Conservative critic known for inflammatory speech / LJWorld.com

Archive for Saturday, December 3, 2005

December 3, 2005

John Altevogt, the conservative activist and digital message board contributor who has been one of the sharpest critics of Kansas University professor Paul Mirecki for the teacher's jabs at Catholics and religious fundamentalists, also has a penchant for barbed commentary.

As is common on many Internet message boards, Altevogt frequently resorts to invective and derision to describe those with whom he disagrees. He has called a message board sparring partner "nazi." He once referred to then First Lady Hillary Clinton as "Hitlary."

Andrew Stangl, president of KU's Society of Open-Minded Atheists and Agnostics, a group targeted by Altevogt in some of his comments, said he doesn't know what the conservative activist is trying to accomplish. Altevogt has called the student society a hate group.

"He just seems like a very hateful individual who can't really make convincing arguments," Stangl said.

But Altevogt said he stood by his statements - some made when he was a student and perhaps teaching assistant at KU.

"You will not find where I started denouncing people for race or religion or group affiliation," he said.

Some of his inflammatory message board postings were made while he attended KU in the early 1990s as a graduate student in the sociology department. He worked for the university as a teaching assistant some of that time.

Altevogt, in a 1994 posting to a discussion board, talked about an article he'd read and took a poke at Hillary Clinton.

"This is an excellent article for those of you who can access it, since the network propaganda pigs tend to avoid saying anything negative about Hitlary."

In another posting in 1996, Altevogt talked to another discussion board member who was defending comments by writer Andrei Codrescu:

"The subtle distinction you're missing Nazi-boy is that there's a difference between being taken to heaven by god, and wishing that people would die because you disagree with them, and moreover stating that the world would be a better place as a result of their deaths. The fact that you don't understand that distinction is why I correctly have identified both you and Codrescu as crypto-nazis. The last group that failed to make that subtle distinction slaughtered six million jews."

Altevogt said Clinton was a political figure and open to criticism.

As for his talk of Nazis, he said: "I have indeed referred to those who behave in a hateful manner to people based on their racial composition or their religious affiliation as "crypto-Nazi" and will continue to do so ... If opposing bigotry, intolerance and Nazism is a crime, I'm indeed guilty."

Evolution

Evolution in Kansas

References

Discovery Institute

Evolution timeline: Events related to the Kansas controversy

U.S. District Court Ruling in Kitzmiller et al v. Dover Area School District (PDF)

Center for Science and Culture: A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism

Parody: Intelligent Design Society of Kansas

Mirecki press release (.pdf)

More evolution coverage

LJWorld.com's Evolution in Kansas coverage

Discussion

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3 December 2005
at 8:59 a.m.

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laughingatallofu (Anonymous) says…

Poor guy. Makes you wonder what goes on in his mind everyday.
3 December 2005
at 10:11 a.m.

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John1945 (Anonymous) says…

Boy, I wish I knew.
3 December 2005
at 10:25 a.m.

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John1945 (Anonymous) says…

Isn't it?
3 December 2005
at 11:03 a.m.

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laughingatallofu (Anonymous) says…

John seems to be enjoying the limelight.
3 December 2005
at 3:36 p.m.

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erichaar (Anonymous) says…

John Altevogt is a keen intellectual and staunch defender of historical American democracy. He is quick to indentify the real motives in others, good or bad, and he works as hard as anyone to fight the atrophy of our country's values.

What many of us in the majority fail to understand is the reasoning behind the push by some to abandon America's faith, values, integrity, and moral traditions. We need men like John Altevogt to help us see that our country so often gets shoved in the wrong direction.
3 December 2005
at 4:02 p.m.

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laughingatallofu (Anonymous) says…

I'll pass on John, thank you very much.
3 December 2005
at 5:42 p.m.

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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…

I really liked the patriotic music that accompanied erichaar's post. Was that a march?

3 December 2005
at 7:16 p.m.

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Densmore (Anonymous) says…

John:

I am glad that Mirecki will not teach the course.

Having said that, how will you capitalize on your fifteen minutes of fame? Can you bring people together, or are you only about calling folks Nazis?

I am looking for something conciliatory out of you now, Johnny. What would Christ have you do at this juncture?
3 December 2005
at 10:08 p.m.

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har_de_har_har (Anonymous) says…

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
3 December 2005
at 10:13 p.m.

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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
4 December 2005
at 12:26 p.m.

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Jamesaust (Anonymous) says…

“What many of us in the majority fail to understand…”

Majority? Huh?

“…behind the push by some to abandon America's faith, values, integrity, and moral traditions…”

Perhaps it is an attempt to FIND those values again after they have been stolen by those who have substituted their own beliefs for the eternal truth.

One of the disturbing arrivals of our times is the frequency of religious (or religion spouting) people to speak as if they've seen God's face. These people speak as if they've got God all figured out - under their control. These individuals proceed as if they've got utter confidence in their knowledge of God's will and proceed to mobilize the Church to fight for 'God's way.' They don't use God's Word to INFORM their thought and reflection but as a substitute for rationality. Those who disagree are - at best - morally and spiritually flawed.

Such teachings abandon the long Christian emphasis on the hiddenness of God - the God hidden from Moses' sight at the burning bush. God says 'I will be with you but I will not show you my face.' Man is limited. Man falls short of the fullness that is God. Man cannot by nature grasp God. As St. Paul empasizes our limited vision of God: 'Now I only see in part, then I will see fully.' As the Gospel of John says: 'No one has ever seen God.'

St. Augustine remarked: “If you think you understand, it isn't God.” God help those who lose modesty before God and claim certain moral knowlege of His views on the soiled affairs of this world.
4 December 2005
at 3:35 p.m.

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har_de_har_har (Anonymous) says…

People who seem to live in a constant state of vein-popping anger may want to consider this advice.
“The following are a few suggestions to assist with the achievement and maintenance of a healthy colon.

*Put your negative emotions in check
*Think positively when you eat
*Answer nature when she calls
* Figure out what causes you to become constipated and eliminate it from your life
*Drink at least 8-10 8 ounce glasses of room temperature water per day
* Drink liquids Â½ -1 hour prior to or after meals
*Chew food thoroughly *Increase your fiber intake
* Eat at least 4- - 6 servings of raw or slightly cooked vegetables and fruit daily
*add nuts and grains to your diet
*Eat freely of fruits that aid digestion and elimination such as pawpaw, mango, tamarind, figs, prunes and guava.”
http://tobagoshoppersonline.tripod.co…