KU Prof's Alleged Roadside Beating Raises Questions, Says Columnist
by Jim Brown
December 15, 2005
(AgapePress) - - A conservative columnist is questioning the veracity of an atheist University of Kansas professor's claim that he was brutally attacked on a rural road outside of Lawrence as a result of disparaging remarks he wrote about Christians. Paul Mirecki recently stepped down as chairman of KU's Religious Studies Department following an uproar over inflammatory comments he made in an e-mail message about creationists. Two days before the resignation, Mirecki alleged he was beaten up with a metal object by two white men in their 30s or 40s -- one wearing a red visor, and the other wearing wool gloves -- who were upset over his e-mail. But Townhall.com columnist and UNC-Wilmington professor Dr. Mike Adams says the account sounds "stereotypical."
Adams recounts Mirecki's story, which the UNC educator admits he finds difficult to believe. "He's claiming, of course, that he's heading out for an early breakfast at about 6 a.m.," Adams says, "[but] he's heading in the opposite direction from all the breakfast places in Lawrence, Kansas; he's heading out in the country.
"All of a sudden ... he's being tailgated [and] he decides to handle the situation by not speeding up, but by pulling over by the side of the road in the dark of night," Adams notes that this occurred about an hour before sunrise, and yet Mirecki supposedly "pulls over by the side of the road and jumps out of his car."
Adams also finds it suspicious that Mirecki was able to discern the color of an attacker's visor even though it was still dark outside of the time of the alleged attack. "This sounds to me like a classic Tawana Brawley or Kerri Dunn hoax," Adams offers. "I don't believe a word of it."
Dr. Adams says KU needs to find out if Mirecki fabricated the assault story. "Imagine for just a second that you had a white professor [who] showed some hostility or animus toward black people," Adams supposes, "and all of a sudden he's manufacturing stories of being beaten by the side of the road -- and he's doing so in very stereotypical terms."
The UNC professor continues: "Imagine that he said that two black males had attacked him and one of them had a gold tooth and the other one had a jam box over his shoulder and was holding an Uzi or something like that." According to Adams, if that were to be reported, "there's no doubt but that [individual] would be dismissed or given compulsory psychiatric treatment."
Adams says he is asking the KU discipline Mirecki for expressing bigotry toward religion the same as it would someone who expresses bigotry along the lines of gender, sexual orientation, or race. Professor Mireck turned down an interview with American Family Radio News for this story.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
