PZ Myers

Paul Zachary "PZ" Myers is an associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota Morris.[2]

PZ on his Aug 09 visit to the Cretin Museum. Here he can be seen tipping his nice-looking hat while violating an important rule: only children are allowed on the saddled dinosaur.
We're all Homo here
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“”I also don't believe that being godless is sufficient to be a good, wise person, nor that people afflicted with superstition must be evil and stupid. That does not mean, however, that we shouldn't vigorously oppose stupid ideas…like religion.
—PZ Myers (ellipses in original)[1]

Myers is better-known as a popular atheist blogger. His primary blog is Pharyngula ("Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal"), where he criticizes creationism, advocates for the popularization of science, and gushes about cephalopods. He occasionally blogs for the Panda's Thumb, a group blog devoted to dissecting creationist claims. After Pharyngula's host site was acquired by National Geographic, Myers and Ed Brayton founded Freethought Blogs.

Myers also republished a collection of his blog posts as a book titled The Happy Atheist.[3]

Atheism
“”You may have needed a book of rules and a master to put on the shackles of faith, but you don’t need a guidebook to live a life of liberty. Do you know why atheists are so happy? Because they’re the freest people on Earth, and their only responsibilities are to their fellow human beings, not phantasms.
—[4]

Myers claims that being religious needs effort but that atheism avoids absurd creeds, futile rituals and obedience to supernatural demands. Myers asserts that atheists act morally through natural altruism and do not need the promise of Heaven or the threat that a malicious god will send them to Hell as motivation. Atheists do not pray or need to explain lack of response to prayer. Atheists have the simplest answer: there is no god listening.

Myers further maintains that atheists avoid futile guilt over breaking obsolete religious rules. Atheists also ideally avoid excessive respect for rulers, religious leaders, their own tribe, the male sex and can see all human beings as equal. Atheists only need to feel guilty when they have caused actual harm and that helps them to be moral.[4]

New Atheism and Atheism+
See the main articles on this topic: New Atheism and Atheism+

Over the years, Myers became increasingly frustrated with the atheist movement. His main criticism was against an empty “just disbelief” form of atheism, which he termed "dictionary atheism". Myers at one point considered himself a New Atheist,[5] but appeared to naturally gravitate towards Atheism+ as time went on, which he saw as a natural extension of New Atheism (New Atheism highlighted the importance of science to atheism, while Atheism+ highlighted the importance of social justice).[6] This may have been hastened by several ongoing and public disagreements between Myers and both Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins.[7] Myers feels the atheist movement pays too much attention to abstract metaphysics, and that the movement is too concerned about better-off white men and does not address issues connected with racial oppression, poverty, and women's issues. Myers feels the atheist movement is shooting itself in the foot with regressive social attitudes and scandals.[8]

Myers believes atheists should be decent human beings who want to build meaningful communities. He maintains that if atheists embrace progressive stances on issues relating to diversity, legal and social equality, and common responsibility for humanity, then atheism will become both more meaningful and more attractive. Myers rejects the view that atheism "only means you don't believe in gods", and sees this interpretation as a "flat abstraction" that forgets that atheists can, indeed, be decent human beings (who knew?).[9] Myers feels it is unacceptable for skeptical movements (like atheism) to avoid issues like racism, sexism, war, and climate change denialism, and pins this problem on predominantly white, male and privileged skeptics who won't hesitate to shout down anyone who makes them uncomfortable.[10] [11] Myers values Humanism highly for the emphasis ethics and social justice receive within the movement. In fact, he was accused of masterminding a series of initiatives by the American Humanist Association to work towards social justice for African American, feminist and LGBTQ people (his blog post referenced below claims that the initiatives are intended to work toward justice for humanist members of these minorities, but the AHA page makes no such distinction; this is probably a mistake on Myers' part, as such discrimination would contradict humanism's supposed aims). Myers fears that people may be driven away from atheism and towards humanism as a result of all this, though secularism is not uncommon among humanists and often goes hand in hand with the rejection of supernatural beliefs.[12]

Michael Shermer
See the main article on this topic: Michael Shermer

Alison Smith (a former employee of the James Randi Educational Foundation) approached Myers accusing Michael Shermer of rape. Smith requested that Myers publish her claims anonymously as a warning to other women to not allow Shermer to get them drunk and isolate them from groups. PZ felt morally obliged to publish Smith's accusation because he had heard other similar complaints about Shermer and the issue of sexual harassment in the atheist movement had been gathering momentum. Subsequently, journalist Mark Oppenheimer wrote an article that named, with permission, not only Smith, but several other alleged female victims of Shermer’s behavior.[13] Oppenheimer's piece included corroborating accounts from named and unnamed sources. Myers believes that Shermer changed his story so much that he now has no credibility left.[14]

Christianity

As Christianity is the dominant religion in the USA Myers puts much effort into dealing with it.

