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PZ Myers – Fierce Like a Potted Plant

March 4, 2007
Just For Fun
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It seems The Discovery Institute recently quoted PZ Myers in one of his more memorable faux tough guy ravings and to my delight Paul Myers, the red-faced raving labcoated academic pansy, in response treats us to another display of impotent, impudent juvenile rage over ID proponents. Imagine, as you read his latest rabble rousing speech, a small man reminiscent of Fidel Castro only in a white labcoat instead of olive drab military dungarees. He’s waving around a test tube and pipette instead of a 9mm Glock and AK-47. He rants to a crowd of nerdish college kids that aren’t old enough to shave and despite their best efforts to change the situation are all still virgins. Warning the juvenile sycophants about teh ne plus ultra danger of Intelligent Design like it was capitalism encroaching on the communist world and extoling the virtues of Teh Scientific Way like it was Marxism reincarnate. AND he gets fan mail. FAN MAIL! Proof positive he’s doing it right. Uber validation! What a dork. Fierce like a potted plant. ROFLMAO

Ready? Read on…

Get meaner, angrier, louder, fiercer
Category: Creationism
Posted on: March 1, 2007 11:45 PM, by PZ Myers

The IDists love to quote me, because I am rather militant in my opposition to their lies. They are particularly fond of one particular quote* that they’ve even used in their fund-raising literature. They think it’s damning; some of my fellow anti-creationists swoon and protest when they hear the words, but they tend to be faint-hearted anyway. But here’s what’s really amusing.

I get fan mail from people all the time who are overjoyed that someone out there on the evolution side isn’t an apologetic ditherer.

Even better, one ID-friendly conservative tried to rouse his audience with the horror of my words, and got a response that surprised him.

Perhaps the most telling moment came when I read this quote from evolutionary biologist Paul Myers of the University of Minnesota, telling us what he thinks should be done with intelligent design advocates:

The only appropriate response should involve some form of righteous fury, much butt-kicking, and the public firing of some teachers, many school board members, and vast numbers of sleazy, far-right politicians … I say, screw the polite words and careful rhetoric. It’s time for scientists to break out the steel-toed boots and brass knuckles, and get out there and hammer on the lunatics and idiots.

The pro-ACLU crowd actually clapped in approval in response.

Poor Casey Luskin can’t comprehend it, either. It is telling; it should tell all of us that there are many people out there tired of making nice with liars and frauds.

I’m pleased to see it. You know, there are debates about tactics on the evolution side all the time — one of the messages of the movie Flock of Dodos is that scientists need to get more media-savvy, for instance — but one of the things that really annoys me about my side of the debate is that so many sit in such terror of making anyone unhappy that they avoid any vigor in the arguments; they seem to blanch in terror that whomping down hard on the stupidity of their so-called “allies” will cause them to run away. Their strategy is to toady up to creationists and fencesitters and pious twits and ignorant theologians and little old ladies who faint at the sight of monkeys, and hope that mewling softly will win them over. Well, they’re welcome to try. My belief is that those creationist-sympathizers aren’t on our side at all, but do enjoy the thought of the heathens kowtowing to them, so they’ll play along until the issues that count come up…and then they’ll break for whatever their preacher says.

I think there is a place for ferocity and partisanship, too. We do not compromise on the science, ever; that is the thin bright line that we do not cross. And we should always make that clear. Others can coddle the fools who dither and simper wishfully over gods and old myths and apologetics, but some of us have to charge forward and stake out a solid position, one that excludes altogether the ancient fairy tales.

There is a lot of support out there for that kind of fiery confidence. Let’s see more of us stand up and speak out, and devil take the milksops.

