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PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
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Category: Creationism
Posted on: November 17, 2009 1:15 PM, by PZ Myers
Go to the NCSE's Don't Diss Darwin site, and download the flyers and bookmarks and information there. Then on 19 November, when the creationist goons descend on your campus, follow them around and hand out truth and humor to go along with Comfort's bogosity.
Easy.
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Comments
Posted by: Carl | November 17, 2009 1:24 PM
Do students really need to be told that Ray Comfort is wrong?
Posted by: Cuttlefish, OM | November 17, 2009 1:30 PM
It's worthless--thank goodness it's free!
And I'd love to obtain two or three;
But my school will be missed,
Cos it's not on his list--
So could someone please snag one for me?
Posted by: natural cynic | November 17, 2009 1:37 PM
Yes, we have no bananas.
Posted by: Glen Davidson
|
November 17, 2009 1:39 PM
Take as many as you can, too.
I do hope that instructors will have the sense to realize that the Big Lie tactic is being attempted in that manner on their campuses, and will help to show what a plagiarized crock Comfort's screed laughably labelled as an "introduction" really is.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/mxaa3p
Posted by: Orakio | November 17, 2009 1:42 PM
The EVOLVE sign is cute. Too bad I can't evolve to a different order of being personally, like a Pokemon. :(
Posted by: Islander | November 17, 2009 1:48 PM
Cumfart doesn't have my campus on the list, but the flier is going on a few billboards...
Posted by: lose_the_woo
|
November 17, 2009 1:52 PM
Win. Disgusting, but Win.
Posted by: Murray | November 17, 2009 1:52 PM
Wait -- is it on the 19th or the 24th? Living Waters Canada says they're giving away books on Canadian campuses on the 24th:
http://www.livingwaterscanada.net/catalog.php/LWCanada/ct/pd1992254/Origin_Into_Schools_Project
Has that been changed?
Posted by: Yossarian | November 17, 2009 1:55 PM
It hasn't changed. The date for the Canadian campuses is different, apparently.
Posted by: Sgt. Obvious
|
November 17, 2009 1:56 PM
No Kennesaw, it appears. Oh well, the less I have to deal with him, the better.
Posted by: Lynna | November 17, 2009 2:09 PM
I downloaded the front and back of the bookmarks and will print some out to send to my daughter.
Posted by: Lily
|
November 17, 2009 2:12 PM
I work not too far from some of the NYU buildings. I think I'll walk down there on my lunch break on Thursday armed with some of those fliers. also, cumfart=hilarious.
Posted by: Kevin | November 17, 2009 2:14 PM
Oh what providence, what divine intelligence. My school will be staging a campus walk-out that day to protest budget cuts.
Posted by: Chemgirl
|
November 17, 2009 2:14 PM
I'm currently studying at University of Chicago. Ohgawd. They're coming.
Posted by: Colin | November 17, 2009 2:14 PM
They're coming to my school, but I can't find out who's in charge of distribution or where they'll be. Any ideas on how to find out? If I can't, my plan is to wander around the student union around lunchtime trying to smell the stupid.
Posted by: Noel | November 17, 2009 2:19 PM
Comfort's efforts could be the best thing for atheism and rational thought in years. Any 'debates' that follow should be swiftly and comprehensively won by the forces for Good.
I find it hard to believe any university students would be dumb enough to swallow that trash. That is, if they're not already brainwashed...
Posted by: Pyrrhonic
|
November 17, 2009 2:23 PM
Is anyone at UW Madison organizing to hand out flyers? I'd like to help out, but because of grading, I can't give my whole day to it. I'll be certain to get at least one copy of the book.
Posted by: Haley | November 17, 2009 2:27 PM
At least at my school, UC Berkeley, he will be drowned out by the massive strike and protest against fee increases going on that day. Even if it weren't a massive protest day, he'd still have to compete with the rest of the crazies handing out literature like they do everyday on Sproul Plaza.
