RE: paleonet Living Pterosaurs: Beat up event

[Peter Paul Smolka <smolka@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 6 Dec 2005, Seth Finnegan wrote:

> Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2005 13:36:38 -0800
> From: Seth Finnegan <finnes01@student.ucr.edu>
> Reply-To: paleonet@nhm.ac.uk
> To: paleonet@nhm.ac.uk
> Subject: RE: paleonet Living Pterosaurs soon on display
> 
> This is a quite worrying, if true (from today's Wichita
> Eagle).  You may remember that an article about the class that
> Mirecki inteneded to offer was posted here a few weeks ago.
>
>
> Professor beaten; attackers cite KU creationism class
>
> Associated Press
>
> LAWRENCE - A professor whose planned course on creationism and
> intelligent design was canceled after he sent e-mails deriding
> Christian conservatives was hospitalized Monday after what
> appeared to be a roadside beating.
>
> University of Kansas religious studies professor Paul Mirecki

Dear Seth,

it might be helpful to people from outside the US to specify why he was
beaten up such as:

1) A course was intended to be given in a universities religious study
department on ID. Religious people fearing their teaching monopoly
attacked him.

2) Although being professor of religious studies he did not try
to teach ID from a neutral unbiased point (pros and cons, comparable
to "how might internet to the others side work") but he aimed at
a one sided view (which, if as professor for the subject of religion
might be regarded as subperfect by some):

To avoid a communicative misunderstaning:

If a professor of religion would assess this field, I would expect
sentences like: Possibly some 3 Ga ago, to mechanisms still to be found,
at least one cell did not digest an incoporated microorganism but
housed it so it is now identified as mitchondrian. Is there any evidence
from various religions, how (such as by an angel) the mitochondrian
was at the respective place at the right time etc.

Again: If a professor of religion would do it (such as presenting, also
in Kansas, the Buddhistic, Christian(Catholic, Evangelic), Islamic,
Hindu, Indian, Autralian etc. view on it and why, according to these
religions, it may or may not work). Again: Dept. of Religious studies
(= no misunderstanding please).

That is: Did the beating people fear a non-evangelical view to be tought
in Kansas for example?

In Germany according to a recent court ruling teachers must not wear
the islamic hairscarf (which is regarded as political symbol and the
school is neutral) but people may wear a cross or the nuns dress
(which by my private understanding is thus also not perfectly neutral).

3) He advocated ID strongly and biased (which is possible but from
the article unlikely), e.g. he omitted the cons in discussing it
(again: as professor of religion)

> said that the two men who beat him made references to the
> class that was to be offered for the first time this spring.
>
> Originally called "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent
> Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies," the
> course was canceled last week at Mirecki's request.

4) Did he offer by his knowledge on religion various mythologies offers
on that topic (e.g. far beyond what people knew so far) and people
got furious that views beyond preachers views might exist?

In Germany for example professors lost their teaching permission in
religion because they questioned some views of the catholic church
(such as Prof. Kueng some years ago).

Was it a comparable phenomenon by addressing a wide range of views
including ancient and modern mythologies?
(e.g. other than the church in Kansas presents).

A discussion would go well beyond the topic of this list.

A short (6-8 lines) hint _why_ he was beaten might for such cases
in the future be helpful, e.g. for you it might be perfectly clear;
for others more than one possibilities might exist.

I mean: If I imagine myself in a train from Chicago Airport to lets say
Boulder,Co and a farmer asks me about my profession, I discuss
Neogene climate changes and he beats me up because "I am also one
of these evolution-folks" I might better stay in Europe.

If peoples view (freedom of the opinion, also to believe in "Earth is
a Disk") goes into this direction it might be good for the rest of
the world to know it early.

Best regards
(Good luck for Kansas)

Peter
>
> Seth Finnegan
> Dept. of Earth Sciences -036
> University of California
> Riverside, CA 92521
> Phone:(951)452-2759
> Fax:  (951)787-4324
>
>

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Dr. Peter P. Smolka
University Muenster
Geological Institute
Corrensstr. 24
D-48149 Muenster

Tel.: +49/251/833-3989   +49/2533/4401
Fax:  +49/251/833-3989   +49/2533/4401
E-Mail: smolka@uni-muenster.de
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