One instance of persecution of ID scientists:
Richard Sternberg, a staff scientist at the National Institutes of Health, was the editor of a scientific journal loosely affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, where he is also a research associate.
Last year, he published in the journal a peer-reviewed article by Stephen Meyer, a proponent of intelligent design, an idea which Sternberg himself believes is fatally flawed.
Sternberg decided to publish it to promote "reasoned discourse."
"That's what I thought, and I was dead wrong."
Sternberg says his colleagues and supervisors at the Smithsonian were furious. He says -- and an independent report backs him up -- that colleagues accused him of fraud, saying they did not believe the Meyer article was really peer reviewed. It was.
Eventually, Sternberg filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which protects federal employees from reprisals. The office launched an investigation.
But Sternberg says before closing the case, the special counsel, James McVay, called him with an update. "As he related to me, 'the Smithsonian Institution's reaction to your publishing the Meyer article was far worse than you imagined,'" Sternberg says.
In a letter to Sternberg, he wrote that officials at the Smithsonian worked with the National Center for Science Education -- a group that opposes intelligent design -- to create "a strategy to have you investigated and discredited."
Retaliation came in many forms, the letter said. They took away his master key and access to research materials. They spread rumors that Sternberg was not really a scientist. (He has two Ph.D.'s in biology) In short, McVay found a hostile work environment based on religious and political discrimination.
That alone shows that Sternberg deserved the heat he got. Giving the go-ahead to the publishing of material you believe to be "fatally flawed" is a serious professional lapse in the realm of prestigious science journals. Retaliation came in many forms, the letter said. They took away his master key and access to research materials.
This is BS.
They spread rumors that Sternberg was not really a scientist. (He has two Ph.D.'s in biology)
No, they spread correct allegations that Sternberg was not following proper scientific standards.
In short, McVay found a hostile work environment based on religious and political discrimination.
Poor baby -- he violated professional standards and his professional reputation suffered as a result.
Try screwing up at *your* place of work and then cry "persecution" when you find yourself in hot water, and see how far *that* gets you.
Only among "ID" is the consequences of a professional lapse mislabeled as "persecution".