I find it pathetic that he seems to think that college students at highly esteemed universities will fall for his outrageous lies. (but maybe I have too much faith in my fellow students)
Posted by: Smoggy Batzrubble OM4Jesus | November 17, 2009 2:29 PM
Dear Atheist Brothers and Sisters,
Please join with me in a combined religious/atheist proselytizationism mission to plant one copy of Ray Cumfart's bowdlerisation of Darwin (fittingly retitled: "On the Whorigin of Specious") in every motel room, hotel room, rest room, padded room, locker room, cell and death chamber in our great and godly nation.
Your donation of time, money or free sex will assist myself and my Christian brother, Floyd Rubber, as we travel the land distributing this confusing and ultimately pointless publication. Our raison d'etre is very similar to that of the Gideon's with one unique difference, which is reflected in the name Jesus chose for us. We are... THE PIGWIDGEONS!
Yes, oh hell-bound ones, in a unique step forward for evangelism, every copy of Cumfart's (ed) "On the Whorigin of Specious" will be delivered by specially trained owls. These magical, intelligently designed, nocturnal predators will sweep through open windows, bomb the sleeping subject with a copy of "Whorigins", and for the coup de grace deliver a banana-shaped owl turd into his or her unwary mouth.
You might consider this gratuitous overkill, but I swear upon Mother Theresa's virginity that it is a system based upon scientific method. In hundreds of surveys of audiences who have listened to Ray Cumfart and Kurtz Cameroon the two over-whelming responses have been: 1. "I feel like I've just been hit over the head by the world's biggest, stupidest book" and 2. "Bananas? I'd rather have an owl shit in my mouth!" Coming in a close third was: "Mistah Kurtz, he braindead!" and a not very distant fourth was: "What a pair of squirrels! If you accelerated their brains around the LHC for a year they'd never endanger a single oncoming particle!"
So please, in Jesus' name, support me in my distribution drive. Every copy of the Ray Cumfart edition of "On the Whorigins of Specious" for distribution by the Pigwidgeons will be printed on an ultra-absorbent multi-purpose weave. It may not be worth reading, but it will be perfect for cleaning up awkward little spillages. Feces, semen, vaginal and anal blood, vomit, communion wine and creationist dribble can all be mopped up and tidied away with just a few pages ripped from Ray Cumfart's (ed) "On the Whorigin of Specious". And the wonderful thing is that you don't need to be concerned that you are desecrating the book, for the book has already been gutted by Mr Cumfart in the spirit of Christian truth and in emulation of the Bible.
Yours in Christian Outreach and Lies for Jesus
Smoggy Batzrubble
Missionary to the Atheists
Posted by: Matt Snodgrass | November 17, 2009 2:39 PM
I don't even know how this link relates to Ray Comfort, but it was attached to some comment on NCSE's Facebook page, under a piece on Comfort. It's about the Northwest Tree Octopus. Figured it would be interesting on here.(By the way, I'm not sure it's real:>)
http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
Posted by: Ashland Atheist | November 17, 2009 2:49 PM
How do we know if one of these Comfort goons
will show up on our local state u. campus?
Posted by: Pyrrhonic
|
November 17, 2009 2:52 PM
Ashland Atheist, there's a list on the DontDissDarwin website: http://www.dontdissdarwin.com/schools.php
Posted by: fake plants | November 17, 2009 2:52 PM
Oh! They're coming to my university as well! I can't wait to be there-- armed with these flyers and bookmarks, of course.
Posted by: Jeffox | November 17, 2009 2:53 PM
Ashland Athiest wrote, "How do we know if one of these Comfort goons
will show up on our local state u. campus?"
I know. . . you can smell 'em coming!
:)
Posted by: Islander | November 17, 2009 2:53 PM
Ashland-
follow the link and on the left will be a list of universities.
Posted by: falco | November 17, 2009 3:08 PM
Anyone else from UBC? I didn't think we had these kinds of people in Vancouver but apparently they're coming here too.... a small part of me has died today.
