death and Mortality.”
Hmmm.
If the Lord God is so Almighty, why does it need defending, particularly by morons?
These emails make me worry about you PZ. Hope all is well!
If these people really believe in the might of their “Lord God Almighty”, why do they so readily feel the need to defend him?
Canada’s not so friendly. After all, we have Denyse O’Leary.
PZ, out of interest, do you ever consider taking these things to the police?
No one ought to be allowed to threaten anyone in this manner and get away with it.
Well at least he left off the Fatwa Envy.
Exhibit A: Rooke, Pete.
(Or is it the defence that uses letters?)
Hmmm. Don’t we have a Thanatos here that’s quite reasonable? Or am I thinking Thalarctos?
These emails are worrisome :/
Your or You’re? Those English pedants will kill for that.
This just needed the five exclamation marks at the end.
Hosts? Are they breeding? They sound like Clones. Send in the Hosts…Hosting…Hostages…Jesus Crackers Everywhere…
Sounds like he’s got a bad case of Internetus Toughguitis. You had better find this “Mr. Meyers” and let him know.
When I was a Catholic I was always told that a good Catholic should DIE for their beliefs but they should never kill for them.
Now even the heretical hell bound followers of the death cult of Thánatos are rallying to defend Jebus. Warms my heart.
I live in Edmonton, Alberta, which is a strictly conservative Province. I don’t know how strong sky daddy’s influence in Vancouver is but I having visited it once, besides the fact it is a beautiful city, it also has a tendency for scumbags and street violence to thrive.
Meyers –> Myers. When threatening someone at least spell their name properly.
I have to wonder, for what other reasons would this asshole send out death threats.
And it is a damned good thing his religion is keeping him acting moral.
Soon to hear the “No True Christian” whine.
Don’t worry PZ, he’s from Vancouver. Tell him he should get some BC Bud so he can mellow out, get hungry and forget all about you.
Am a bit suprised though. I would have thought a death threat more likely from Alberta (my neck of the woods) than Vancouver or BC in general.
Hmph. A Vancouverite. What the fuck does this wank think he’s going to do? Latte you to death?
Let us know when you get a death threat from a Canadian Catholic who’s not currently aligning his chakras whilst sitting in a fog of pot and incense.
Religious fundamentalists are frustrated than ever that they are slowly losing influence in society and politics. I think we see an example of that with Ray Comfort’s behavior in the last week–there’s nothing he hates more than irrelevance.
I think we can expect more of the same angry rhetoric for decades to come. Let’s hope they leave it at idle threats and flaccid attempts at intimidation. I do think members of the North American religious right are more than capable of outright violence, but they do know that it is likely they will be imprisoned or killed if they engage in acts of terror. And to my knowledge, they are not being promised 72 complimentary virgins with their martyrdom–so where’s the upside for them?
@#23 Brownian,
I take it you’ve been to Vancouver before…
Maybe AdjacentOrigin, but let’s not sell ourselves short; Mill Woods has gotten pretty stabby and shooty as of late, and dodging angry drunks on Whyte has become a popular Saturday night activity.
It may have been mentioned somewhere sometime, but the comments become massive – has a reason been given for the headers/email address/ect being displayed?
If this wackaloon is actually from Vancouver, I’d like to apologize on behalf of my city and say that there are many here who would indeed like to welcome you, should you choose to visit. We have several fine universities doing world-class science, including research into evolution. (As I am sure you are aware, being from Washington.)
Seeing as WingNutDaily is probably responsible for this recent up-tick in hate mail, this is giving us a bit of a window into the kind of readership they cater to.
It ain’t pretty.
Nija, see the grey box top left under the red A.
I say Poe.
There is no way a fundee will take the time much less know how to look up the Greek god of death…add to that no Sincerely Yours or Best Wishes. Nothing is randomly in bold and or underlined. It’s brief and to the point. Doesn’t ramble. I don’t buy that they would pray for you AND your lost soul. It’s nuanced irony is to great.
Sorry no.
let’s just hope he’s as good at following up on threats as he is at grammar.
And again, why exactly does the being which created the fucking universe require protection from a human? I mean…doesn’t he label him as almighty…right there in his threat?
Definitions of words are teh hard?
“I take it you’ve been to Vancouver before…”
Don’t get me wrong: I love Vancouver, but it’s hard to take death threats seriously when they’re coming from a city that becomes immobilised every time 3 mm of snow makes the slog to Starbuck’s too tough…
Nija,
From the sidebar:
PeeZed felt the need to institute this new policy during Crackergate.
And that despite getting threats before. Btw, does anyone know what happened to the loonie at large?
Sorry. I wouldn’t say we’re nice, particularly (in that Canadians do tend to be stand-offy), but we are polite. And you have to admit that is a rather well-written example of the genre. Whoever he is, he at least went to a decent school or two.
Btw, does anyone know what happened to the loonie at large?
Down to $0.77 USD last I checked, why?
All you did was pierce a host with a nail and toss it in the garbage can. Catholics chew them up and shit them out. Maybe they should go after themselves for they way they’ve been desecrating their “lord”.
I’d like to join BJ in apologising for sane Vancouverites. But though we do have a lot of spiritual-not-religious people, into communing with Gaia and aligning chakras and whatnot, the Greater Vancouver area does contain nests of hardcore fundamentalists as nasty as any the US has to offer. Except without guns. I hope.
And hardline Catholics, too. I’ve met a couple.
Don’t you just love how he can threaten to kill you (in a weak, cowardly, implied third-person kind of way) and offer to pray for you in the same breath? It’s so sweet. Really, you should send him a fruit basket.
Well- it is your birthday.
It’s mine as well- and I have no death threats from fanatics- but I think that’s for the better.
That is sickening. I would never ever write to someone I disagree with and THREATEN them!
Must be because I’m an atheist and not a religionist.
