Mirecki followup

Kansas' most famous blogger, Josh Rosenau weighs in on the Mirecki/intelligent design debacle. I agree with a lot of what he had to say, but I think Josh may be a bit too sanguine about the whole issue:

In two decades of teaching, the worst anyone can say about Dr. Mirecki is that he sent some tasteless emails.

That may be true, but the emails were more then tasteless, they were downright offensive. I think those of us who make it our business to stand against bigotry must go out of our way to denounce it especially when it comes from those who are on our side. We justly get upset when right-wingers make bigoted statements towards gays or Muslims or any other group, and it is often tempting to return fire exactly the same way, but doing so is wrong. We must never stoop to our enemy's level in order to fight our enemy. This goes whether one is discussing torture in Iraq or prejudice at home.

I am not a polyanna who thinks that we have to be tolerant of intolerance or something like that...by all means fight back hard, and don't be afarid to speak the truth to theocrats and the religious right and those who would inject religious doctine into American government...but please don't give in to the temptation to engage in prejudice. It is never right and can never be defended.

Professor Mirecki may be a good man who made a mistake and a well-liked professor, and the class on intelligent design should still be offered by the department...but his statements in the emails were wrong and can not be defended. Professor Mirecki has apologized, which is the right thing to do. I hope he realizes that he really was wrong, and that he can still be outspoken in fighting against right-wing political-religious forces without slandering an entire group of people.