Courtier's reply

Myers coined the term "courtier's reply" to describe the argument that only clergy and theologians are qualified to comment on questions of faith.[15] Many people are quick to suggest that someone like Richard Dawkins, who was trained as a biologist, does not have the authority to criticize religion.[16] Myers suggests this is like telling the child in Andersen's fable to study haute couture before judging if the emperor is naked.

Expelled
PZ Myers on creationism.
See the main article on this topic: PZ Myers "expelled" from screening of Expelled

In a bizarre mixup, Myers was prevented from attending a screening of the movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed while Richard Dawkins, standing next to him, was allowed to attend. After a quick blog post to mention how funny it was that Dawkins wasn't blacklisted from seeing the film (despite being the better-known critic of creationism and religion) the two discussed the movie in an informal manner online.[17]

Crackergate

On July 24, 2008, Myers desecrated a consecrated host, along with pages from the Qur'an, Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion, coffee grounds, and a banana peel. This followed an assault on Webster Cook, a student who kept a host in his mouth to show to a friend later, rather than eating it during a eucharist at the University of Central Florida, and (according to some) Myers attempted to draw fire. It succeeded in that, sparking a feud between Dr. Myers and William Donohue. (See also Iconoclasm.) The degree of “hysterical” reaction surprised Myers who had hoped intelligent Catholics would see Jesus was in no way harmed. Myers feels those who hold supposed sacred objects dear can endanger the liberty of others,[18] which the whole incident is a good illustration of (since both Myers and Cook received death threats, and Cook himself was assaulted).

NOMA
See the main article on this topic: Non-Overlapping Magisteria

Myers like many members of the most recent generation of outspoken atheists reject NOMA or "non overlapping magisteria". NOMA was Stephen J. Gould's position claiming matters of science and faith were separated into two groups that never overlapped. This for a time appeared to answer the "conflict thesis" of science and religion. Myers and other modern atheists dismiss NOMA - some suggesting Gould himself wasn't totally convinced. Myers argues that faith and superstition, while unfounded, have real impact on the world through actions of believers and therefore merit critical analysis by any and all means, including science.

Islam
“”“Religion of Peace,” my ass; Islam is the religion of ignorance and hate.
—PZ, in his 2010 "Mohammed’s dead hand still ruins lives from the grave"[19]

Myers has also criticized Islam strongly. Myers used the title "Vile Islam" in a blog post regarding a Bangladeshi husband who cut the fingers off his wife's right hand when she went to college without his consent.[20] Myers has criticised theocratic Muslim nations many times.[21][22][23] Myers also opposes those who believe that any criticism of Islam is unacceptable.[24]

However, Myers feels stereotyping Muslims is utterly unreasonable[25] and strongly opposes those who treat all Muslims, even former Muslims, as bogeymen.[24]

Following the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, Myers stated that "radical Islam" is a great evil which he hopes can be defeated. Myers maintains that typical American Muslims are far less bigoted than their conservative Christian counterparts, citing poll evidence that 42% of US Muslims support gay marriage -- roughly the same proportion as Christians. Myers maintains that deporting Muslims would solve nothing, as the dominant Christianity and some atheists promote a homophobic culture.[26]

Pharyngula

Pharyngula, named for the pharyngulaFile:Wikipedia's W.svg stage of embryonic development, got roughly 2.5 million hits each month but the popularity of the Freethought Blogs has declined significantly according to Alexa.[27] The Pharyngula blog focuses on many topics: biology, evolution, Young Earth creationism,[28] Old Earth creationism,[29] atheism, liberal politics, why sex abuse and violence[30] towards women should not be tolerated,[31] exposing Donald Trump,[32] exposing quack medicine,[33] abuse of guns, lack of accountability and other problems with American police,[34], affairs in Minnesota, [35] squid porn,[36] non-squid cephalopod porn, spiders,[37] the shortcomings of Intelligent Design, conservative wackos, squid porn, etc.

