I'm upset I haven't yet seen that headline yet.
In case you haven't heard, a Rocky Mountain spotted loon named Michael Korn has been implicated in death threats sent to biology professors at the University of Colorado at Boulder. PZ has apparently even gotten some e-mail and comments from Korn himself.
A Wired blogger has posted about this, and the range of opinions in comments below highlights how people's biases feed into their perceptions of events. Few the commenters creamed Korn directly, instead blaming religion for turning people into crazies. On the other side, people are arguing that religion hasn't been at the root of any significant conflicts, it's merely given people an excuse to fight, which kind of echoes well-known NRA slogan and is no less goofy.
I maintain that Korn has probably been shucked upstairs for most of his life, but religion shouldn't be exonerate entirely; it's too easy an avenue for the deranged to veer down, since people are constantly denying what holy texts actually command and claiming the Bible is really all about love when in fact, as much as they really would like this to be true, the Bible is chiefly about bloodshed, iniquities, allegories and half-baked nonsense. Edit the damned thing and make it reflect modern history, human-rights movements, and science, and see how many freakbags decide they can hang their murderous impulses on it.
I expect the courts will pop Korn in some form or fashion, but if he turns out to be as loco as he may well be, I doubt he'll do time. Everyone likes to say that death threats are taken seriously, but it seems to me that people in America generally walk unless they actually do something, unless they're found to have definite plans and, say,a stockpile of munitions in a hall closet.
Comments
But I like Korn Nuts.
Posted by: John McKay | July 18, 2007 4:15 PM
Funny post, although, based on the title, I was expecting it be about how the rise of nu metal is evidence against teleological explanations of the origins of biodiversity.
Posted by: MattXIV | July 18, 2007 5:27 PM
That 'creaming Korn' was a nice touch.
Maybe the causality is that religious practice, while inflicted on people at first as defenseless children, so conditions them to accept deception as the general life strategy that as they grow up they may readily embrace deception with (ahem) religious fervor.
Or, to put it biblically, make-believe begets make-believe.
Posted by: Rose Colored Glasses | July 18, 2007 6:42 PM
"Funny post, although, based on the title, I was expecting it be about how the rise of nu metal is evidence against teleological explanations of the origins of biodiversity."
It's official: nu metal is my generation's equivalent of hair metal.
Posted by: Tyler DiPietro | July 18, 2007 9:41 PM
The kid has a wrong view of Christianity. Jesus said to turn the other cheek. The war against the fake science, evolution, should take place with pen and ink so to speak.
There is absolutely no evidence for evolution, and that makes our job easier. But, we need to make sure we know the errors of evolution before be confront the skeptics and atheists.
God will win this battle, but it might not happen as we suppose.
The earth is on death row. And God is very upset at the way the inhabitants are acting. Sin of every stripe is becoming acceptable. This is a sign that there is very little time left.
So every Christian must put on the armor of God, and fight the good fight of FAITH. Death threats are inspired by evil agencies. Don't go that way!
Posted by: James Collins | July 19, 2007 11:09 AM