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{{short description|American biologist (born 1957)}}

factoids

| field = Evolutionary developmental biology| work_institution = University of Minnesota MorrisUniversity of Washington (Bachelor of Science>BS)University of Oregon (PhD)Pharyngula (blog)>Pharyngula| birth_place = Kent, Washington, U.S.}}Paul Zachary Myers (born March 9, 1957) is an American biologist who founded and writes the Pharyngula science blog. He is associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM)PZ Myers Biology Faculty {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130330085915weblink |date=2013-03-30 }} from University of Minnesota Morris where he works in the field of developmental biology.WEB,weblink Biology Faculty, June 19, 2015, Academics at the University of Minnesota, Morris, He is a critic of intelligent design and the creationist movement and other pseudoscientific concepts.NEWS,weblink BELIEFS; Atheists Debate How Pushy to Be, Oppenheimer, Mark, 2010-10-16, The New York Times, 12, 2010-12-19, In 2006 the journal Nature listed Myers's Pharyngula as the top-ranked blog by a scientist based on popularity.JOURNAL, 2006, Top five science blogs, Nature, 442, 7098, 9, 0028-0836, 10.1038/442009a, 16823420, 2006Natur.442....9., free, Myers received the American Humanist Association's 2009 Humanist of the Year award and the International Humanist Award in 2011. Asteroid 153298 Paulmyers is named in his honor.WEB,weblink PZ Myers and (153298) Paulmyers, Jeff, Medkeff, Jeffrey S. Medkeff, 2008-03-25, 2008-03-25,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080807174700weblink">weblink 2008-08-07,

Early life

Myers was born March 9, 1957, the eldest of six children in Kent, Washington; his mother is of Swedish and Norwegian descent.WEB, Myers, PZ, My Swedish/Norwegian mother, you mean?,weblink Twitter, June 19, 2011, Regarding his ancestry, Myers wrote: "I'm only half Scandinavian. The blood has been thinned with that of those domesticated English and Irish and Scots."WEB, Myers, PZ, Have I ever told you how proud I am of my Scandinavian ancestry?,weblink Pharyngula, ScienceBlogs, July 24, 2011, February 5, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20111203134552weblink">weblink December 3, 2011, dead, mdy-all, He was named "Paul Zachary", after his grandfather, but preferred the initials PZ to being called "Little Paul". He has described his family as "probably what would be called the working poor nowadays", and noted that "when I was growing up I was called white trash more than a few times".WEB, Myers, PZ, There are no marching morons,weblink Pharyngula, ScienceBlogs, January 15, 2016, May 8, 2007, He claims to have been a "science geek" from an early age, gaining an interest in zoology and marine biology from studying the insides of fish while on fishing trips with his father.Growing up, Myers attended an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) church.Myers, PZ (June 2, 2013). "An atheist goes to church — 1stLC." Prior to his confirmation, Myers says, "I started thinking, you know, I don't believe a word of this." Now an atheist, Myers comments on his blog about science, education, atheism and religion.WEB,weblink Left or Right, religion and politics don't mix, 2007-08-22, 2006-03-13, Pharyngula, PZ, Myers,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070212034936weblink">weblink 2007-02-12, dead, WEB,weblink The Humanist - a magazine of critical inquiry and social concern, 2012-02-01,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120325072458weblink">weblink 2012-03-25, dead,