Pharyngula was initially an independent blog. It moved to ScienceBlogs, Seed Magazine's blogging collective, where it was one of the major generators of traffic for the site. Around 2011, ScienceBlogs started to decline and was acquired by National Geographic,[38] which Myers thought had a more uptight nature that would interfere with Pharyngula's tone and content. As a result, Myers and Ed Brayton founded their own blogging collective, Freethought Blogs, and cloned both their blogs there. Myers also maintains the blog's old presence at ScienceBlogs, reposting his more science-oriented articles.[39] The FtB version of Pharyngula remains Myers' main blog.[40] [41]

A controversy in mid 2015 over then-FTB-colleague Ophelia Benson's views on trans people caused drama in the FtB comments.[42][43] As a consequence, PZ Myers decided to end his traditional social threads "the Lounge" (moderated) and "The Mended Drum", formerly "Thunderdome" (unmoderated) — which mainly served his regulars — citing "far too much cliquishness" as a reason that made moderating an "unrewarding chore".[44]

Trolls

From early 2009 till 2013 the professional troll John Kwok stalked Myers, also posting many annoying and/or threatening comments. See John Kwok and PZ Myers for more. Dennis Markuze was another internet troll stalking and repeatedly threatening Myers as well as other prominent atheists. An online petition that Myers organised probably helped get Markuze arrested.[45][46][47]

More recently, Slymepit users spread a malicious rumor that asserted Myers had an STD.[48]

Politics

Myers is an outspoken liberal.

Myers fears Donald Trump does not understand science; [49] he thinks many Trump supporters are racists, and feels very bad about Trump's having been elected.[50]

“”I agree that the administration’s Russian connection ought to be pursued, but I am not happy that that is being treated as the primary reason to delegitimize Donald Trump. The man is a destructive incompetent with a fist full of bad policies, and the most effective way to bring him down is to expose the fact that his campaign staff talked to the Russian ambassador? What? Have you looked at what he is doing to the country right now? Because there is a whole lot of crap going down while we’re busy looking for Russians under the bed.[51]

Pharyngula has frequent posts about things Trump does that Myers feels are bad and about how ordinary citizens are opposing Trump.

Myers fears the media encourage war and bombings because war boosts their ratings.[52] Myers has no confidence in the ability of the Trump team to deal with North Korea and he calls the Trump team "a mob of crazypants wackjobs".[53]

Myers argues global warming denialism is clownish and comparable to evolution denialism.[54] He argues against a global warming conspiracy, stating that scientists get neither fame nor money fighting powerful vested interests in the fossil fuel industries.[55] He fears the Trump team is planning to redefine science as what the Republican party believes or wants people to believe, rather than real science. He cites Lamar Smith trying to redefine science,[56] and considers Trump completely amoral.[57]

Myers is concerned that the Trump administration is cutting grants to science. He fears money that used to go to science is being used instead to build a useless wall between the USA and Mexico.[58]

Myers favors gun control.[59] He notes cases where guns have tragically killed.[60][61] Myers has discussed whether his local elected representatives accepted money (Myers considers it bribes) from the NRA.[62]

Myers is a feminist and promotes the role of women in the skepticism movement. He points out that some atheists are guilty of covering up the sexual exploitation of women.[63] He advocated for a woman who complained about sexual abuse and gender discrimination at the James Randi Educational Foundation.[64][65]

Myers claims that anyone who uses the term "identity politics" is a closet racist.

“”Accusing someone of “identity politics” is the new, genteel way of calling them a “nigger lover”. (...) Take a term that refers to a tendency to splinter into groups that favor narrower causes built around race, religion, or class, and apply it exclusively to any person who promotes a more inclusive, broader politics, one that crosses racial and sexual boundaries, the exact opposite of what the term implies. At the same time, avoid labeling what the white supremacists, the KKK, the alt-right, and the neo-Nazis do as identity politics, even though that would be far more accurate.
—PZ Myers[66]

Myers believes lack of planning and regulation exacerbated the disaster in Houston, Texas. Lack of planning allowed chemical plants with dangerous chemicals to be near residential areas and the flooding allowed dangerous chemicals to escape.[67]

On a significantly less savory note, Myers has been accused of misrepresenting the arguments and claims of those he disagrees with. For example, he has apparently attacked a straw man of some of Steven Pinker's commentary.[68]

gollark: WRONG.
gollark: How about, electric shocks every 10 seconds?
gollark: You *can* fall asleep while walking if you're really tired.
gollark: See, if you suffer burns, you will feel more alert and awake, yes?
gollark: Probably.

