PZ Myers scarcely needs your help to keep his job because some nutjob thought he insulted a cracker (check out the links if you want the whole story), but as he says, this is an opportunity to generate a secular counter-campaign in response to Bill Donohue and the Catholic League braying for the University of Minnesota to bring them the head of PZ Myers.
The shorter version is: this is a controversy created over the recent incident at the University of Central Florida where a student smuggled out of mass a communion wafer. Dr. Myers's comments concerning the incident, published on Pharyngula, have provoked an outraged response from Bill Donohue of the Catholic League including a demand from Mr. Donohue to fire Dr. Myers from the faculty of UM.
Pz is asking people to write snailmail letters of support to the president of UM (yes, snailmail - it will be more effective if you don't clog the good president's e-mail box with your message - don't be lazy). The president is unlikely to actually read your letter (some flunky might get that job), and it seems unlikely that PZ's job is really in jeopardy (he's tenured, and you could imagine the adverse publicity as well as the expensive litigation that would ensue if UM fired him) but the purpose here is to provide a demonstration of support for a prominent person who has been placed in the crosshairs of a an extremist pressure group for the simple act of speaking out. You can find out more about the Catholic League at Right Wing Watch, sponsored by People for the American Way. Right Wing Watch led me to this report published by Catholics for Choice which profiles the Catholic League, and provides some good talking points for your own letter.
Here's my letter:
Dear Dr. Bruininks,
I am writing to you about the controversy over the recent incident at the University of Central Florida where a student smuggled out of mass a communion wafer. Dr. Myers's comments concerning the incident, published in his blog Pharyngula, have provoked an outraged response from Bill Donohue of the Catholic League including a demand from Mr. Donohue that you fire Dr. Myers.
I'm certain that you're receiving messages from many individuals directly expressing their support for Dr. Myers. There are two points I would like to draw your attention to, that provide a further rationale for why you should stand behind Dr. Myers in this matter.
First, a dangerous precedent would be established for other academic institutions by bowing to the demands of a splinter pressure group who argues both for the right of conservative Catholics to impose their values on the public while oppressing the rights of others to offer criticism. It would be wrong to accede to the demands of a group who manufactures controversy, uses intimidation and distorts reality to silence those they view as enemies.
Second, there is a deeper agenda at work, with implications for education in the U.S. While the Catholic League itself might not have an opinion on the teaching of evolution in science classrooms, it is attacking a prominent critic of creationism. In doing so, the Catholic League is giving aid and comfort to conservative religious groups who seek to destroy science education by cutting out the parts which they feel contradict their interpretations of the Bible, and replacing those with pseudoscientific claptrap. Science education is under assault, and needs people such as Dr. Myers with the courage to speak out forcefully and with authority in its defense.
These are just a few of the reasons Dr. Myers deserves your support in rebutting the specious charges of Bill Donohue and the Catholic League. I hope you find these views useful as you navigate through this controversy. Thank you for the opportunity to write to you about this matter.
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