University of Kansas professor Paul Mirecki’s reported beating comes as a shock, suggesting he was targeted by thugs for his controversial e-mailed criticisms of Christian fundamentalists and Catholics. The absence of verifiable facts calls for caution, but is tolerance in such short supply in Kansas these days that you have to worry about getting beaten up for your beliefs? Surely not.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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32 Comments
From Brownlee’s blog–”But KU officials — though not state lawmakers — still need to get tough on Mirecki. A chairman of a religion department shouldn’t be hostile to conservative Christianity. How about making Mirecki go through a paddling line at one of KU’s fraternities?”
Haha, threats of violence sure are some funny stuff.
Oh, he got beat up?
Suddenly the mirth is drained from the post . . .
This is the kind of thing I protested about when The Eagle printed a letter in response to mine saying that I supported terrorism.
I objected that this could lead to violence against my person, and the editors were like “oh quit whining, ya wimp.”
Looks like I was right to be concerned, although I must say that anybody tries to beat me up is going to have a close encounter with old mr. tire iron.
Having had telephoned death threats–and then a person stopped in my backyard, reportedly with a weapon (police say it was a coincidence, but who knows?)–for having published not just what I think, but what I know…even though it was in 1994, I know how you feel, Galahad.
Let me see if I have this right.. a guy makes fun of a religion (specifically Christianity) and he gets the tar beat out of him.
I would imagine the only people offended by his insults are “Christians”?
*Happy spin, Happy spin*
Your own Phillip Brownlee said he needed a a paddling, remember? Take a long hard look at yourselves.
And people wonder why some of us blog under an assumed name. There are some pretty sick, violent people out there, people who are prepared to hurt you for dissagreeing with them.Galahad, maybe Mr. Tireiron will save the day for you.I prefer to depend on the Brothere.
Smith & Wesson
I’m betting it wasn’t Liberals that beat the prof up. So much for turning the other cheek. I wonder if these “good Christians” prayed for guidance before they assaulted someone.
Oh, and Mr Brownlee, maybe you should reconsider next time you write about commiting physical violence against someone. As sir G says, it’s not quite so funny now, is it?
XXX,You don’t know who beat the guy up. Yet your ignorance doesn’t stop you from assuming that “good Christians” did it. It was, I must say, predictable that you went down that road.
Let the bad guys be warned:
I HAVE TRUNK MONKEYS !!!!
Just so I’m clear. Mirecki’s out driving alone on a deserted country road, out of nowhere, a couple guys start tailgaiting him. So then, Mirecki gets OUT of his car? Hmmmm….
Tracy.
Are you familar with Occam’s Razor? I know Kansas has been anti science for a few hundred years but you might want to examine it and apply it to this situations.
The quote below is from Altevogt, the conservative activist who outed Mirecki and his email (actually, adiscussion group posting). The qoute is from an article in today’s Lawrerce Journal World.
“One of Mirecki’s most vocal critics, conservative activist John Altevogt, said he couldn’t imagine anyone he knows doing such a thing.
‘This should be investigated thoroughly, and whoever did this should be punished to the full extent of the law. You don’t beat people for either their faith or their lack thereof,’ he said.
But Altevogt said he was skeptical about whether Mirecki’s report was legitimate.
‘He (Mirecki) has very little credibility left, Altevogt said. ‘The one thing that could save his bacon is to become a martyr of sorts, or to elicit sympathy from being the victim rather than the persecutor.’”
Go here for the full story -http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/dec/06/mirecki_treated_after_roadside_beating/?ku_news
I did not care at all for the way he handled the ID class controversy. If this came down the way he says – it was a shameful event and a dark moment for Kansas.
Joe: I had the same initial reaction. It doesn’t pass the smell test. I get the feeling that there is going to be more to this story.
Doesn’t pass the smell test? Hmm. Does christianity have a long history of beating folks that don’t agree with them? Perhaps you folks might want to offer help, extend sympathy, you know that stuff its says is good in the bible.
This unfortunately reminds me of the case in Wyoming where a bunch of guys beat up a gay man and then left him tied to a fence to freeze to death. Fred Phelps and his merry band would be proud of them and their terrorism. The murderers say they should be set free since they are “forgiven”. I say execute them and let them find out for sure.
Attacking those who disagree with you is a hallmark of most every religon. Christians can’t even get along with each other. Let alone those who aren’t christian.
I guess it’s possible the guy went out and beat himself up. That happens a lot, you know. In fact, if that’s what the conservatives say, it’s probably true.
NoJo, you and your friends aren’t going to come beat me up for dissagreeing with you, are you?
XXX,No, we’ll let you go this time :). You just mind your P’s and Q’s or we might just pray for you.
I’m pretty good at praying for myself, thank you.
Seems we’ve tried and executed the alleged perpetrator of this so-called crime before it’s even known whether there IS a crime. I have to go along with J B: prove there was a beating. Mirecki’s credibility has been at question all along. His swan song might be more of the same.