Comments
DaveScot said, Maybe Paul Myers will stage his own beating like another bigmouth weakling that gets off on waging faux holy wars Paul Mirecki and blame it on creationists. That reminds me of a Dirty Harry movie where a crook stages his own beating and blames Dirty Harry, and Dirty Harry defends himself by saying, "I would have done a better job" (that could be the same movie where Dirty Harry says "go ahead, make my day" while pointing his 44 Magnum at a crook who is pointing back with a Saturday Night Special). Larry Fafarman
Actually if Meyers was consistent he would applaud actions like beating up those you disagree with. He clearly endorses such behavior. Were it not for living on the far side of the globe and being a Christian committed to the rule of law and the teachings of Jesus,I would be tempted to get some brass knuckles and play PZ 's game the way he wants it played. It would be amusing afterwards to watch the hysteria the resulted. Oh well. Jason Rennie
Maybe Paul Myers will stage his own beating like another bigmouth weakling that gets off on waging faux holy wars Paul Mirecki and blame it on creationists. DaveScot
My blog's posts about PZ are listed at -- http://im-from-missouri.blogspot.com/search/label/PZ%20Myers Here are samples of PZ's invective, from his review of Chapter 3 of Jonathan Wells' book "A Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design" -- I could stop here. With that one example, Wells is exposed as a disreputable scoundrel, a sloppy ideologue whose “scholarship” is untrustworthy and willfully distorted. You simply cannot believe one word he says. I will go on a little further, though, and try to explain some of the ideas he has treated so shabbily. -- and -- I keep looking for a word to summarize this book, and I keep coming back to “dishonest”; devious, unethical, deceitful, underhanded, shifty, false, and untrustworthy would also fit. I predict that in the coming reviews of other chapters in "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design" by my colleagues at the Panda’s Thumb, they’re all going to be using permutations of that concept of contemptible fraudulence to express their feelings about Wells. -- from http://im-from-missouri.blogspot.com/2006/08/pz-myers-ann-coulter-of-darwinism.html Larry Fafarman
"the red-faced raving labcoated academic pansy, in response treats us to another display of impotent, impudent juvenile rage over ID proponents." Yeah I have to admit I think the same thing every time I hear ultra-liberal PZ talk about how tough he is. What a joke. shaner74
isn’t an apologetic ditherer. True. He's an apocalyptic ditherer. tribune7
Re PZM et al: In light of the events already in the record over at the Smithsonian [among other cases, now stretching back decades], we can plainly see just what things like: "the public firing of some teachers . . ." mean. Words like: censorship, workplace harassment, viewpoint discrimination, unjustified career busting and even persecution come to mind. (Y'know, the sort of thing decried when it applied to Galileo . . .) There is a saying over here in my part of the world: you dancin' wrong but strong . . . In short, the insistent, shameless appeal to the stick is a sure sign of being weak on the merits, joined to such want of basic civility as will resort to abuse of position and power to push through or "defend" a politically correct agenda. That this is being openly stated, cheered and shamelessly "defended," is telling, and sadly so. For, as others in this thread have pointed out, if evolutionary materialism were as well-justified as is often claimed, there would be no such need for such a resort. Instead, they would just answer Egnor's question: how much biofunctional information -- here, starting with abiogenesis -- can evolutionary materialist mechanisms generate, at what rate, in the gamut of the observed cosmos? [Failing an answer that is credible on the merits, we are obviously seeing an ideology that has subverted the name "science" and is now in some quarters increasingly desperate and/or willing to resort to force to protect its usurpation.] Absent a positive and credible answer, the rhetorical and political tactics being advocated and cheered on by the evolutionary materialists are telling on materialism's moral as well as intellectual bankruptcy. GEM of TKI kairosfocus
Jason Rennie: Lucky for PZ that those who disagree with him also are not given over to such a willingness to employ violence. Oops. I am more than willing to fight for academic freedom and against losers like PZ. (I don't have any cheeks left to turn) The ONLY thing bullies like PZ understand is a good butt whooping and he is pleading for someone to give that to him. Joseph
PZ Meyers: professor and table pounder It is rather odd that PZ would take the following position: Get meaner, angrier, louder, fiercer When in reality all he has to do is to substantiate his position. Do THAT PZ and both ID and Creation will go away. "When you have the facts on your side, pound them with the facts." "When you have the law on your side, pound them with the law." "When you have neither, pound the table." PZ's song(to the tune of Todd Rundgren's "Bang on the drum all day") I don't have the facts I'm going to pound on the table all day I don't have the law I'm going to pound on the table all day Ever since I was a little boy I don't need a "God", I just need my toys I took some wood and made me a table and I pound on that thing As much as I am able Because I don't have the facts I'm going to pound on the table all day I don't have the law I'm going to pound on the table all day You rock PZ. Thanks to people like you ID is getting more and more attention. Soon people like me are going to rumble right over your sorry rhetoric. In the meantime please keep up the good work. Joseph
PZ Myers - Fierce Like a Potted Plant University Update
[off topic] DAVE: You might want to look at this... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17302266/ JGuy
I wonder if he critises Islam ? He isn't very scary is he. The real irony of all this bluster on his part is that if his opponents ever start to agree that such tactics are reasonable then he is going to be in some serious trouble. Lucky for PZ that those who disagree with him also are not given over to such a willingness to employ violence. But what else would you expect from a self described godless liberal ? And I think you are right PZ is deep down a bit of a coward. He doesn't even bother to return polite emails for interview requests. Jason Rennie

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