Mirecki Attack: What Happened?

Given the contents of Prof. Mirecki's press release, it now seems likely that he is not going to provide any more details on the alleged attack to the general public and is not going to answer reporters' questions. Given the seriousness of the event he describes and his allegations, and the amount of speculation in the blogosphere, this seems irresponsible to me. In order to evaluate the events reasonably, we would need to know more details. Even if Mirecki's account is 100% accurate, more details are essential to evaluating the events fairly.

My main question when I first heard about the story was why he got out of his car. That is not what I would do if I had just been tailgated by a pickup truck containing two strange men in predawn darkness. I cannot imagine a reasonable person doing so. But what if only one person got out of the truck initially? What if words were exchanged, and Mirecki said some of the insulting and offensive things he said in his emails? What if Mirecki threw the first punch? What if the second man in the truck only came out to help his friend after Mirecki started a fight?

The harsh rhetoric condemning the "Christian" thugs who did this are inappropriate at this juncture, as are the assertions that Mirecki made the whole thing up. I think we all need to reserve judgment until more details are known. I hope more details will be forthcoming.

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If you are interested in more detail on Mirecki's background, there is a biographical article here. Some might be surprised to learn that he attended Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, which I understand is a mainstream evangelical school, before going to Harvard.

A more recent LJWorld.com article can be found here, his full press release is here, and the recent Kansas University statement can be found here.