Subsequent to the decline of the New Atheism movement, the atheist PZ Myers wrote, "History will not remember me...".[1]
In July 2017, after being a vocal supporter of the New Atheism movement, Myers renounced the New Atheism movement.[2] Concerning formerly being a supporter of the New Atheism movement, Myers said in 2019: "...I was naive and stupid".[3]
Google trends data for monthly Google searches for the term "PZ Myers"
See also: Google trends - Atheism and agnosticism terms and Internet atheism
Google Trends shows how often a particular search-term is entered relative to the total search-volume. It provides Google search volume data across various regions of the world, and in various languages.
Below is a Google trends data graph related to monthly Google searches for the term "PZ Myers".
Public response to PZ Myers' loss of influence
Reddit atheism contributors on PZ Myers' loss of influence
See also: Reddit atheism and Atheism and women and Atheism and rape and Atheism and sexism and Reddit atheism contributors on PZ Myers' loss of influence
A contributor to Reddit atheism wrote about PZ Myers' loss of influence:
- "it seems to me that his influence has waned. If I ever do hear about him, it's usually unfortunate circumstances. The last time I recall hearing about him was when he apparently accused Michael Shermer of rape. And now it's stories about how much of a dick he has become, especially after his less-than-sensitive handling of Robin Williams' recent suicide."[4]
See also: PZ Myers on the death of Robin Williams
Another contributor to Reddit atheism wrote about PZ Myers' loss of influence:
| “ | He did a few debate/talk things, but things really took a turn for the worse with the so called "Elevatorgate", and the banning of Thunderfoot from their blog.
If you go on PZ's blog now and disagree with anything PZ says in the comments, you will be attacked by a pack of rabid hyenas defending every word PZ has ever uttered. Your views will be misrepresented, your quotes taken out of context and they will paint you as being sexist, racist, and whatever else they can think of. I've never encountered a place so hostile to dissenting opinions, which is shocking for an atheist/skeptic blog.[5] |
” |
See also: Atheism and social skills and Atheism and groupthink
Freedom From Atheism Foundation supporters on PZ Myers' loss of influence
See also: Freedom From Atheism Foundation and Atheism and arrogance and Atheism and narcissism
Freedom From Atheism Foundation supporters on PZ Myers' loss of influence:
| “ | Jonathon Smith: He was irrelevant long before 2017, he made a desperate Hail Mary attempt with that attack piece on Robin Williams after his death, probably trying to channel Christopher Hitchens in an attempt to salvage his failing blog, and has been almost universally hated since. He has fallen so far that he is actually doing some long overdue self-reflection, though based on his latter day writings, is still a self-important, self-righteous douche.
Cesar Morales: Pride parades before they all fall. Daniel Ortiz: Good... he is irrelevant Grey Ligamore: I'd like to think I'm quite educated on major atheist spokespersons. But I've never heard of this guy... Purusha Dasa: PZ who? Kevin Rickard: Who’s PZ Myers?[7] |
” |
See also: Freethought Blogs and Internet atheism and Alexa rankings of Richard Dawkins' website
Freethought Blogs is a spinoff of ScienceBlogs launched by PZ Myers and Ed Brayton.
Web traffic of Freethought Blogs dramatically declines from June 2019 to September 2019
On June 23, 2019, Freethought Blogs was the 90,953th most popular website in the world according to Alexa, but by September 23, 2019 Freethought Blogs was merely the 170,112th most popular website in the world according to Alexa.
Web traffic of Freethought Blogs: July 2015 to March 2019
Alexa is a web traffic tracking company. In 2015 and 2016, Freethought Blogs saw a large decrease in its Alexa ranking.
PZ Myers' caustic commentary on the suicide of comedian Robin Williams
See also: PZ Myers on the death of Robin Williams
In August 2014, very shortly after the suicide of the popular, American comedian/actor Robin Williams, the atheist PZ Myers made a callous and socially/emotionally tone-deaf blog post on the matter compounded by him subsequently indicating in the blog post comment section that he should have been "more rude".[8]
PZ Myer's blog post on the death of Robin Williams
To see the PZ Myers' blog post about the suicide of Robin Williams, please see:
An excerpt of PZ Myers' blog post is given below:
| “ | [Robin Williams'] sacrifice has been a great boon to the the news cycle and the electoral machinery — thank God that we have a tragedy involving a wealthy white man to drag us away from the depressing news about brown people. I mean, really: young 18 year old black man gunned down for walking in the street vs. 63 year old white comedian killing himself? Which of those two stories gives you an excuse to play heart-warming and funny video clips non-stop on your 24 hour news channel? [...]
Boy, I hate to say it, but it sure was nice of Robin Williams to create such a spectacular distraction. No one wants to think the police might be untrustworthy. And think of the politicians! Midterm elections are coming up. Those are important! So people like Barack Obama need to be able to show their human side and connect with the real concerns of the American people by immediately issuing a safe, kind statement about Robin Williams, while navigating the dangerous shoals of police brutality and black oppression by avoiding them.[9] |
” |
Public reaction to Myers' post on the suicide of Robin Williams
Atheist Jerry Coyne's reaction to PZ Myers' commentary on the death of Robin Williams
Fellow atheist and evolutionist Jerry Coyne wrote in response to Myers' commentary on the suicide of Robin Williams:
| “ | This is one of the most contemptible and inhumane things I've ever seen posted by a well-known atheist. It reeks of arrogance, of condescension, and especially of a lack of empathy for those who loved and admired Williams not because they knew him, but because he brought them happiness and made them think.[10] | ” |
Myers was angry because he felt that the news of Robins Williams death was crowding out the news story of the African-American Michael Brown who was shot by a police officer (a race riot subsequently ensued).[11]
Christian commentary on PZ Myers' reaction to the death of Robin Williams
- On Robin Williams’s Death, a Revealing Dispute Between Atheist-Evolutionist Spokesmen by David Klinghoffer
- Jerry Coyne Lashes Out at PZ Myers at Shadow To Light blog
DailyBanter.com commentary on PZ Myers' reaction to the death of Robin Williams
An excerpt from Bob Cesca's at the DailyBanter.com about PZ Myers' commentary on the suicide of Robin Williams:
| “ | Myers went on to include a racist Facebook post about Ferguson and suggested that the poster is probably a fan of Mork & Mindy and Williams' film What Dreams May Come.