Posted by: cameronsnipples | November 17, 2009 3:12 PM
Raytard's latest posting on his Atheist Central, aka the Swamp:
"Dear atheists,
I won't be posting for a few days. Something else is going on. I will update you with details after the 19th.
Posted by Ray Comfort on 11/17/2009 07:47:00 AM"
Awww, he doesn't wanna tell anybody where he's gonna be - wassamatter Ray-Ray? Are you ashamed of yourself?
Posted by: izam | November 17, 2009 3:12 PM
I'm pretty sure they're distributing at the top 50 US News and World Report ranked universities. Or my school is coincidentally in the same place on both lists...
I am very excited. I'm thinking I might act like I have no idea what's going on, and then pretend to browse through the pages and say, "wait, on this page you misrepresented this" and "why did you redact this chapter?"
Posted by: aspentroll.myid.net | November 17, 2009 3:31 PM
I can't see how this could be a worrisome thing.
The deluded students will want the stupid book and the intelligent ones will probably jam the book into
the idiot's nearest orifice to the delight of everyone watching. Should be fun to watch.
Posted by: Alex | November 17, 2009 4:19 PM
they're coming to my school in the middle of the walk outs to protest budget cuts. I doubt there'll be anyone on the plaza where most people hand out things. Sucks for them.
Posted by: abb3w
|
November 17, 2009 4:27 PM
Oooh, UVa....
Posted by: aebrosc | November 17, 2009 4:30 PM
Sadly he is handing out books here. I hope the gators eat him, but I doubt it there is only one free thought group on campus. And all of you who are going out to counter his nonsense good luck, I wish I could join you but I have classes to TA.
Posted by: middlekk | November 17, 2009 4:50 PM
That this attention whore is getting exactly what he wants (more attention) is the saddest part of this whole thing.
Don't we have more important things to worry about than banana-man? Since when do the very wheels of science and education grind to a halt in order to deal with lunatics?
Sadly, I fear the answer is that, without a strong response, all of the "kewl kidz" who laughed at the "science nerds" in high school will be persuaded by Comfort's tripe. Cuz it's easier to walk about with the thinking portion of the brain in the "off" position.
Posted by: Patrick | November 17, 2009 5:15 PM
Hah! My school is on the list.
I graduated two years ago, but here's hoping Comfort's clowns don't find an ounce of support there.
Posted by: Steven Mading
|
November 17, 2009 5:25 PM
So, the campus I work at (University of Wisconsin, Madison) is on the list. But how do I guess where on the campus it will be?
(Actually, I have one guess - the Library Mall is the usual location for nutters shouting religious rhetoric at passing students who usually ignore them or shout one-liners back as they pass on. - It would make sense since it is a sort of pedestrian hub.)
Posted by: Justin | November 17, 2009 5:47 PM
I think they're going to be laughed right out of most of those campuses.
Posted by: Biology Blogger | November 17, 2009 6:16 PM
PZ,
We should also print out a picture of him, and with you huge letters on bottom "THE BANANA MAN". And on the other side of the paper, put Kirk Cameron, and write "THE BANANA MAN'S PARTNER".
Posted by: JackC | November 17, 2009 6:24 PM
Is there any chance that we could organise all the folks against Bananaman to wear Sunglasses??
I mean - it seems so obvious to me.
JC
Posted by: JackC
|
November 17, 2009 6:40 PM
Matt@20:
The site name (Greenpeas) and the references to Sasquatch didn't do it for you?
You might want to read this then.
Of course, I am assuming you weren't being just silly. And I think this is what - the third? - Tree Octopus sighting in these blogish parts in about two days.
Considering it comes from 1998, I think that is pretty good!
JC
Posted by: sarcasm sam | November 17, 2009 7:15 PM
I for one intend to do this with the flyer, I encourage other people to do the same:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj53Z_p5xOU&feature=related
Posted by: No_Unicorns | November 17, 2009 7:38 PM
And I thought the Canadians would be getting a bye on this crap, but they'll be distributing this stuff at my place of employment! And on my birthday!