PZ you must be a very powerful entity since they have to kill you in order to defend their almighty lord.
Anonymous coward is what that jackass is.
I am nice, dammit!
Unfortunately, we have our share of wackaloonies, too. Some people take this literary Jeebus guy very seriously. I wish more Christians would learn some first century Christian and other Mediterranean religious history.
Hint: Saul of Tarsis was the L. Ron Hubbard or Joseph Smith of his day.
What business does a Catholic have with a greek death god? Or is he being, like, Freudian?
I don’t say poe to this. I think he’s being all powerful and serious like by using an old-fashioned word. Even if he is kind of using it wrong.
PZ, you mentioned the other day about spamming the morons who email you, but just to let you know, by posting their email on your website it is enough for the website scrapers to find those emails. So most likely nobody submitted them to porn sites, the spammers are quite capable of finding them all by themselves.
Thanatos… Does he know he’s parading as an idol? Even if he does not believe in thanatos I’m pretty damn sure G man gives a fuck.
That dude is going to hell.
I have sort of a weird thought about some of the crazy letters. It seems like people who are unstable have a hard time seeing the difference between themselves and other things such as the boundaries between themselves and other people, or between themselves and some larger body. I wonder if these people get so upset over having their faith mocked because they actually have trouble telling the difference between their actual beings and the ideas with which they identify. I don’t know, but if anyone knows of an interesting book on that matter I’d like to read it.
As I Canadian I feel obligated to apologise for my fellow citizen. We’re sorry. This isn’t acceptable.
And no, I’m not joking. I really do feel obligated. There’s something odd in our national psyche that way. I’m embarrassed by this fellow even though he lives 4000 km away from me.
It is strange that someone would refer to God as ‘Lord Almighty’, yet somehow believe that same requires them to commit mayhem in their defense.
But (keeping in mind that I’m also a faith-head of sorts), here’s the deal: zealots of all stripes are ultimately control freaks, and what they want is an internal locus of control where reality is concerned. Their belief system gives many of them the illusion that they can somehow bring the circumstances of their life under their control. While giving lip service to an external locus of moral and physical order, these self-possessed individuals are really indulging their desire to be in control themselves. When you pooh-pooh their beliefs, you are in effect undermining their conviction that they are in control, or at least the conviction that they are allied with one who is in control of everything (Big Sky Daddy).
This is incredibly destabilizing for many of them. Is it any wonder that some of them respond to this rejection of their beliefs as if they had been personally attacked? They are really so invested in the whole business that they can perceive no other outcome but chaos, including the moral chaos that they presume the rejection of God necessarily entails.
Now, some of these folk when confronted by non-believers of obvious virtue will claim that they the latter are parasites of the moral order derived from God. From where I sit, we could read that argument as a profession of envy: that is, non-believers seem able to derive a certain amount of certainty on matters of conduct without having to formally invest control in an external locus (God). To put it in game theory terms, the fundies think virtuous atheists are cheaters….
If ever there has been a sentence making the blood to boil in a devout christian and to enable him to rise up and vehemently profess his faith with murder and mayhem than this
“Love thy fellow man.”
then I have not heard it yet.
I like the fact that he’s willing to commit murder, but only if PZ comes to Vancouver and gives him a heads-up first. I suppose PZ should be grateful to have such lazy enemies.
39*
Methinks he is a fruit basket…full of bananas and maggots!
If you ever are in the Vancouver neighborhood, PZ, do let us know! Let’s just say some Vancouverites are willing to stand in line politely for a lecture and submit themselves to a few stout drinks in the name of supporting good biology.
X-Originating-Ip: [24.83.15.3]
I’m getting Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
Unfortunately, even we Canadians have wack-jobs in our midst. Such thinly veiled death-threats are illegal here, too.
That’s a Shaw Cable IP, by the way. A huge service provider. I’d send them a copy:
https://secure.shaw.ca/need_help/Request_Help_Form.asp
‘I thought Canadians were supposed to be nice.’
And Americans are supposed to be hillbilly redneck inbred ignorant gun-toting morons, yet they’ve got people like you, Stephen Hawking and Obama … Can’t always judge a people by their common stereotype, eh?
(And no, I don’t use ‘eh’ because I’m a Canuck. >:()
But I will agree, feeling like I have to, that Canadians do tend to be a bit less rowdy and rough-around-the-edges than many Americans seem to be. All sorts of reasons for that, I suppose.
Godz iz Canadian? Must be the work of Robert Pickton.
isn’t it weird when those lunatics just say things so flatly contradictory? contradictory in so many and varied ways, too. it gives me the creeps.
“All sorts of reasons for that, I suppose.”
No, just one: it’s too &$^%*#! cold.
“Your” obviously misunderstanding. He wants to convert you to Catholicism, and the “killing” he refers to is only to freshly butcher a turkey to cook for you a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings. It’s all about context and reading between the lines.
Yeah, I think it’s WND. Figures.
They’ve given us a poll to crash, too:
http://forums.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=354
There was no choice for, “It’s about fucking time”, or else I’d have voted by now.
Appologies P.Z. As a Canadian I am mildly embarrased by this. I’m also surprised to see it come from BC. Now if it had come from Alberta that would make more sense (Alberta is sort of like Canadian Texas), but I thought British Columbia was supposed to be sensible.
Ditto to the apologies from Vancouver! Freaks like this are extremely rare here, though.
“…it’s hard to take death threats seriously when they’re coming from a city that becomes immobilised every time 3 mm of snow makes the slog to Starbuck’s too tough…”
Funny you should say this Brownian! We just got 1cm of snow today (unheard of for this time of year!) and I finished an entire venti latte while waiting and waiting outside of a Starbucks, for a bus that never showed (no doubt due to the “snow”)! I’m not even kidding. Lol! And they say stereotypes are wrong…
“He talks about the willingness of religious fanatics to commit murder as if it were something new and unusual.”