Education and activism

Myers graduated from Kent-Meridian High School in 1975 and subsequently attended DePauw University in Indiana on a full scholarship.WEB,weblink My week in the Pacific Northwest, ScienceBlogs, 2010-07-25, 2010-07-25, Saturday at 5:00pm on I'll be attending…my 35th high school reunion with a gang of strange people I haven't seen in decades. You aren't invited unless you were also a graduate of Kent-Meridian High School, Class of 1975,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100727082730weblink">weblink 2010-07-27, dead, However, he returned home the next year after his father suffered a heart attack. He then graduated from the University of Washington in 1979 with Bachelor of Science in zoology. Myers drifted away from this field toward evolutionary developmental biology and obtained a PhD in biology from the University of Oregon."About PZ MyersFile:PZ Myers at Skepticon 7.jpg|thumb|left|300px|PZ Myers presents his talk, "You, too, can know more molecular genetics than a creationist!" at SkepticonSkepticonA self-styled "godless liberal"Tagline on Pharyngula: "Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal." and outspoken atheist, he is a vocal critic of all forms of religion, superstition, supernaturalism, spirituality and pseudoscience. He is quoted as having "nothing but contempt" for intelligent design, arguing that it is "fundamentally dishonest".JOURNAL,weblink The Mad Scientist, interview with PZ Myers, November 23, 2005, Mike, Mosedale, 26, 1303, 2007-08-22, City Pages,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080802000603weblink">weblink 2008-08-02, dead, He is also an outspoken supporter of sex-positive feminism.WEB,weblink The not-so-Amazing Atheist self-immolates, 8 February 2012, Freethoughblogs, 2012-09-29, The feminism I embrace is sex-positive. It includes heterosexual men and women, homosexual men and women, trans men and women, and every kink and twist you can imagine., Myers believes women should make their own sexual choices without outside pressure.WEB,weblink Carrie Poppy tells all, August 7, 2013, Pharyngula, In 2009 Myers was named the American Humanist Association's "Humanist of the Year".WEB,weblink American Humanist Association: Humanist of the year, American Humanist Association, 2013-06-06, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120717065124weblink">weblink 2012-07-17, In April 2015, Atheist Ireland issued an official announcement, apologizing that they had given Myers public platforms to speak and that now it is "publicly dissociating itself from the hurtful and dehumanising, hateful and violent, unjust and defamatory rhetoric of the atheist blogger PZ Myers... We believe his behaviour is unjust to individuals, increases prejudice against atheists, and is harmful to the promotion of an ethical society based on empathy, fairness, justice and integrity.".WEB, Atheist Ireland publicly dissociates itself from the harmful and hateful rhetoric of PZ Myers, 7 April 2015,weblink Atheist Ireland, Executive Committee, 8 April 2015, In 2017, Myers, who formerly considered himself one of the "New Atheists", disassociated himself from the New Atheist label. Describing the label as being applied "against our protests, because we were all aware that there was nothing new about it. Maybe we were more aggressive, or maybe suddenly people were listening to us, but really, it was the same old atheism with a fancy artisan label". Myers prefers to be simply referred to as an atheist.WEB,weblink The New Atheism is dead. Long live atheism., July 31, 2017, Pharyngula,

Postgraduate career

Myers has taught and researched at the University of Oregon, the University of Utah, and Temple University. He is currently an associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota's Morris campus. He is a member of Minnesota Citizens for Science Education,WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100330074138weblink">weblink 30 March 2010, MnCSE Scientific Advisory Board, Minnesota Citizens for Science Education, and cultivates an interest in cephalopods.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}

Blogging and writing

Myers has been active on the internet. He was involved in scientific debates on USENET surrounding the growing creationist movement. He was a founding member of The Panda's Thumb blog. In June 2002, he started his website Pharyngula.org, which morphed into a blog now hosted by ScienceBlogsweblink, Pharyngula, Science Blogs and Freethought Blogs.weblink, About >> Pharyngula, Freethought Blogs

Pharyngula

Pharyngula is Myers's personal weblog, promoted as "Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal."weblink, Pharyngula, Freethought Blogs The topics Myers covers are eclectic, delving into the non-scientific as well as scientific. While Pharyngula includes many articles discussing breaking science news and research, the blog has become particularly well known for ridicule of intelligent design and of attempts to insert it into science education. In 2006, the science journal Nature listed Pharyngula as the top-ranked blog written by a scientist.JOURNAL, 442, 7098, 9, Top five science blogs, 2006-07-05, 10.1038/442009a, Decla, Butler, Nature, 16823420, 2006Natur.442....9., free, Myers started Pharyngula.org on June 19, 2002WEB,weblink Related Info for: pharyngula.org/, Alexa.com, 2006-09-03, 2007-03-12,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070312064647weblink">weblink dead, as an experiment in writing instruction for a class. Students were required to submit mini-essays to be published online. After the project was finished, Myers still had the web-publishing software, and started to use it himself. The blog is named after his favorite stage in embryonic development, the pharyngula stage. Pharyngula moved to hosting at ScienceBlogs, a project of Seed Magazine, in 2005.