However, if it turns out to be true, then the morons that did it should be caught and horse-whipped. The last thing Christianity needs is idiots beating people for believing differently. Leave that to the terrorists.
MAN is a carnal creature and MEN have done bad things in the name of Christianity for centuries. That does not make it right, it does not make them Christians, and it does not make other Christians just like them. We struggle with our sinful human nature all the time.. we are not perfect, and we will continue to require forgiveness until the day we are called home. It is really hard for my human understanding to comprehend how my Lord and Savior that I love so dearly, really loves and cares for someone like Mirecki as much as he does me… and the hard part is, He expects me to do the same. So, it is NOT the Christian in me that loathes people like Mirecki that disrespect my God, but it is the Christian in me that must control my anger and give me the strength and wisdom to unconditionally care for him as a lost soul.
Will be interesting to see the results of the police investigation on this one.
In the meantime, the thread of hate/harm in the name of “Christianity” is interesting. History has shown us vast wars, torture, murder, etc., all in the name of religion and many times that religion was Christianity. Specifics like the Crusades or the Inquisition come to mind. Amazing that people would kill to try to convince others that their God is “better”.
Watered down versions now..we have people trying to ban certain stores “in the name of Christianity”. We have people getting laws passed “in the name of Christianity”. The Terry Fox’s of the world can be annoying, but at least he isn’t leading armed crusaders!
btw, not even going to mention that filthy, disgusting cult in Topkea by name. They are so far from Christianity the distance cannot be measured even in light years.
Ray…The scary thing is that in their minds they are doing the right thing!
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Dept. announced something to the effect:”We will be investigating all aspects of this alleged crime” – when asked about their investigation of the Mirecki battery.
Maybe this is routine LE speak, but it sounded odd to me.
Maybe this was done by some of Pharisee Fred Phelp’s little band of “Christians”!
Steven,”Alleged” means alleged. Time will tell.
But do you really think there aren’t violent arch-conservative Christians out there who want to beat the hell out of Mirecki? Come on, now!
You’ve got Rush Limbaugh saying that the Abu Ghraib torture was “nuthin’” and Bill “Phone Sex” O’Reilly saying that terrorists bomb San Francisco it’s their own damn fault. You’ve got Ann the Man Coulter screaming that she wishes the terrorists had hit the New York Times instead of the WTC on 9-11.
And you conservatives claim that Mirecki staged this because conservatives would never even think of such a thing?
Yeah, right.
No wonder you support the war. There seems to be no right-wing lie you won’t buy.
Rage,
Mirecki and I are on the same side, but his stupidity and narcissism pissed me off.
I can only imagine how he might effect some self-righteous crazy person.
You’re right, time will tell on this story.
The following joke/blog site is not for the humor-impaired (of either liberal or conservative stripe), but for everyone else, check it out.
http://tonyskansascity.com/2005/12/god-listens-to-talk-radio.html
The latest, and maybe last on this story . . .
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/dec/07/mirecki_step_down_ku_post/?breaking
We will beat some sense in to the bleeding liberal professor till he gets it right! Remember, Only the right can be right! Where did these liberals get their smarts? Probably our education system! He deserved a beating from God because he defiles our religous sacred land of America. Maybe next time they shoul beat him till he gets it RIGHT!
More from John Altevogt on this topic — and some good current links on the latest:
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/dec/07/mirecki_mum_details_beating/?print
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/dec/07/mirecki_step_down_ku_post/?print
http://www.news.ku.edu/2005/December/Dec7/mirecki.shtml
From John Altevogt:
3 cheers to both our diversity and similarities of expression.-jda-
—– Original Message —–From: Cindy DuckettSent: Wednesday, December 07, 2005 6:53 PMSubject: Re: Crime scene?
John,As nearly everyone already knows, you and I only see eye-to-eye on a variety of issues “sometimes.” This is one of those instances when our views are in accord. Thanks for stating this so well.Cindy
—– Original Message —–From: John AltevogtSent: Wednesday, December 07, 2005 6:32 PMSubject: Re: Crime scene?
Whether one doubts the accuracy of the allegations, anyone who alleges they were beaten for expressing their sincerely held beliefs, regardless of what those beliefs are, those allegations should be treated with the utmost respect and thoroughly investigated.Being mugged and deprived of a small amount of money is one thing, being mugged with the intent of depriving you of your constitutional right to enter the marketplace of ideas is reprehensible.While this investigation seems to be in trouble I sincerely hope the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department exhausts *all* avenues of investigation at their disposal to prove, or disprove, Prof. Mirecki’s allegations.The reason I got involved in this whole evolution debate was what I perceived to be inappropriate attempts to remove certain people and ideas from the debate. I will not now cheer any attempt to inappropriately remove someone else from the debate through violence or intimidation (and I realize that’s not what Mark is doing here).I also wish Prof. Mirecki a speedy recovery from his injuries and all of the people of faith on this group are called to do the same.-jda-
I find the above post nauseating. And I think I am part of the blame.
Pogo: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”