Or like it’s something that’s not totally deplorable.
#49
The musicians, actors, and scientists alone make Canada a cool place. Speaking for (hopefully) most U.S. citizens, I appreciate our generally good-natured and polite neighbors to the north!
Amazing how they set aside that whole “Thou Shalt Not Kill” thing so easily. I love how the ten commandments are such a vaunted code of ethics that people can just choose to ignore them when they’re angry about something.
Canadians are nice… mostly anyway. They do get a little confused from time to time, though. I have met some I’ll never forget.
What’s all that routeing information at the front of the thread?
I’m not very good at getting all excited just because someone’s parents fucked on the same island as mine did, but Stephen Hawking’s British; it’s just his voice that isn’t.
He was actually offered a British voice once the tech became sufficiently ubiquitous for them to have done one, but said that the American software voice was as much his voice as his real voice had been, and it would be weird to change.
Awesome. So many goodies and so few sentences.
Misspelled PZ’s name… check
Grammar befitting a three-year-old kid scribbling with his first set of crayons… check
Death threat… check
Will pray for you… check
I especially love how he can’t decide whether to kill you or pray for you.
Captain Anonymous proves once again that there is no morality with
outGod.Umm, you mean the e-mail header?
I wonder if it’s this guy?
Why should people have to kill to defend God? Is he not able to defend himself?
I wonder if “Thanatos” is actually “Jack Picknell”, also from Burnaby, Vancouver, BC, Canada… Anyone remember Jack Picknell?
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/09/hi_jack_picknell.php
If “Thanatos” and “Jack Picknell” are not the same, they should totally meet up, form a “Kill in the Name of God” club, and make out.
When some one sends me an email, how do I get all that route information?
Seems like some so called xians have two reactions to anything they find annoying.
Lie a lot.
If that doesn’t work, threaten to kill somebody.
The Lie a Lot days didn’t work so well. FWIW, Obama receives more Death Threats than any other president in history.
The party of Sarah Palin, Perkins, Falwell, Dobson, Hagee, Vox Day, Robertson, Parsley and so on are showing their true colors. Destroy everything you can, blame it on Clinton and threaten to kill anyone who isn’t like them. These are in all seriousness, the days of The Liars, Haters, and Killers for jesus.
It seems a little contradictory to be a Catholic, and yet be perfectly fine to commit murder (isn’t that a deadly sin? Wrath?).
Plus, crusades have been over for quite some time (although, I guess there are plenty of people who think it’s still going on…).
Get a real e-mail program, and view headers.
Sheesh.
Silver Fox wrote:
What’s the matter, Silver Fox – some irritating non-Christians insisting you provide disproof of their gods? See how annoyingly stupid it is when someone does it to you and you have to try and point out you don’t have to?
Oh, for the want of an edit button?
SilverFox:
In MS Outlook XP, Use View->Options. The headers will appear in a text box in the dialog’s lower portion.
cpsmith #63
There is a reason why Stan Rogers’ song about a guy who moves to Alberta is called The Idiot.
I dunno, maybe when he said some Catholics are ready to kill for the lord allmighty he meant like, “I’m willing to give a killer comedy show for a man of your stature”. He could read from the catechism or something. I used to be a catholic, and there is plenty you could work into good routine. I mean, unlike protestants who twist themselves up into knots reading the bible, catholics have just had the fun to make shit up.
Choirs of angels? Transubstantiation? A children’s crusade? Inventing and then un-inventing a purgatory? How about all them shrouds of turin? Who wants to buy an authentic foreskin of jesus? I’m telling you this shit could KILL a receptive audience
As a Canadian (a Columbian of British descent), I was pretty ignorant of the Canadian charter of rights and freedoms. I must say, I am disgusted with the first line:
“Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law”
Sorry about the threat Dr. Myers
#16: “They sound like Clones”
So this is a Jedi matter now.
I guess it goes to show that fundy insanity is not bound by borders. As an Albertan atheist I’m surprised you didn’t get it from here, since as Brownian pointed out we have more than a few fundies.
Why should people have to kill to defend God? Is he not able to defend himself? Why the hatred? That doesn’t seem to represent God very well.
‘Tis Himself @83
Oh…that song made me homesick. I’m from Nova Scotia and am currently residing in Ottawa where there is no ocean, no hillsides dotted with houses that look like 5 year olds choose the colours, no ocean, no forests in which I can frolick, no ocean…whine.
Inventing and then un-inventing a purgatory?
Limbo. It was Limbo they now “prayerfully hope does not exist,” or some equally hilarious way of saying “Okay, yeah, that part was BS.”
Purgatory, on the other hand, that shit is serious.
This is becoming alarming. With all the school and church shootings we’re having I hope you’re informing your local police and the campus security.
When that lunatic jumped up at the Dawkins lecture I thought, here we go!
Nice birthday wish. Jerk.
send it to the RCMP in Canada. We don’t tolerate such hate speech here.
“There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life” started on Calgary city buses today.
Wow PZ these people sound scary. Please look after yourself.
I echo the sentiment of Canadians in this thread. It’s something I’d expect from Alberta or the Maritimes, but not Vancouver/Burnaby.
…but I guess whack-a-loon-itude knows no bounds.
Again, sorry ’bout that.
These people need to spend less time threatening you and more time using a dictionary.
@95
Don’t forget Abbottsford. Our little bible belt
Hey, don’t worry PZ, the threat’s intended for someone named “Meyers.”
But seriously, can the police or someone do anything about these kinds of emails?
@cpsmith
Holy Crap! Me too!
Not far from where I grew up someone has a plaid house. It’s the most awesome house EVER. Then there’s the entirely pepto bismol pink house. Not so awesome.
I apologize on behalf of rational Canadians, eh?
Dear Thanatos:
What part of “Thou Shalt Not Kill” are you having trouble understanding?