Book

Myers's book, The Happy Atheist, was published by Random House in August, 2013.WEB, Random House: The Happy Atheist by P.Z. Myers,weblink 2012, 2013-07-26, It is largely a compilation of previous blog posts.Branch, Glenn (August 8, 2013). "Godless chronicles: Glenn Branch goes for a dip in the antitheologic.". Nature. Vol 500, p 149. Voice for its audiobook version was provided by noted atheist and science communicator Aron Ra.WEB,weblink Ask an Atheist Day? Do I want to do this?, 17 September 2020, Fellow blogger Greg Laden celebrates "the level of refinement of his writing" and writes that "these essays actually have a different feel to them".WEB,weblink PZ Myers is the Happy Atheist – Greg Laden's Blog, 2017-08-29, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170829120323weblink">weblink 2017-08-29,

Eucharist incident

{{see also|Host desecration#2008 controversy in the US|Catholic League (U.S.)#Eucharist incident}}A controversy arose in July 2008 over a Pharyngula blog entry written by Myers expressing amazement at news reports of death threats issued to University of Central Florida Student Senator Webster Cook. On June 29, 2008, Cook attended a Catholic Mass being held in the student union at UCF by a Catholic student group that receives funding from the student government. Cook received the Catholic Eucharist host but did not consume it immediately. He said later that he wanted to take it back to his seat to show a friend, but when stopped he pretended to put it in his mouth until back at his seat, then a church leader made forcible attempts to take the wafer from him.WEB,weblink 'Body Of Christ' Snatched From Church, Held Hostage By UCF Student, 2008-07-11, 2008-07-09, WFTV, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080711042722weblink">weblink 2008-07-11, Cook stored the host at his home, then returned it one week later after receiving e-mail threats and pleas.WEB,weblink Radio interview with "Webster Cook, student senator and non-eater of communion wafers", 2008-07-19, online radio, Freethought Radio, Tune in to hear the inside story about the young Orlando student whom Catholics have accused of committing a 'hate crime' for not eating a communion wafer!, 2008-07-28, WEB,weblink 'Body Of Christ" Returned To Church After Student Receives Email Threats, 2008-07-25, 2008-07-09, WFTV, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080725000057weblink">weblink 2008-07-25, Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League, described the student's actions as "beyond hate speech" and said that "All options should be on the table, including expulsion."WEB,weblink Florida Student Abuses Eucharist, 2008-07-25, 2008-07-07, The Catholic League,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110825035803weblink">weblink 25 August 2011, In his July 8 blog entry, Myers criticized the reaction to Cook's act. Myers described the level of harassment including multiple death threats leveled against the student, and accusations against the student which included hate crime, kidnapping, and intent to desecrate the Eucharist which Catholics consider a mortal sin.WEB,weblink Student Who Took Religious Icon Getting Death Threats, 2009-11-18, 2008-07-09, Cheryl, Getuiza, My Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Orlando, Myers expressed outrage that Fox News Channel appeared to be inciting readers to cause further problems for the student, and ridiculed reports that armed guards would attend the next mass. Myers suggested that if any of his readers could acquire some consecrated Eucharistic hosts for him, he would treat the wafers "with profound disrespect and heinous cracker abuse, all photographed and presented here on the web."WEB,weblink IT'S A FRACKIN' CRACKER!, 2008-07-11, 2008-07-08, Pharyngula, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080712015833weblink">weblink 2008-07-12, Myers was criticized from both religious and non-religious quarters. The Catholic League accused Myers of anti-Catholic bigotry,WEB,weblink Communion wafer held 'hostage' raises holy heck, July 11, 2008, Minneapolis Star Tribune,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090204001624weblink">weblink February 4, 2009, described his proposal as a threat to desecrate what Catholics hold to be the Body of Christ, and sent a letter asking the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Legislature to take action against Myers.WEB,weblink Minnesota Prof Pledges to Desecrate Eucharist, 2008-07-11, 2008-07-10, The Catholic League, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080713023423weblink">weblink 2008-07-13, The Catholic League argued that, as the Pharyngula website was accessible via a link from the University of Minnesota's website, it should be bound by the university's code of conduct, which requires faculty to be "respectful, fair and civil" when dealing with others. Joe Foley, a member of the Board of the Secular Student Alliance, wrote on the organization's website that Myers had "crossed the line" from "playful satire" to "masturbatory condescension".J. Foley, "Wafergate: PZ Myers Crossed the Line" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110406075332weblink |date=2011-04-06 }}, secularstudents.org, Aug. 3, 2008 Foley concluded, "if open-minded believers are willing to join us in polite dialogue, we need to be ready to welcome them with more than ridicule and pranks."Subsequently, Myers explained to the Star Tribune that while his post was "satire and protest," he had received death threats regarding the incident but was not taking them too seriously. In a talk show featuring Myers on Catholic Radio International, hosted by Jeff Gardner, Myers confirmed that he had been sent an unspecified number of consecrated hosts and said that he intended to "subject them to heinous cracker abuse." When asked by Gardner to explain why he must do so, Myers said that Donohue of the Catholic League was insisting that he acknowledge the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. Gardner pointed out that Donohue had no authority to insist on such acknowledgment. The show host then asked Myers which individual possessing the Magisterial authority of the Catholic Church had insisted that he recognize the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. Myers replied that no one from the Catholic Church had contacted him.WEB,weblink The Heart Of The Matter On Catholic Radio International|2008-07-10, We Need To Talk, Catholic Radio International, 2008-07-18,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080720221516weblink">weblink 2008-07-20, dead, On July 24, 2008, Myers, in his post, "The Great Desecration," wrote that he had pierced through the "goddamned cracker" with a rusty nail, which he also used to pierce a few ripped-out pages of the Qur'an (in English translation, not the original Arabic) and The God Delusion, and had simply thrown them all in the trash along with old coffee grounds and a banana peel. He provided a photograph of these items in the garbage, and wrote that nothing must be held sacred, encouraging people to question everything. In addition, he described the history of allegations of host desecration, emphasizing the frequent use of such allegations in medieval Europe to justify anti-Semitism.WEB,weblink Pharyngula: The Great Desecration, PZ, Myers, 2008-07-24, Pharyngula, ScienceBlogs, 2008-07-24,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080725040151weblink">weblink 2008-07-25, dead, The following day, University of Minnesota, Morris (UMM) Chancellor stated: "I believe that behaviors that discriminate against or harass individuals or groups on the basis of their religious beliefs are reprehensible" and that the school "affirms the freedom of a faculty member to speak or write as a public citizen without institutional discipline or restraint."WALSH, PAUL Morris chancellor defends instructor who defiled Eucharist, tore Qur'an {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827022715weblink |date=2009-08-27 }} Star Tribune, July 25, 2008