How the hell is it Robin Williams' fault that the news media covered his suicide perhaps with more attention than the terrible events in Ferguson? More importantly, in what twisted universe can a suicide precipitated by depression and perhaps addiction be described as a "distraction?" Of course it isn't, but to even partially blame such a thing on Williams is deliberately caustic for the sake of being caustic. There's no evidence that the news media gave preferential treatment to the Williams story due to any racial bias or for the sake of distracting from Ferguson, any more than, say, President Obama ordered airstrikes in Iraq to distract from Benghazi. Speaking of which, to attack Obama of all people for issuing a statement about Williams before a statement Brown due to political expedience is shockingly ignorant. Inserting a media conspiracy theory into the mix is even worse. It dishonors both the mourning of Williams and the mourning of Brown, transforming the dual events into a personal hobby horse -- a distraction in and of itself. I'm not aware of any serious voices other than Myers who have so crudely shoehorned the coverage of these events into a one-on-one competition.[12] |
” |
Friendly Atheist blog reaction to PZ Myers' commentary on the death of Robin Williams
Myers was criticized by one of the bloggers at Hemant Mehta's blog The Friendly Atheist due to his "his heartless, classless body blow to the still-warm corpse of Robin Williams."[11] In addition, Myers' hypocrisy was pointed out as he had made no blog posts previously about the Michael Brown matter and additionally Myers a day earlier, made "a substance-free 15-word post whose main attraction was a photo of a cute bulldog puppy."[11]
Richard Dawkins' Twitter post on PZ Myers' commentary on the death of Robin Williams
Atheist Ireland publicly dissociating itself from PZ Myers
See also: PZ Myers and social justice and Atheism and social justice and PZ Myers and politics
The Irish atheist Michael Nugent wrote to PZ Myers in September 2014:
| “ | Some of the content of your blog is hurtful and unjust in itself, it also undermines the effectiveness of attempts to promote compassion and empathy and social justice, and it is additionally harmful because of your prominence as a perceived spokesperson for organised atheism...
PZ, is this really how you want to be remembered? Having defended you against unjust attacks from others, I am now asking you to take a long hard look at what you are doing, consider apologising to people who you have unjustly hurt and defamed, and start focusing on actually promoting compassion and empathy and social justice if those ideas are important to you.[13] |
” |
In April 2015, Atheist Ireland announced, "Atheist Ireland is publicly dissociating itself from the hurtful and dehumanising, hateful and violent, unjust and defamatory rhetoric of the atheist blogger PZ Myers."[14] The atheist biologist Massimo Pigliucci said of Myers, "one cannot conclude this parade without mentioning P.Z. Myers, who has risen to fame because of a blog where the level of nastiness (both by the host and by his readers) is rarely matched anywhere else on the Internet...".[15]
Due to its notability requirements, the website Wikipedia® (which was founded by an atheist and agnostic), does not make mention of any specific accomplishments PZ Myers may have achieved in the area of social justice. Wikipedia does mention the social justice accomplishments of Christians such as William Wilberforce, Harriet Beecher Stowe and others.
See also
References
- ↑ Apparently, the atheist PZ Myers recognizes that the New Atheism movement failed and that the 21st century is going to be a century of desecularization, Examining Atheism
- ↑
- Chronology of misrepresentations and smears in the atheist movement by PZ Myers and others by Michael Nugent on November 4, 2014
- Comes a Horseman by PZ Myers • 13 October 2009
- PZ Myers, Animal Lover, Atheism Neat by Matt Cavanaugh
- The New Atheism is dead. Long live atheism.
- ↑ The train wreck that was the New Atheism by PZ Myers, Freethoughtblogs.com, January 25, 2019
- ↑ What happened to PZ Myers?, Reddit atheism
- ↑ What happened to PZ Myers?, Reddit atheism
- ↑ Freedom From Atheism Foundation Facebook page
- ↑ Freedom From Atheism Foundation supporters on PZ Myers' loss of influence
- ↑ Robin Williams brings joy to the hearts of journalists and politicians once again
- ↑ Robin Williams brings joy to the hearts of journalists and politicians once again by PZ Myers
- ↑ On Robin Williams's Death, a Revealing Dispute Between Atheist-Evolutionist Spokesmen
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 P.Z. Myers is (Surprise!) Unmoved By Suicide of “Wealthy White” Robin Williams
- ↑ PZ Myers Says It Was 'Nice of Robin Williams to Create Such A Spectacular Distraction' by Bob Cesca
- ↑ The LBJ legend and my email to PZ Myers by Michael Nugent on September 19, 2014
- ↑ Atheist Ireland publicly dissociates itself from the harmful and hateful rhetoric of PZ Myers by Michael Nugent, April 7, 2015
- ↑ Reflections on the skeptic and atheist movements By Massimo Pigliucci Scientia Salon, Posted: May 13, 2015