See also
  • Pharyngula on Freethought Blogs, the latest incarnation
  • Pharyngula, the older ScienceBlogs incarnation, now running in parallel as a "lite" version. After the transfer to National Geographic the comments on many older posts seem to be missing.
  • About PZ (The Mad Scientist. Biologist and blogger PZ Myers speaks out on the war on science, intelligent design, and the sexual habits of giant squid)
  • Pharyngula Wiki.

References
  1. Oh, no! The New Atheists are getting attacked again!
  2. Google Scholar
  3. The Happy Atheist
  4. An atheist’s guide to the good life Myers explains how he makes ethical decisions.
  5. Comes a Horseman, Myers' acceptance speech for the Humanist of the Year award for 2009.
  6. Nice Article on Atheism+ in the New Statesman Myers, PZ. Pharyngula, 23 Aug. 2012.
  7. The Trumpification of atheism
  8. The Atheist Disillusionment
  9. Sunday Sacrilege: The Responsible Atheist
  10. Skepticism will not fix its problems by denying their existence
  11. These problems apply less outside the American atheist movement.
  12. HumanismPlus? How about just plain humanism
  13. Will Misogyny Bring Down The Atheist Movement? Buzzfeed
  14. The crooked, twisted story of the wanton kid
  15. PZ Myers, "The Courtier's Reply", Pharyngula, 24 December 2006.
  16. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2007/01/11/a-mission-to-convert/
  17. PZ Myers: Expelled from Expelled! - Richard Dawkins
  18. Setting the Koran on fire, vs. setting personal liberties on fire
  19. "Mohammed’s dead hand still ruins lives from the grave"
  20. "Vile Islam"
  21. Dangerous nerds
  22. Gulf states develop amazing new biomedical technology
  23. Free Raif Badawi
  24. Ex-Muslims of North America
  25. http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2016/08/08/if-you-see-something-say-something/ If you see something, say something]
  26. Is the core of the problem Islam?
  27. How popular is freethoughtblogs.com? This may or may not be reliable.
  28. Cruel and unusual punishment
  29. Let’s pick on an Old Earth Creationist
  30. Academic failures in elementary humanity
  31. Canada sets another example for us all
  32. By golly, Trump is negging us! A day in the life of a buffoon
  33. An abuse of stem cells Stanislaw Burzynski must be stopped Disgraceful quackery from Bioharmonic Technologies, and shame on the Autism Society Another cancer quack But of course @DeepakChopra is incorporating epigenetics into his quackery
  34. Disarm the police Don’t blame the victims Depends on whose ox is getting gored Mr Rogers says, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
  35. Syllabusery Minnesotans! You have an election on Tuesday! Vote!
  36. Tentacle Sex
  37. Mourning a spider
  38. "National Geographic Taking the Wheel at Scienceblogs.com". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  39. Pharyngula on ScienceBlogs
  40. Welcome to the new digs!, Myers welcome message on the new incarnation of Pharyngula
  41. Unknown people calling themselves Pharyngulite started their own little wiki on Wikia. See It’s a lens to concentrate the weirdness It mostly covers possibly immature ideas and memes repeated on the blog and comments. But it also covers much of the same science and pseudoscience remit as RationalWiki, with articles on New Atheists and peer review, plus such delicacies as Myers' distaste for libertarians and love of evo-devo. It's fairly inactive.
  42. And some of the boxes are wired to explode!PZ Myers
  43. A horrible effective silencer Ophelia Benson
  44. Between me and my mind
  45. Case Study: How a notorious spammer was brought down via Twitter
  46. VICTORY! Montreal Police Begin Formal Investigation of “David Mabus”
  47. Montreal police investigating alleged threats made against atheists
  48. Pitposting
  49. Are we a nation of two year olds?
  50. Nazis. Nazis, nazis, nazis.
  51. It is disturbing that the news is all Russia all the time
  52. Our ‘liberal’ media at work
  53. “strategic patience”
  54. Prime snide kookrant
  55. I don’t understand what’s going on in denialist’s heads
  56. We're not done yet
  57. The President must be a zombie
  58. I guess science is going to pay for that wall
  59. I don’t give a damn about your gun specs
  60. What was horribly tragic?
  61. Why can’t we prosecute people for gun incompetence?
  62. It’s a start
  63. Painfully close to the truth
  64. I’m ready to be divisive
  65. Carrie Poppy tells all
  66. "Identity politics" is racist code
  67. Regulations require you to plan ahead
  68. Singal, Jesse, Social Media Is Making Us Dumber. Here’s Exhibit A., The New York Times, 11 January 2018
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