Science activism

Interview and screening of Expelled

In April 2007 Myers was interviewed for what he was told would be a documentary titled Crossroads, purportedly about science and religion.NEWS, PZ, Myers, I'm gonna be a MOVIE STAR,weblink Pharyngula (blog), 2007-08-22, 2008-05-28,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080514090732weblink">weblink 2008-05-14, dead, However, in September 2007, executive producer Mark Mathis announced that the film was (Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed) about perceived censorship of intelligent design supporters in academia and elsewhere.NEWS, Cornelia, Dean, Scientists Feel Miscast in Film on Life's Origin,weblink The New York Times, 2007-09-27, 2008-05-28, Regarding the discrepancy of focus, Myers wrote: "I mean, seriously, not telling one of the sides in a debate about what the subject might be and then leading him around randomly to various topics, with the intent of later editing it down to the parts that just make the points you want, is the video version of quote-mining and is fundamentally dishonest."On March 20, 2008, Myers was (Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed#PZ Myers and Richard Dawkins at Minnesota pre-release screening|denied entry into a screening) of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed at the Mall of America in Minneapolis. He was waiting with his family and guests to attend a private screening after having reserved seats for himself and guests under his own name using the freely available online procedure set up by the film's promoters. Shortly before the film started, a security guard told him that the producer Mark Mathis had instructed that Myers be removed from the premises. After telling his family of this Myers went to a nearby Apple store and blogged about his amusement that they had expelled him, but allowed his guest entry to see the film—British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, who had also been interviewed for the film under similar circumstances.WEB,weblink Pharyngula: EXPELLED!, 2008-03-23, PZ, Myers, 2008-03-20, There is a rich, deep kind of irony that must be shared. I'm blogging this from the Apple store in the Mall of America, because I'm too amused to want to wait until I get back to my hotel room. I went to attend a screening of the creationist propaganda movie, Expelled, a few minutes ago. Well, I tried… but I was Expelled!,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080322090750weblink">weblink 2008-03-22, dead, In a question and answer session at the end of the film Dawkins asked why Myers had been excluded, and later said that "if anyone had a right to see the film, it was [Myers]. The incompetence, on a public relations level, is beyond belief."WEB,weblink Biology prof expelled from screening of 'Expelled' - TwinCities.com, 2008-03-21, Chris, Hewitt, 2008-03-21, St. Paul Pioneer Press, The Pioneer Press, The saga has been described by Dawkins as "an incredible piece of inept public relations" on the part of the film's producers.Discussion on PZ Myers being expelled from Expelled {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090120212829weblink |date=2009-01-20 }}. The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. Retrieved March 22, 2008

