As you've probably seen on the top of the recommended diary list, today a pair of 'Christians'
stalked and attacked Professor Paul Mirecki, the Chair of Kansas University's Department of Religious Studies. He currently sits in hospital recovering from his savage beating. [UPDATE: He's since been released from hospital and is doing fine]
Why did they attack him? Because he's running a class about how intelligent design is scientific quackery.
I'm sure the media will downplay the attack as just being a pair of lone lunatics, but let's not fall for that - this is a terrorist act as defined by the Patriot Act, not to mention a hate crime. Quite frankly, I'm not going to stand for it. So I'm fighting back, and you can too. Here's how:
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State have been part of the pushback against Intelligent Design, and though I'm sure other groups are just as deserving, I'm choosing them to be the recipients of a donation drive in Paul Mirecki's name.
The goal? Let's raise $5,000 tonight in donations coming from the Daily Kos.
I'm starting things off with fifty bucks.
Just so you know, I really can not afford to donate fifty dollars, but I'm incensed, outraged, ready to spit that so called 'religious' individuals think it's okay to spend days stalking a university professor (or religious studies, no less!), and then attack him in the early hours of the morning, leaving him within in inch of his life.
Distance dictates that I cannot be there to stand by this man's side in his defense shold another attack occur, but I can damn sure make certain that any future attack not only doesn't help the creationist fascists, but that it actively helps fight their cause financially. And so it is that I'm donating my cash to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
If there's another attack on an evolution defender, I'll donate another $50. And another. And another. If a right-wingnut goes on TV and defends the attack, I'll donate another $20. If they claim it was "just the work of a couple of lunatics" or that it "hasn't been proven it's religiously motivated" (it has, just so you know), I'll go in for another $5.
My plan is to ensure that every time a religious fundamentalist thinks it might be fun to attack someone who isn't, that they think twice because they know that act will raise money for the 'enemy'. And I invite you to take part - even if it's just $5, the minimum donation allowable.
NOTE: When you make your donation, be sure to use
this link, which allows you to make a contribution in the name of a third party.
Make that contribution in the name of Paul Mirecki, and so we can be sure he KNOWS we support him, put the following details in the form where it allows you to have a letter sent detailing your contribution:
Name: Paul Mirecki
Address #1: The Department of Religious Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Kansas,
Address#2: 1300 Oread Avenue, 102 Smith Hall,
City, state, zip: Lawrence, KS 66045-7615
I'm sure if we get enough money pumping in, the good folks of AUfSoCaS will let us know how much we raised for them, and I'm certain that a flood of letters letting Professor Mirecki know we have his back, at least spiritually and financially, will help him through his long recovery.
We cannot allow these terrorists to use violence to scare the population into giving them what they seek. We must fight back. This is where I take my stand. How about you?
UPDATE: This diary was written when news on the attack was sketchy at best - turns out the Prof isn't in as bad shape as I made out above. He has been released from hospital and says he was hit about the upper body by fists and what he thinks was a metal object. Which is still a hate crime, and, under the Patriot Act's definition, terrorism.
UPDATE II: A lot of people said they don't have the cash to donate - that's cool, but how about this instead: If you can't afford a donation, give someone who HAS donated (like Dratman, who matched my $50) some serious mojo by giving him or her a 4.
UPDATE III: As of 11:45am, according to a post from AU below, there have been 34 donors who have donated over $800 thus far, with more coming in every few minutes.
Thanks go to Theo McCarthy, Rub DMC, baccaruda, London Yank, Abou Ben Adhem, LokiMom, begone, David78209, DavidHW, RickEagle, cnyc, dratman, Joe Bua, sleepy professor, Easy B Oven, praedor, eugene X, sberel, jlau1983, Lakema, In A Nutshell, GretchenF, cmk, YucatanMan, Subterranean, herotime, Snoutboy, chingchongchinaman, chimpy, JayBat, wulidancer, JavaManny, mph2005, nomes, snakelass, CT yanqui, karenc13, Burnet0, DavidSewell, Patriot4Peace, Lindmere, Nowhere Man, Boadicea, aloha and mahalo, vtrob77, and the ever-present Ohio political candidate for the forces of good, Jeff Seemann (and anyone else who gave anonymously), for putting their money where their mouth is and striking back for the good guys. I'm going to go ahead and assume we've cracked the thousand dollar mark in the time since, seeing as there have been about $500 more dollars in donations announced in the thread below, so let's get those donations in and work towards the target!
UPDATE IV: I've been asked by someone whether there's a name for the act of responding to an attack like this with a response that actually pays the victim's cause money whenever it's repeated. I don't know of any, but I kind of like how it has been characterized by posters below: Positive Response.
Imagine if we had a website where, whenever Fred Phelps pickets a school for not being anti-gay, we raise money for gay organizations, or whenever an abortion clinic is picketed, we donate money to Planned Parenthood. Does anything like that exist? Could we start something like it? Post your thoughts below and let's turn this into a tide.
UPDATE V: As of now, just 24 hours after I posted this diary, there have been over 115 people who have indicated they have donated money to AU in Mirecki's name. If we're averaging just $20 per donation (and that seems a fair bet), that would indicate we're nearly halfway to the $5000 target. If you're one of the 140 or so people who said they'd like to donate but don't have the cash right now - please bookmark this diary and get to it sometime in the future. This is OUR fight now, and the fundies are about to find out that dollars can do a lot more damage than fists.
A quick note while I'm updating - this has gone better than I could have imagined, so I'm going to put the call out - does anyone with web programming knowledge feel like joining forces and creating a bigger version of this pledge-drive so we can tackle other issues as well? I'm thinking we could, with a little hard work and cooperation, create something that countered the Focus On The Family freaks, or turned Fred Phelps protests into cashcows for progressive courses, or fought abortion clinic protests with dollars for those inconvenienced, or added dollars to progressive candidates' coffers whenever they get swift-boated.
Interested? Add your email address below.
UPDATE VI: Spoke to a journalist from the Lawrence Journal World today, and it seems like they'll be writing up this diary and our push for donors in tomorrow's edition. Keep an eye out here. Latest official update on donations has us pushing towards $2000. Not quite the $5k we hoped for, but certainly a big help to AU's push to keep church and state at arms length. Great work, guys.