Sincerely,
God.
cpsmith,
I am from NB and while not actually from a place really near the ocean that also made me a bit homesick. I am also sitting here in Ottawa missing the ocean and forests and well, lots of things.
I also lived in Burnaby for a few years. While I found the Vancouver area to be largely pretty liberal I am not really surprised, you did not have to look hard to find people like this and in general there was a good deal of soft headed thinking.
Scott Hatfield said:
To put it in game theory terms, the fundies think virtuous atheists are cheaters….
That’s a pretty good analogy IMO, Scott.
Being a a regular reader and recovering Catholic living in Vancouver, I thought I’d check this out. I don’t think there’s much to worry about. If his superhero costume is any indication, he probably can’t afford the trip to Morris.
http://www.youtube.com/user/thanatosdarkavenger
http://thanatos2008.spaces.live.com/
http://www.reallifesuperheroes.org/heroes_thanatos.html
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2009/200903/20090306.html
One of the funniest encounters I ever had with a fundamentalist Christian was actually in Vancouver. A female friend and I had just gotten off the plane and were walking toward the baggage claim when a woman carrying pamphlets and a Bible approached us. “Excuse me, are you two married?” she asked. No. “Are you boyfriend, girlfriend?” No. Then she asked if we were having premarital sex and were we aware of the dangers to our eternal soul of having premarital sex. To get rid of her, I said, “We’re brother and sister but we are having sex. Is that dangerous to our souls?” We left with her looking dumbfounded.
Huh. He acts as if the catholic god isn’t willing to kill to defend himself.
If god’s been reduced to anonymous emails sent by bloodthirsty followers to defend him, he’s really come down in the world.
Krystalline Apostate @ #73 wrote:
He’s probably more like this guy.
his email has thanatos in it but he claims to be christian? don’t they have to not idolize other gods?
I’m beginning to wonder if there actually is a PZ Meyers out there who just happens to be a real asshole.
I find it amusing that their “all-powerful” god needs mere humans to defend him. Can’t an omnipotent being take care of himself?
I’ve seen Thanatos used as someone’s nick somewhere. Maybe on YouTube.
I am not really sure that this could be treated seriously. He posted an empty, cowardly threat contingent on PZ desecrating another cracker. From my understanding, the thrill was not sufficiently exciting for PZ to repeat the feat.
@ Ken, 104
Yeah, came across that as well. Of course, it could be a coincidence, and not the same guy. The superhero Thanatos seems fairly tame and goofy, and not ultra-religious.
Bwahaha… I love this blog.
I also feel obliged to apologize for this jag off who happens to be a fellow Canadian. I used to live on Vancouver Island, and Vancouver was always a great place to visit. Canada is actually quite a liberal country. Hell, I’m an officer in the Air Force, and I sometimes feel we are the largest group of heathens and atheists on the planet.
On the bright side, you have to admit that only a Canadian would invite you to an ass-kicking rather than threatening to come and get you . :D
Ya, sorry aboot this hoser. He’s just got his toque on a little too tight, eh?
On a more serious note, sadly, no one has a monopoly on idiots. East coast, west coast, north or south, and everywhere in between. Idiots everywhere.
Have a look at the two e-mail addresses the threat was sent to. The moron was aware of the correct spelling and just couldn’t believe it.
In Outlook Express, right-click on it, and then click on “Properties”. (Shut up, Owlmirror. Yes, I know, Mucuswaft Outbreak Expose and all, but with a modern antivirus program and an IQ above room temperature in Fahrenheit that’s not a problem. Outlook, now, Outlook is trash.)
Computers, you see, are not for adults. You must play with them, childishly, or you shall learn nothing!
Scott Hatfield@50: that was a good post: thank you. Certainly resonates with some of the conversations I’ve had with the religiously inclined. Mild Asperger’s Syndrome means I do tend to struggle with why people behave the way they do anyway, but that worked for me…
p.s. Late Happy Birthday PZ!!! Came here during the Dover Trial via Panda’s Thumb, and never looked back. All this, and Cuttlefish too. Life is good. Fine health and happiness.
Allow me to join in the chorus of Canucks that have a shred of rationality and condemn this whack-job. Sorry Pee Zed. Canadians are like ninjas: most are totally awesome and sweet (and by sweet I mean cool), but a few will flip out and totally kill you and uppercut everyone in the whole town without even a second thought.
Thanatos is a self-styled superhero in Vancouver. He basically dresses up in green skull masks and wanders around cemetaries pretending to protect the homeless. His website is here
Funny, I imagine him looking something like this.
More apologies from the Great White North.
Actually, Canada now has a substantial claim to Hawking (who, as others have pointed out, is of course British).
oops sorry – we usually are nice – especially here in BC.(even if we did get snow today)
PZ when are you visiting Vancouver?
BTW nice to see so many from Vancouver replying here
Well, it’s been kinda cold out here lately and this isn’t Minnesota; we’re used to flowers blooming without snow on them. Plus we’ve got all that Winter Olympics debt to look forward to. So he’s probably just feeling cranky.
Annick @ 119:
That website is hilarious – especially the ones like Crimson Fist who list things like “95k Volt Stun-Knuckles” alongside “Helping Hands” as tools in humanitarian aid…
Cruithne, I trust that if PZ is being sensible, that he’s conferring with the police, and deliberately not telling us about the details.
You and I are trustworthy, of course, but who knows who else reads this blog, after all?
Sili, you have given me an idea for the most awesome ‘nym EVER!
Thanatothalarctos: “Maritime Bear of Death”
I originally am from the Vancouver area myself{ Now living in Alberta } and in my experience such threats are , by and large, made by people who lack the cojones to follow through. The structure of his sentence is typical of someone who is all mouth, hence the oblique reference to “some Catholics” rather than a direct reference to themselves.
