Thursday, June 6, 2013

Please support Eric Hedin



Jerry Coyne is trying to get Ball State University administrators to fire physics professor Eric Hedin, who is teaching a course on the religious and philosophical implications of modern science.

The atheists are after the guy, and he needs help. Please sign the academic freedom petition supporting him. It will be sent to Ball State administrators.

Let's not let the thugs get him. 

29 comments:

  1. Can you back up your assertion about firing? The linked petition says "possibly disciplining." There is no mention of firing.

    Hoo

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    1. Coyne and his goons want the guy's head on a platter. Writing a letter to a university threatening a First Amendment lawsuit unless a certain professor's course 'sleeps with the fishes' is mealy-mouth-speak for 'fire the fundie'.

      If they can't get him fired outright, they'll go after his tenure efforts.

      I cut you thugs no slack.

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    2. You made this one up it, didn't you?

      Hoo

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    3. What should be done about Hedin and his course?:

      What if the school refuses to cancel the course or get rid of Hedin? Is the course unconstitutional? Should the school be sued in federal court?

      Is it morally or legally right to offer an elective course of this nature in a public university?

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    4. First you admit that you made up the firing suggestion. Then we can discuss what should or should not be done about Hedin's stupid course.

      Hoo

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    5. They. Want. Him. Fired.

      Obviously. They would also have an orgasm if his career were destroyed, he was drummed out of science for eternity, etc.

      Any contrary assertions-- 'we don't want him fired, we're only saying that the course he's teaching is illegal and we're going to sue the university and he's dishonestly preaching in class and he should be administratively hogtied... but surely we're not trying to get him fired..."

      You dissembling thugs.

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    6. You have no evidence that anyone wants Hedin fired. All you have is your own assertion. Even your Disco 'tute "colleagues" are careful enough not to assert that.

      I, for one, don't want Hedin fired. He is free to teach whatever course he wants. I don't have high expectations for science at Ball State.

      Hoo

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    7. @Hoo:

      It's reassuring that not all hyenas in the atheist pack are as vile as Coyne.

      You expectations for science at Ball State are duly noted. I'm sure your opinion matters a lot to them.

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    8. @Hoo:

      And since you don't want him fired, you surely will sign the petition, right?

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    9. First you admit that you made up the firing charge.

      Hoo

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    10. And yes, my opinion about science at Ball State is of more importance than yours or admiral's. I serve on a graduate admissions committee from time to time.

      Hoo

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    11. Adm. G Boggs, Glenbeckistan NavyJune 6, 2013 at 3:42 PM

      You're a lying fraud, hoo.

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    12. @Hoo:

      [First you admit that you made up the firing charge]

      So you defense of Dr. Hendin is contingent on my reply?

      What does my statement have to do with whether or not you sign the petition?

      [And yes, my opinion about science at Ball State is of more importance than yours or admiral's. I serve on a graduate admissions committee from time to time.]

      I see. So you would take unfavorable action against an applicant from Ball State due to Hendin's course.

      Should your statement of bias be reported to your chairman and university administrators?

      Do you ordinarily penalize applicants if the university in which they trained offers courses on religion and science?

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    13. A student who went to Ball State will impress me less than a student who went to the University of Indiana. It has nothing to do with Hedin, just a reflection of the pecking order. Hedin's shenanigans and the department's negligence merely confirm what everyone already knew: Ball State is not a serious place.

      Hoo

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    14. Likewise, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, beats University of Minnesota, Morris, any day. If you know what I mean.

      Hoo

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    15. Yea. Iknow what you mean.

      "Merely confirms what everybody already knew" still sounds wrong to me.

      Why would an elective course about the intersection of religion and science "confirm" anything?

      Do you routinely check course offerings at universities to find religious courses than "confirm" your bias against applicants from those universities?

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    16. Shouldn't your decisions about applicants be based on actual performance of students who come from those universities?

      On what basis do you hunt for religious-influenced courses that the student never even took?

      If I knew who you were and where you worked, should I as a member of the medical faculty look less favorably on a student from your university because your university hired an ethically-challenged anti-Christian bigot?

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    17. No, I look at transcripts. And when I see lame courses like Hedin's instead of, say, statistical physics, the student's chances are going way down.

      Hoo

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    18. Oh, and unlike you, I am not a bigot. I get along well with students and colleagues who are Christians, Jews, Muslims, and atheists. I don't care about their religious affiliation. It's irrelevant to science.

      You are a bigot because you prejudge atheists merely on the basis of their atheism.

      Hoo

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    19. @Hoo:

      I deal with med students daily. I don't care about their religious beliefs, or whether their university offered a course on the intersection between religion and science or atheism and science or whatever.

      I evaluate students according to objective criteria for performance, knowledge, and professionalism.

      You on the other hand say that your awareness of the Ball State religion-science course "confirms" your low opinion of that university, and that this would influence your decisions on the graduate admissions committee.

      That's where I get the "ethically-challenged anti-Christian bigot" part.

      I disagree with atheists, but I would never allow my personal opinions to play any role in my professional decisions.

      You just admitted that you do.

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    20. I said that Hedin's silly course confirms my low opinion of Ball State, not that it informs it. Check your reading comprehension, doc.

      Hoo

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    21. @Hoo:

      Confirmation is information. It may or may not be decisive, but to assert than confirmation of your bias does not inform your bias is gibberish.

      You just admitted that you would use Hendin's course against a student from Ball State,and you have implicitly admitted that the reason for your "confirmed" bias against that student is the religious content of a course that the student may not have even taken.

      Have you considered informing students applying to your graduate program of what you have "confirmed"?

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    22. You read what you want in my message, doc. Surprise!

      You just admitted that you would use Hendin's course against a student from Ball State

      No. I said that Hedin's silly course confirms my impression of Ball State as a non-serious place. Which it certainly isn't.

      you have implicitly admitted that the reason for your "confirmed" bias against that student is the religious content of a course that the student may not have even taken.

      Looks like you didn't the Minnesota Morris reference.

      Hoo

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    23. @Hoo:

      [No. I said that Hedin's silly course confirms my impression of Ball State as a non-serious place. Which it certainly isn't...Looks like you didn't the Minnesota Morris reference.]

      You shouldn't post comments when you're rattled. Compose yourself.

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    24. By that count, you shouldn't post at all. Your posts come out angry and incoherent.

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    25. This again is lying for Jesus. Jerry Coyne has never called for his firing he hasn't even called for the course's being totally canned. He want's the course removed from being a science course. Eric Hedin includes lots of creationist books in his reading list but not a single book on evolution by an evolutionary biologist. Total bias against established biology. Hedin is not a biologist, his course covers areas about which he is not qualified to teach. If students are taking an honours science course the they should study science not religious apologetics.

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  2. I sometime visit Coyne's blog Why evolution is true. What's this fixation of his with cats? Weird fellow!

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    1. 1/. He likes cats
      2/. It is tongue in cheek -- gentle self depreciating humour.

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  3. Nothing of this sort surprises me from Coyne. It's monotonously pathetic. I am, however, surprised at the school itself for failing to dismiss this nonsense outright. They ought to support their faculty member for doing nothing worse than getting activists' metaphorical knickers in a bunch by teaching in a way that may portray something they disagree with in a positive light.

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