Posted on 12/14/2005 1:15:37 PM PST by .cnI redruM
Paul Mirecki -- the Kansas University religious studies professor who derided Christian fundamentalists as "fundies" -- is a strange man with strange tales of alleged persecution. Contrary to his knee-jerk defenders on the Left, it is not bigoted, hateful, or intolerant for me to scrutinize his story.
It's rational.
The professor first created controversy in November after penning an unhinged e-mail message expressing his desire to deliver a "slap" to the "big fat face" of the "fundies" by teaching an intelligent design course "as a religious studies class under the category 'mythology.'" The message was sent to the mailing list of the university's Society of Open-Minded (snort!) Atheists and Agnostics. Mirecki signed his taunting diatribe "Evil Dr. P." These are the words of an individual more than a few cards short of a full deck.
After his remarks were publicized, KU cancelled the proposed course. Mirecki was forced to apologize. And then, out of the blue, It Happened.
Last week, Mirecki claimed he was beaten by two mysterious white men on a rural highway. He says the unidentified assailants, in a pickup that tailgated him in rural Douglas County, Kansas, targeted him for his views while he was "taking a long, pre-dawn drive in the country to clear his mind," according to the student newspaper. Mirecki says he pulled over to the side of the road to let the men pass. He then said he got out of his vehicle. The alleged attackers got out of their truck and beat "the hell" out of him, reportedly using a "metal object," Mirecki said last week before abruptly clamming up about the attack and sequestering himself in his house.
News of the beating aligned perfectly with the mainstream media's template of Christian fundamentalists as right-wing vigilantes. Mirecki's liberal supporters on the Internet swallowed the story whole. The Wichita Eagle told those with questions about Mirecki's account to "give it a rest." A Kansas City Star columnist called allegations of a manufactured hate crime a "cheap shot."
Why?
Mirecki can't remember where the incident took place, according to local law enforcement, and has offered only the vaguest of suspect descriptions. There are conflicting accounts about Mirecki's physical appearance the day of the attack. While a faculty colleague claimed that "big swollen spots" had "transformed" Mirecki's face, Jesse Plous and Tiffany Jeffers, two of Mirecki's students, told the campus newspaper they didn't notice bruises or scratches when they met for his class six hours after the alleged attack. Lindsay Mayer, another student in the class, "said injuries weren't extremely noticeable." Mirecki did not mention the alleged beating in class.
Now, a week after the alleged attack with the alleged assailants still at large, Mirecki is poised to take both his university and the local sheriff's office to court for their insufficient support and investigation. The fundies! Academia! The cops! They're all in on it!
After university officials announced that Mirecki had voluntarily resigned as chair of the religion department, the professor came out of his shell to blast the school for forcing him to step down. The university stands by its account. Mirecki has complained that law enforcement officials have seized his car and computer, and doesn't like the direction of the probe. "If I have to sue, I will," he told the Lawrence Journal-World.
None of this smells right.
The truth is there are too many cases of hate crime hoaxers on campuses -- a phenomenon most left-leaning journalists are loathe to cover -- to dismiss the possibility in this case. Last year, Claremont McKenna College professor Kerri Dunn was sentenced to prison after she staged an anti-Semitic hate crime against herself. Earlier this year, a lesbian student at Mt. Tamalpais High School in Marin County, Calif., faked several anti-gay incidents to garner attention and sympathy. Leah Miller, a black student at San Francisco State University, admitted to scratching "NIGG" on a dorm room door and writing herself a note with the same epithet. Jaime Alexander Saide, a Northwestern University student, admitted making up anti-Hispanic threats against himself after the school rallied around him with "Stop the Hate" marches.
Strange, isn't it, how leftists on campus who sneer at blind faith are so often fooled by it themselves.
The other strange thing however is the time he was out driving, not knowing where he was, and the fact that two guys just happened to be out at the same time of the morning who knew who he was and disliked him that much.
No, those bruises may have been visible later, who knows? Note that he went to the hospital, treated and released, and returned to campus in time to teach his class.
They were hit in the eye. Mirecki looks like he was hit at the bridge of the nose. If you look at the larger picture I linked to, you can see bruising there.
Do we know that the paper took the photo? What's in the background?
Mirecki first claimed that "maybe" a "metal object" was involved. He was much surer in subsequent interviews.
The light is from the top right and it really makes the bags stand out.
Regarding the students' recollections, if it's a fairly big class and they sit in the middle or the back, they might not have seen anything out of the ordinary. Especially with those huge glasses on.
What really pisses me off are people who discount the entire thing simply because they don't like his opinions.
Lawrence Journal World.
Do we have a photo by-line? I'm just curious. That background looks like a studio. Maybe they took him to the paper's newsroom.
With a bruise visible under his right eye, Paul Mirecki paid a visit Tuesday afternoon to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
But by the photo, the bruises are visible under both eyes. What is the deal here?
The photo is attributed to Richard Gwin, BTW. Gwin is a staff photographer with the paper. Although he seems to work sporadically.
Early reports talked of a broken tooth. I guess that's by the wayside. No reported damage to his car. No damage to his glasses. The bruises are genuine. If you go here you can click on the photo and his beautiful face fills the screen. The facial bruises have texture. And, yes, perfect symmetry.
There's a photo by-line, but no indication where the interview took place.
Thanks. I did find it. Gwin seems to be something of a professional. A search on the site turned up some very professional-looking color photographs. No doubt this photo was done in a studio.
You belong at DU for believing this man.
I actually accepted his story the first day it came out. I did not join in the conspiracy theories.
But, a few days later, when he could not identify who beat him up OR EVEN A VAGUE, ROUGH ESTIMATE OF AN AREA WHERE IT EVEN OCCURRED......it is clear he is lying.
He is lying about the beating. Deal with it.
Those who reject his claim because of his opinions are wrong.
But, the guy doesn't have any credibility when he doesn't even remember when or where the attack occurred.
I've specically said the opposite. I was going to tell you to go to hell, but then I realized where you were posting from.
But some people who know him say that he looked roughed up and others who know him say that he didn't look roughed up.
I mean when someone who saw him the morning after the supposed incident said that he didn't look different and someone else that same afternoon said his face looked "transformed" who are we supposed to believe?
So far he seems to not have a shred of evidence to back up his story.
So I'm wondering if there is actually any hard evidence that (1) he actually has black eyes and (2) that someone else did it.
Read his posts.
And actually, I am leaning toward evolution now. But, this guy faked his beating. You don't forget when and where such an attack happened.
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