They thereby impress themselves as having made a claim of willingness to kill you so that they can feel important in their weird way. In all likelihood they are not to very bright and wish to think of themselves as some “knight in God’s army” or some such similar deluded fantasy.
The dangerous ones that will do such acts wont be spending time issuing warnings to you. They will simply go for it at whatever opportunity they find available.
So even though Vancouver has its fair share of crazies, this is not one of them IMHO.
Thanatothalarctos: “Maritime Bear of Death”
LOL
that should be the species name for the Polar Bear!
Pcsmith, travis, at least you can slip over the Ottawa river into Quebec and take a look at the Gatineau hills. Look for Pink Lake – it’s meromictic – doesn’t turn over spring and fall. It has no streams running in or out; and the water lost its salt so slowly from when the area was covered by ocean that it has a remnant population of sticklebacks. The lake has unique bacteria that are both anaerobic and photosynthetic.
And are you skating to work on the Rideau Canal??? And now that it’s summer, you can go white-water rafting.
I know it’s not multicoloured houses and the Atlantic, but think of all the blizzards and freezing rain you missed this year.
PZ! Happy birthday! How did your students like the pop quiz?
I’m sorry this loser is in Canada. You can get in touch with the RCMP through their web site and ask them how they want any threatening letters that you receive, one at a time or in batches? Or you could get in touch with the police in Burnaby (a suburb of Vancouver). Or you could give it to your homeland security, they’ll tell the RCMP that Thanatos is a dangerous desperado, and he’ll be exported to Cuba or perhaps Purgatory.
Silly PZ, only Jews have horns.
(Seriously, I’ve had people ask me, completely earnestly, where my horns are when I tell them I’m Jewish).
@Monado:
Nope, they’ll be sentenced to a fate worse than death. A Celine Dion concert.
(Apologies to Celine Dion fans, whoever you are.)
Greetings from Vancouver!
No, really… I’m in Vancouver and send my greetings. No death threats, no sleaze. Just “Hi”.
And indeed it used to be.
Without the “death” part.
We used to be…
9 years of Canadian Tire guy ads will change a man…
Yup. No offense to other bear species, but Ursus maritimus is kind of an anti-climactic comedown.
Damn molecular biology….
(+)… do with me what you will
Without the “death” part.
unfortunate; it really needs that part. as it is, doesn’t the name (genus and species) basically just translate to “sea bear”? IIRC, it’s still Ursus maritimus?
I’ve often thought of those things as death incarnate.
Have heard MANY personally related stories from behaviorists who have studied them, up close and all too personal, over the years.
one of the singularly most impressive predators I can think of.
…well, that breed on LAND at least.
:)
Yeah, but it used to be split out into Thalarctos maritimus, which is kind of redundant (sea-bear of the sea).
As if that’s not bad enough, you’ll sometimes see Ursus malayanus in the literature as well.
They’ll have my Helarctos when they pry it out of my cold dead paws!
Also hi from Burnaby. If that guy is the superhero guy I’m going to have a nice long gigglefest in his name. Strangely enough his voice sounds familiar, but I can’t place it.
Shout out to Vancouver Pharyngulites!
@57. Stephen Hawking is British :(
Does anybody remember that dude with the long hair, beard and robes, who used to walk up and down Robson and Granville shouting the bible? I’m thinking late 90s, but maybe he’s still there.
Well, at least he’ll pray for you before killing you. I guess that’s something.
“Let’s just say that some Catholics are willing to kill to defend the Lord God Almighty.”
“Lets just say”? Is there anything coy or euphemistic in the rest of the sentence I’m not saying that would make using that turn of phrase not idiotic?
PZ, I do hope you’re archiving these emails and sending them to the proper authorities. It’s hard to tell the mean-crazies from the homicidal-mean-crazies; best to let the experts sort them out . . . and check them out.
I’m very, very serious. No doubt you’ve seen the American Religious Identification Survey results showing an upsurge in atheism and lost ground for traditional Christian denominations. Scott is right in pointing out that zealots are control freaks who are profoundly disturbed by threats to their belief systems. Headlines like today’s from ABC News — American Is Becoming Less Christian, Less Religious — are going to make them nuts.
These people aren’t very stable to begin with; it doesn’t take much to send them over the edge. I beg you, take precautions.
Well, I’m glad the Canadian edumacation system is every bit as good as ours here in the states.
Why does it appear that none of the fanatics that write have ever taken an English class? Or a science class? Or any class? Well, I guess that question answers itself.
I’m one of the organizers of the Centre for Inquiry in Vancouver. We have a really active and healthy skeptic/atheist community here (Vancouver Pharyngulites, join us! centerforinquiry.net/vancouver)
I’m tempted to email this guy and invite him to the next meeting of the Vancouver Atheist meetup :)
Bloody hell people, just because Alberta has some oil and some christians doesn’t make it texas north. I work in a very public area and don’t encounter anywhere near the amount of fundies one would expect from the stereotype of this province. Quit it!
PZ, you really should forward this death threat to the RCMP. Sick little coward deserves it.
Now I may be a bit Hitchens-esque myself, but I think I can speak for many a normally non-violent atheist when I say that there are many who would beat the living hell out of someone trying to violently oppress those who simply express an idea or throw away a cracker.
I think this is a fact that many fundie “internet badasses” forget or underestimate. None here may be intrinsically violent (personally, I am usually against the use of violence) but that does not equal an inability to punch back or an unwillingness to do so.
Though I also have to add that I’ve never been given the opportunity to prove this fact. With all the insults hurled before lectures, in front of planned parenthoods, and across the coffee shop during freethinker meetings, I’ve never witnessed anyone bold enough to put word to action. It seems to be some never ending dick waving that allows them to prove their manhood without actually doing anything.
Though I wonder if anyone else has had experiences that have gone the other way?
Sorry on behalf of my fellow British Columbian. It’s the Olympic fever, I think. It affects people in strange ways.
#54:
I second that!