"For ME? You shouldn't have. I have a little something for you too. No, don't thank me..."
Lunch on Tuesday just got interesting.
Posted by: Pierce R. Butler | November 17, 2009 8:22 PM
... when the creationist goons descend on your campus...
The preferred conjunction may be if.
Apparently (I haven't taken time to read all 5 pages of comments), even the fearless sleuths of Panda's Thumb have not been able to uncover the expected signs of preparation for Comfort's promised 50-campus burst of hyperchristian generosity.
Posted by: KH | November 17, 2009 9:36 PM
Students at Davidson College in NC reported that the books were being distributed today (Tues the 17th), and we weren't even on the list of institutions.
Posted by: Defenestrator | November 18, 2009 12:29 AM
They were handing out free copies of the Screwtape Letters today here, although I'm not sure if Comfort had anything to do with it. But we'll be ready for them tomorrow!
Posted by: magistramorous | November 18, 2009 3:14 AM
I know three people from UCSD who are creationists. Two of them have degrees in biochemistry and the other is pursuing a degree in organic chemistry. I can only imagine what the people without any life science education are thinking! Maybe it's just bad luck that I met these people, but, regardless, I am actually worried by Ray Comfort's stunt.
The bananas are too large!
FYI, if you print the bookmarks and wish to avoid any cut banana jokes, don't use the guide lines provided for trimming the width: erase them with Word's scratch remover or use your fav. image-processing app.
Posted by: David | November 18, 2009 10:27 AM
Here at the University of Pennsylvania, a bunch of people were handing out the books today.
Posted by: Allison | November 18, 2009 11:29 AM
Hey, I know this is a great thing to do - pass out the flyers to combat the introduction. However, I really think in addition it would be prudent for someone at each campus to stand with a giant recycling bin (here they're blue) and offer to rip out the introduction for people after they receive their free book. I think it would be particularly poignant to remove the stain from the book right in front of those who worked so hard to soil it. Please do this! I have to be at work all day, but please do it!
Posted by: Kordox
|
November 19, 2009 6:11 PM
I'd very much like to get a hand on a copy of the book, but I happen to live in Denmark. I am going to visit my parents in the US this Christmas though, so would it maybe be possible for someone who picked up several copies to mail one to them? That would be just awesome! They live in Magalia, CA, so probably someone close.
Of course I will pay the price of mailing it, maybe through PayPal or whatnot.
Anyway, my email is kordox[at]gmail.com. Please contact me! I'd be extremely grateful!
Posted by: AtheistAtLARGE | November 19, 2009 7:36 PM
Greetings
Im the guy that started a warning video about this Assault on Origins, I contacted ZOM and she did a wonderful job of cutting off the head of the snake, however WOTM members seem to grow them back right away.
The first video on the topic was from askegg, a good egg from Australia ... I digress ...
Well RAY COMFORT LIED, they went in to the schools on the 18th due to what Ray calls, ATHEIST GANGS were waiting for them on the 19th
There is a student vid from UCLA on YT that captures Ray on a soap box acting like the snake oil salesman he is preaching and taking advantage of passerbys that arent aware of his tricks and sleeze ball tactics
Speaking of sleeze ball tactics, Ray now accuses Dr Dawkins of PLAGERIZING his work ... Ray says that Dawkins STOLE his banana routine and now DAWKINS OWES Ray a debate. What a way to try and WEASLE out of the $40k/hr Ray offered Dawkins for a debate
Ive just uploaded a vid on this and new a vid coming up within a week will expose Ray for the douche he is
Posted by: TheTruePooka
|
November 20, 2009 8:14 AM
Here's a suggestion;
As this is happening on college Campuses it would be a good idea to have a "Ray Comfort" book theme party.
collect the books and than have an all out bash with the purpose of taking the books, and using the pages to make giant, paper mache bananas.
Make it a toga party, or costume party where people get to come dressed in monkey, banana, Comfort or Cameron, zombie Jesus, God, etc... costumes.
This way you get to put the books to good use while having fun at the same time.