Creation Museum visit

(File:PZ Myers (1).jpg|thumb|Myers at the Creation Museum)Myers's engagement as keynote speaker at the 2009 Secular Student Alliance Conference in Columbus, Ohio,WEB, Secular Student Alliance,weblink 2009-08-17, developed into an August 7, 2009, trip, in which 304 attendees visited the nearby Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky.WEB, A firebrand visits Creation Museum, Devin, Powell,weblink StarTribune.com, Star Tribune, Minneapolis, 2009-08-14, 2009-08-17, 2009-08-18,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090818143104weblink">weblink dead,

Appearances

Myers has been invited to speak about science, rationalism, or atheism at conferences, symposia, and other events.

• Secular Student Alliance Conference in Columbus, Ohio, 2009
• Glasgow Skeptics in the Pub, 2011WEB, PZ Myers on the Pharyngula at Glasgow Skeptics,weblinkweblink 2021-12-21, live, Glasgow Skeptics, 18 April 2014, {{cbignore}}
• Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne, Australia, 2012
• Reason Rally, 24 March 2012

In July 2013, Freethought Blogs organized an online virtual conference called FtBCon or FtB Conscience. Google+ Hangout software was used to enable real-time discussion around the world. Participants included all the Freethought Blog bloggers as well as Jeremy Beahan, Jamila Bey, Virginia Brown, Ania Bula, David Brin, Eneasz Brodski, Ian Bushfield, environmental blogger and author Chris Clarke, James Croft, Heina Dadabhoy, J. T. Eberhard, Daniel Fincke, Debbie Goddard, Julia Galef, Nicole Harris, Rebecca Hensler, scientist and blogger Greg Laden, Robin Marty, science artist & blogger Glendon Mellow, Aoife O'Riordan, Beth Presswood of The Atheist Experience, Kim Rippere, Amy Roth, Jacques Rousseau, Desiree Schell of Skeptically Speaking, David Silverman, Xavier Trapp, blogger Rebecca Watson, Eliezer Yudkowsky, scientist & blogger Bora Zivkovic, and others. The conference was free and took place over three days.WEB,weblink FtBCon 2013: Atheism with a conscience, 2013-06-21, 2013-07-21, Freethought Blogs,

Awards

Myers has received several awards for his activism and blogging.

• International Humanist Award (2011)WEB, IHEU Awards for 2011,weblink International Humanist and Ethical Union, 16 August 2013,
• Humanist of the Year award (2009) American Humanist Association
• Top-ranked blog written by a scientist (Nature science journal, 2006)

See also

• Antitheism
• Conflict thesis

{{clear}}

References

{{reflist|30em}}

External links

{{sisterlinks}}Official

• Pharyngula – Official blog

Interviews/Presentations

• Minnesota Citizens for Science Education
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070927005655weblink">Interview with PZ Myers (January 26, 2007) on The Inoculated Mind
• Poll Crashers Tilt Unscientific Polls Their Way
• PZ Myers – Global Atheist Convention 2010

{{New Atheism}}{{Authority control}}