Arguably America’s most highly qualified and personable astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, and science communicator…(to give the short list of his credentials), Neil deGrasse Tyson, posted a short, informative tweet on December 25th of this year, which caused an uproar in the Twitter sphere or Sphere of the Twits. Tyson’s ‘controversial’ message reads as follows:
“On this day long ago, a child was born who, by age 30, would transform the world. Happy Birthday Isaac Newton b. Dec 25, 1642.
Well! Christians (the kind who do not tolerate “Happy Holidays” when you are perhaps greeting a member of the Jewish or Muslim religion) went bat-poop crazy! After much maligning and many hostile tweets – in total 62,000 both good and bad on the very first day, the dimpled science guy tweeted the following, explaining his choice of Newton for a December 25 post.
“Everybody knows that Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th. I think fewer people know that Isaac Newton shares the same birthday. Christmas day in England – 1642. And perhaps even fewer people know that before he turned 30, Newton had discovered the laws of motion, the universal law of gravitation, and invented integral and differential calculus. All of which served as the mechanistic foundation for the industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries that would forever transform the world.”
DeGrasse Tyson continued, explaining that his reasons were anything but anti-Christian.
“My sense in this case is that the high rate of re-tweeting, is not to share my enthusiasm of this fact, but is driven by accusations that the tweet is somehow anti-Christian. If a person actually wanted to express anti-Christian sentiment, my guess is that alerting people of Isaac Newton’s birthday would appear nowhere on the list.”“Some even called for me to delete the tweet. But instead, earlier today, I tweeted this: “Imagine a world in which we are all enlightened by objective truths rather than offended by them.”
De-Grasse Tyson went on to explain that while this post was not about Jesus, he has made reference to Jesus in the past, which did not accrue anywhere near the number of tweets (62,000 the first day) nor controversy.
Here is one:
“Some claim the USA is a Christian nation, compelling me to wonder which assault rifle Jesus would choose: the AR-15 or AK-47.” Posted September 7, 2014, that one garnered 13,000 re-tweets. So I can honestly say that I don’t understand the breadth and depth of reaction to the Newton tweet, relative to all my other tweets over the years.In any case, I’m happy to see that many people liked my “Santa knows Physics” tweet from Christmas day:
“Santa knows Physics: Of all colors, Red Light penetrates fog best. That’s why Benny the Blue-nosed reindeer never got the gig”
if the strident critics would do a ten minute Wiki search they would learn the reason why the birth of Christ is celebrated on December 25th, and why it has nothing to do with his actual day of birth. For his efforts to educate and amuse, Tyson received many posts such as the following:
One emotional poster produced an eye-catching post utilizing all-caps, to fill in all of the space available with just two words. “F***Y***”
“Neil deGrasse Tyson sends out tweets mocking Christmas. Big brave scientist atheist pokes fun on holiday.#CosmosJerk”
“You know that obnoxious Atheist friend who’s 12 times as preachy as a televangelist? Throw in a cheesy mustache. That’s Neil deGrasse Tyson.”
“Proselytizing atheist with a mustache ruins Christmas”
(Pardon. Tyson has never solicited money like a televangelist. The mustache is subjective and 125 words are hardly ‘preachy’)
“DeGrasse-Tyson is less of a scientist and more of annoying atheist crusader these days.”
* This was crusading? lots of folks are born on December 24th and 25th, can we not mention them if their accomplishments somehow equal those of Sir Isaac Newton, without being accused of being a ‘recruiter’ for the atheist cause. It strikes me that atheists are the non-joiners of the religious world, least likely to recruit, be recruited or turn up for an early morning meeting.
“famous #atheist #atheism believers include neil degrasse tyson, josef stalin, and adolf hitler #GodIsGood #GodCrew
(This one clearly doesn’t know his Hitler as well as he believes he does)
Matt Dawson @SaintRPh
@neiltyson “Fun fact: Isaac Newton was a Creationist. Where’s your God now Neil?”
Isaac Newton lived in the 17th century. Besides, Tyson isn’t fighting the God vs science battle. Did I miss that part, or are only some of these people engaged in it?
@BloodintheBlue @neiltyson @joerogan “Amazing clowns like this can insult my savior. Yet if I say “merry Christmas” it’s viewed as insensitive or insulting”
(The persecution is powerful with this one)
“You piece of poop, how dare you blaspheme a holy day for millions. When it’s Mohammed’s Birthday will you do the same thing?” <groan>
* Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, and science communicator. He is currently the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space and a research associate in the department of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History.
From 2006 to 2011, he hosted the educational science television show NOVA ScienceNow on PBS and has been a frequent guest on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Real Time with Bill Maher. Since 2009, he has hosted the weekly radio show Star Talk.
In 2014, Tyson hosted Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, a sequel to Carl Sagan’s Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1980) television series.