Sanity Jane @ 107:
My version is how he sees himself. Yours is the reality.
WTF?
Do they think you are Moses or something???
there’s no good looking for the nickname thanatos in other places — i’m pretty sure it’s a popular name to use, unless it’s latched on to a 4u.
At the risk of raising the ire of my brethren across the straight, I’ve found over the last decade or so that Vancouver has become a distinctly unfriendly place, relatively speaking. Way too many self-consciously cosmopolitan, too-cool-for-school poseurs running around. Which isn’t to say that there aren’t lots of lovely people there, too; just that the “Starbucks-North” or “stoned Whistler dude” stereotypes really don’t seem to fit anymore. Vancouver seems more uptight than Toronto, now, and that’s saying something.
As for the douchenozzle who sent the email… what are you gonna do? These people seem to crawl out from under the rocks in every region. At least they’re rare enough here that they aren’t likely to be establishing public policy or school curricula. Or stoning rape victims to death in the town square. We’ve reduced them to writing strongly-worded letters, and there’s nothing more Canadian than that…
And I’d echo the advice above: forward the email to Shaw and the RCMP.
And if you do make it out this way, I’d say the only real danger you’ll face is that you will be given a welcome befitting your stature — and find yourself prevented from paying for your own beverages for the duration of your stay.
Thanks for posting the link, ‘Tis. I love Stan Rogers and I hadn’t heard this song. What a great line, “I hate cowboy clothes.” I grok. I live in Calgary (aka “Cowtown” and home of the World Famous Calgary Stampede, for you geographically challenged Americans) and the only two things I like better about it than my hometown of Edmonton (also in Alberta, but known as “Redmonton” at least in comparison to Calgary) are the chinooks and the closeness to the mountains.
Recently stumbled across the following quote, which seemed appropriate, given the above e-mail and the other recent e-mail:
“You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” — Tom the priest, via Anne Lamott
“If your in the neighborhood and would like to descrate some more Hosts. Please feel free to let me know……..and I will give you a welcome more befitting a man of your stature. Let’s just say that some Catholics are willing to kill to defend the Lord God Almighty.”
WAAAAH! Don’t you dare touch Yahweh’s magic wafers! I’d have thought that an omnipotent deity would be able to easily defend his magic wafers without recourse to some sad little catholic wanker. Kind of shows how weak and pathetic their (imagined)all powerful deity is.
You’d have thought that for his blasphemous act of magic wafer desecration the magic sky fairy would have unleashed the Cephalopod of Utter DOOM on PZ.Or even destroyed his hometown under a rain of giant squid, but, catholic wanker’s deity is as non existant as his logic. Checkmate theists!
“I will pray for you and your lost soul.”
And we will laugh at how pathetic your imaginings are. Grow some rationality, catholic wanker.
You guys, I don’t think he actually means “defending his God”, although admittedly, using the word “defend” here is misleading. He probably thinks that he’s “doing God’s work” by combating infidels, or something similarly ridiculous. He doesn’t think that god can’t defend his own name, only that god “shouldn’t be wasting his time on infidels, that’s what I’m here for”.
I think he’s just some sad little fuck who wishes to be a little more important than the utter nonce that he is by propitiating his imaginary friend. The combination of pretending to be strong or dangerous and the possibility of being the errand boy of the creator probably makes that cocksucker drool.
Not a poe, in my opinion.
Let’s just say that…
Wow, that certainly was a diabolically clever piece of sly innuendo there. That had all the intelligence and subltey of a guy in a clown suit trying to smuggle a herd of angry geese through customs.
Crackers are serious business. The Cracker Defence Force has targeted you.
“probably makes that cocksucker drool.”
*lol* because there’s absolutely NOTHING WORSE than being a cocksucker. Because that’s like being – *gasp* GAY!!!!! – or worse, a woman! And those are, like, the worst things to be evah!
You’re almost there. Notice how they always misspell his name in that certain way, “Meyers”. Folks, they’re accusing him of being a Jew. (As my bubbie would say, “Nu, he should be so lucky.” LOL)
Seriously, though, the name “Meyer” wouldn’t even be that inappropriate, seeing that it means “doctor” or “scholar”, or may even come from the word for “light”.
Sometimes I think that the apparent need on the part of the fanatically, homicidaly devout to threaten or kill atheists and apostates is for their own defense. Perhaps they fear being cast into that lake of fire for allowing these people to live. Or that God, in smiting the truly deserving wicked, might just take them out too for suffering the wicked to live. Just a guess on my part. Sure, there’s a lot of cubits between Morris and Vancouver for God’s laser-guided lightning bolts to go that far off target, but there is the whole Universal Flood thing on his Old Testament rap sheet. And bears. Precision-guided munitions are not always his weapons of choice. Thus, killing blasphemers becomes a case of self defense for the (self)righteous.
@#65
You said: “The musicians, actors, and scientists alone make Canada a cool place.”
Funny, I thought it was the latitude that made Canada a cool place.
I think the Lord needs to help this guy out with sentence structure and paragraph writing.
Why does the dude who created the universe need defending from anyone?
Gotta love the “let’s just say” as if some subtlety were about to follow.
Let’s just say we plan to be violent towards you until you die. IF you know what I mean.
And he wrote “your”. I hate that.
One disturbed person does not a Canadian make. Just because you guys had W. didn’t mean that we painted every American with a Bush brush. Please don’t drop ad-hoc statements like “I thought Canadians were supposed to be nice” in the context of a death threat e-mail. We are good people, just as you are in the US. Every country has its lunatics.
Canada & USA BFF.
I’m glad that Americans are not the only ones with spelling and homophone problems.
On behalf of my fellow sane Canadian brothers and sister, I would like to say sorry for on behalf of the other idiots.
Also, anything you want to come up here and eat some crackers, I’ll make sure we have enough and some goat cheese to go with them.
