I've never diaried on DKos before, but today just demands that I do something. Dr. Paul Mirecki, a professor at the University of Kansas, recently attempted to get a class on Intelligent Design and Creationism taught in the Religious Studies department at the University of Kansas.
The efforts failed, mainly because fundamentalist Christians in Kansas discovered that Dr. Mirecki mocked Christianity in personal emails. Calls ranged from changing the instructor of the course to firing Dr. Mirecki flat-out. The course was, in the end, canceled, but Dr. Mirecki's job was not changed.
Yesterday morning he was beaten by the side of a rural road by two men with a metal object for exercising his free speech. As they beat him, they ranted about his views on creationism. He had never seen them before.
He was treated for several hours at the hospital and released, with head trauma and broken teeth.
Conservative reactions have been that he must have staged it. Beaten himself, broken his own teeth. That part makes me want to cry.
I can't overstate how terrifying this is to me, an atheist in the very same town, and a friend of Dr. Mirecki's who shares his views. Whether you agree with him or not, you must agree with his right to say what he wants to say without fear of physical assault.
There needs to be an uproar about this. It is not acceptable to beat people who exercise their right to speak. Apparently nobody's remembered to tell Kansas that.
Media link:
Wichita Eagle: http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/13337930.htm