Professor says was forced out over comment (Mirecki of Kansas)

Seattle Post-Intelligencer ^ | December 10, 2005 | NA

[neverdem]

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- A college professor who drew sharp criticism for comments deriding Christian fundamentalists over "intelligent design" said he was forced out as chairman of the university's religious studies department.

Paul Mirecki, who remains a professor at the University of Kansas, said he had no choice when he signed the resignation letter, typed on stationary from the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

"The University penalized me and denied me my Constitutionally protected right to speak and express my mind," he said in a written statement Friday for the Lawrence Journal-World. He said his career had been ruined and his speaking engagements canceled.

Mirecki also said he had retained an attorney.

The university "has a duty, as a protector of intellectual honesty and debate, to support its teaching staff when controversial issues are raised," he wrote.

University spokeswoman Lynn Bretz said Saturday that Mirecki resigned the chairmanship last week on the recommendation of faculty members.

The university "stands unequivocally in support of his First Amendment rights and his rights to academic freedom," Bretz said.

The controversy began with a course Mirecki planned to teach called "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies." The class was proposed after the Kansas Board of Education decided to include more criticism of evolution in its school science standards.

The class was canceled last week after e-mails surfaced in which Mirecki mocked religious conservatives as "fundies" and said a course describing intelligent design as mythology would be a "nice slap in their big fat face." He has apologized for those comments.

[AmishDude]

Sorry, prof. First, you resigned. Nobody was forced. If you wanted, you could have made them fire you. It was cowardace. Second, it wasn't until after your unfortunate encounter with the two "Christians" (who really do exist, really) that your colleagues decided you should be sacked. So, what do they know???

[abigkahuna]

So let me get this straight, the Dean of the Religious studies department resigns because of pressure over a class he designed to mock religion....

I think every religion, major and minor has a creation story...

So what the hell is an Athesit doing as Dean of the Religious Studies Department....? I just don;t know anymore--I really ust don;t know...

[SoDak]

...and denied me my Constitutionally protected right to speak and express my mind

Uh, you did speak your mind. There's no constitutional protection from the results of you speaking your mind. Read a book. A real one. And the constitution. Then learn to shut yer yap.

[Petronski]

[AmishDude]

And for the record, he was not "hospitalized". He was treated and released.

[starbase]

This links to a picture of his "injuries" from a story in FR from a couple days ago. Under his eyes it looks EXACTLY like the football makeup they use to keep the glare from the lights down.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1537819/posts

[wardaddy]

cry me a river

[Mad Dawgg]

"The University penalized me and denied me my Constitutionally protected right to speak and express my mind,"

"Congress shall make no law" does not equal "can't get fired for conduct." Hoe do these supposed smart people get it wrong so often?

[metmom]

"He said his career had been ruined and his speaking engagements canceled."

"The university "has a duty, as a protector of intellectual honesty and debate, to support its teaching staff when controversial issues are raised," he wrote."

This isn't just a matter of "raising controversial issues"; it's a matter of mockery and derision that is unacceptable from a man in his position representing the university by being on its staff. It's simply not professional. He ruined his career himself when he opened his mouth. He has no one to blame but himself.

[neverdem]

Thanks for the link.

[KSParalegal]

I ran into Professor Mirecki in Lawrence Thursday evening.... or more accurately, he almost ran into me.

He was walking into the Eldridge Hotel as I was walking out. He had his head down and was looking at his feet while he walked, and almost ran smack into my chest before he stepped to one side and ducked into the hotel bar. He never looked higher than my chest; I am about 5 inches taller than the professor, and a great deal wider in the shoulders, so maybe I scared him.

When he looked up from his own feet, I recognized him. Professor Mirecki had the dark spots under his eyes (I won't dignify them by calling them "bruises"), but was otherwise fine. He looked far better than I would expect from a man who had supposedly been beaten by two country boys armed with a metal pipe.

He smelled like a man who drank his dinner.

He also had no qualms about walking alone on Massachusetts Street after 10PM, even with those "evil fundies" still "out there".

[Doctor Raoul]

Maybe those marks were "Beer Goggles"?

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

The University penalized me and denied me my Constitutionally protected right to speak and express my mind," he said in a written statement Friday for the Lawrence Journal-World. He said his career had been ruined and his speaking engagements canceled.

What a wuss.

A professor who publicly expresses anti-Christian bigotry has no business presenting himself in a classroom to teach. They should fire ALL of these kind of smarmy liberal secular humanist wacko eggheads.

[puroresu]

If he had called blacks by the "n" word or gays by the "f" word (equivalent to using "fundie" as a slur term) he'd have been fired completely. Ditto if he'd proposed a course he described as a big slap in the face directed at blacks, gays, or any other group liberals support.