Is Robert Byers on the prowl?
I second the goat cheese & crackers, as well as the apology on behalf of Canadians. Vancouver is a largish city (about 580,000 people -3rd largest city in Canada!) and so has a few cells of lunatics. Fortunately, the cold keeps a leash on them for the most part.
but I thought British Columbia was supposed to be sensible.
BC is also the home of fundy Mormon polygamist cult compounds, in case you missed the fairly recent news.
As for Canadians being nice, we invented hockey. We do have a tendency towards violence, we just prefer to leave the projectile weapons at home.
Plus, if you drink the last beer they’ll put you in the loony bin.
Catholics must have some fuckin’ wimpy ass god if he – all powerful, all knowing – can’t do his own killing! WIMP! SISSY! MILQUETOAST!
Get a better god or just shut the hell up.
I LOVE that all of we Canadians are rushing in here to apologize. On an American TV show recently a character was ‘outed’ as a Canadian when someone deliberately bumped into her, and it was one stereotype I was rather glad to resemble.
And to my fellow Ottawa residents, if you can’t find forests around here you’re not looking for the trees! I’m looking at one out my cublicle window and watching a woodpecker make short work of the insects waking up after last week’s warm (up to 45 F!) temperatures.
You should reply with the words “Dr. Meyers.” Simple enough.
i have taken a consecrated host hostage…i’m sending an envelope containing a crumb as proof…
if anyone calls the police, i will kill it.
if you want to see it alive, ever again, collect half of what benny hinn spends in a week and wait for instructions.
We have apologies from Canucks in BC, Alta, LNF and Ont. You won’t get one from Sask., because we’re all too busy trying to be as Bible Thumping and conservative as we believe Alta to be.
Anyway, PZ there are many of us stuck in the centre of bible belt Canada that find what this idiot said disgusting and stupid. You, ERV and all the other vocal atheists are welcome to visit us anytime, I’m sure we can whip up enough security to keep you safe … I hope.
Umm, maybe just stick to Regina.
Ironic, considering that their beliefs include one that this ‘Lord God Almighty’ specifically told them never to kill under any circumstances.
Hello atheists!!! You sound like such happy people. I am particularly impressed with the amount of profanity that you use and your enormous consumption of pornography. I think perhaps you use atheism to defend your “lifestyles”.
Lastly, just wanted to clarify, that I was not threatening Mr. Myers, but, was informing you that I would kill and also die for my beliefs. I believe that many of you, judging by your hate filled e-mails which inlcuded death threats, feel the same. I will pray for your souls.
Let’s see what was the content of your e-mail?
…some Catholics are willing to kill to defend the Lord God Almighty.
So either you are a liar, you said nothing about being willing to die for you belief. Or you did not think about what message you were sending out. Neither speaks well for you character. But please, pray for us. It means nothing to me but it will use up time you could be using killing and dying for you god.
Well aren’t you a good Christian. What with following the 6th commandment and all. Or is it the 5th commandment for Catholics? Either way…
And a hearty “fuck you” to you, too!
So much for loving your enemy and turning the other cheek. What are the words of Jesus to you Christians? It seems they are nothing more than a justification for your own petty behaviour, a means to ascertain the moral highground while acting like scum.
Thanatos, I recommend proper Catholic prayer aids.
Handcrafted by Italian nuns! Free shipping worldwide!
Thanatos wrote:
Coming from someone who spend their life living in fear and guilt because of an imaginary sky-fairy, that’s kind of hilarious.
Relevancy FAIL.
Scare quotes? Seriously? Anyway, do you use your lack of belief in Zeus to justify threatening violence? Yeah, typical aZeusist alright.
Ah, killing – just like Jesus wanted, right? He was all about the murder. Say, do you hear Jesus’ voice in your head, telling you how to kill people in his name?
If you did receive any death threats, send them to the authorities. Just because an idiot happens to be atheist doesn’t mean we’re okay with them breaking the law. Unfortunately, since we’ve got evidence of you threatening PZ you’re going to have to answer a few questions yourself.
Prove such a thing as the soul exists and maybe I’ll care. Until then I’ll think for both of us.
Umm,
Oh, I get it. You weren’t threatening him. You were just inviting him to come to your neighbohood so you could give him some communion wafers in the hopes that you could kill him before he could desecrate them. Got it.
Nice sadistic fantasy. Did you jerk off after you wrote that one? Fucking sicko.
We haven’t even got warmed up yet shortpants. Wait til we start the nightly ‘Blasphemy vs Abomination’ game. Which begins right after the baby roast.
From Edmonton, AB:
Love your blog, PZ!
Always fun and encouraging to find other fellow athiests like myself!
“Every dogma has it’s day”
R.
And I will Learn to Hula Hoop.
We’ll be accomplishing the same thing except I’ll know how to hula Hoop at the end and you’ll just be talking to your self.
Mr. Internet tough guy.
From the picture on his website he looks like that wrestler the Undertaker out trick or treating.
Superhero indeed. *snort*
Actually, I guess you could call it a threat. In the sense, that everyone of you thats uttered this blasphemy is condemning himself. So absolutely, it is a threat. Every one of you that mocks god will be judged. I assure you all, be certain of the nonsense that comes out of your mouth. One day you will be sorry when you appear in front of God.
Listen to this scenario: One of you walks into a church where I am present and purposely, with intent, malice and full understanding desecrates a Sacred Host, then and only then, I would use whatever means available to me to make you stop. Period. Is that a threat? Nope. Your flawed ideology has caused you to go too far. When you spout your nonsensical philosophy, I support your freedom of speech. When you come into my church and desecrate, you cross into an area where you have no more freedom.
Lastly, if your going to claim to be an atheist, don’t tell me what Jesus would do or wouldn’t do or tell me which commandment I am breaking. You don’t have any right. Atheism and it’s believers have been responsible for more deaths than all the worlds religions combined.
I am beggining to realize that PZ Myers is the Jerry Springer of Atheists. You fans of his, the mindless idiots, are the audience.
This will be my last post. I will pray to god for your lost souls
Thanatos
Great, another masturbatory, sadistic “scenario” from Thantos where he gets to kill some godless heathen to protect communion wafers.
What the fuck is wrong with you, man? Do you realize how ridiculous you look?
Oh, and you have to love his use of Argument 46:
It’s a classic. http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/GodProof.htm
Is that what you think PZ did? Are you really that ignorant? Perhaps you’d better do your research before you start threatening people.
Why do your god’s and your so-called saviour’s rules do not apply in a Church? Why would it be okay for you to murder someone – going against the wishes of both – in the place where you worship them? Does the commandment say ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill…except in Church’? Did Jesus say ‘Turn the other cheek…except in Church’?
Of course it’s a threat, you ignorant tool. You’re using the suggestion of an act detrimental to a person in order to prevent them from doing something. That’s what a threat is. Sheesh.
By what rationale do you come to the conlcusion that freedom of speech stops at a line decided by you, whether it be a church or anywhere else? By that logic, if I invited you into my house and you said something that I didn’t agree with, I’d be allowed to assault you.
Why not? Hypocrisy is hypocrisy; I will call it as I see it. If you want to claim to live by a certain code and brag about how living by that code makes you better than me, you’d better fucking believe that when you yourself break that code I’m going to point it out to you.
Liar. Fucking liar.
Got any citations to back that up? No? I wonder why not. Go ahead, do the research. See how many more deaths have been caused by religious than non-religious in wars. I dare you. I double-fucking-dare you, motherfucker. Start with the Thirty Years’ War.
Yep, run like the coward you are, crapping yourself in fear because, deep down, you know we’re right. There’s no god and you aren’t special.
I’m Shocked. Shocked I tell you that you brought up Pascal’s Wager.
We’ve never heard that before.
HAha.
Irony meter go BOOM!
Look in the mirror internet tough guy.
Thantos, do you have any physical evidence for your imaginary deity? Evidence that will pass muster with scientists, magicians, and professional debunkers as being of divine, not natural, origin? If not, you are a liar and bullshitter. No physical evidence equals no god. Because without god, you have no heaven, hell, bible or other pieces of your delusion. Put up or shut up. Welcome to science.
Thanatos, #193: One of you walks into a church….
Well, since very few of us ever plan on walking into any church to commit any kind of sacrilege, I would think that it would be possible for all of us to get along or at least ignore each other.
Unfortunately, I bet you keep bringing your nuttiness out of the church and bother the rest of us with it in real life. Kind of like you’re doing right now on this thread.
Not that I mind. I like watching other peoples’ nuttiness. I just don’t understand why you go out of your way to come to us to expose your nuttiness and then get mad when we laugh at you.
You’re still not loving your enemies there… some Christian you are!
Well buzz my butt! How do you do it, PZ? It seems you’ve managed to uncover yet another violence-prone ‘loving’ Christian.
No, uh… wait. That would be an oxymoron. Any ‘real’ Christian could not possibly be a moron, oxy or otherwise. And as for violence, well, that’s way beyond the pale. Just ask any ‘real’ Christian. Never mind that the terse version of Christian history reads along the lines of “We will convert you or we will kill you”, or more crudely as, “Kiss our invisible sky pixie’s ass or we will torture you to death”. I mean, where’s the violence there?
No, this clown couldn’t possibly be a ‘real’ Christian, he’s just another pimp for the Christian version of God. And Pimps-for-Jesus are a dime a dozen, even in Canada.
What?
He’s not gonna stick around for the game, and baby roast?
Dammnit, I made deviled eggs with homemade herb vinegar.
Don’t be too hard on Thanatos. He’s not actually screwed up in the head extra special, after all. In fact, he’s pretty freakin normal for a religious fanatic—of any kind—and the world is full of them.
Thanks for posting Thanatos. It’s not just silly deities we argue against; it is an entire institution of mental enslavement, and with your perverse fantasies of a cracker being a god, and then brutally killing someone over it, you’re the perfect example of how religion poisons society.
That was a death threat PZ. Are you not going to report this to the police, or the proper agency in Canada?
The Almighty needs body guards?
Every one of you that mocks god will be judged. I assure you all, be certain of the nonsense that comes out of your mouth. One day you will be sorry when you appear in front of God.
it’s been said before, many times.
I always liked the “twilight zone” version myself:
Your god? You eat your god — my god (well, Great Old One, actually) eats you. Who is the badder ass?
Here is an interesting thought – so lets say a church catches fire (Now, now o mighty followers of Cthulhu, no arson required here!) by some accidental manner and it just so happens the entire collection of crackers go up in flames – what does that mean for Jesus?
Is there some sort of ceremony set aside for this that Jesus’s charred remains might be somehow saved?
Hey!!! I’m from the Maritimes and we generally don’t engage in this kind of hateful talk! Now, Alberta, I can see…
I’m losing faith in this country these days, and I disagree with the notion that Canadians are “nice” and “polite,” but I can still assure you that most of them are not…well… like that… person. I apologize on behalf of Canadians everywhere.
Also, is Stephen Hawking not British?
And yet another apology from the city of Vancouver. It’s the weather here. It’s normally balmy enough that the crazies don’t have to seek shelter.
Greetings from London, Ontario, Canada
I have never commented (even though I read your blog daily), but now I have to appologise for the poor manners of that foolish catholic Vancouverite.
Thank you for your thoughtful and entertaining posts. You make me regret not taking more science in school. And if you ever come to my neighbourhood, I will bake you a delicious pie. If you have a favourite flavour I can accommodate that but I’d recommend raspberry.
(Yes I put u’s in everything and think of you as PeZed. Authentic Canadiana!)
Warmest regards,
Jane