Neil Degrasse Tyson Responds To Christmas Twitter Controversy

Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Christmas tweets stirred up controversy on the social media site, but on Friday night, when the astrophysicist returned to the internet to respond to the angry and offended responses, he wasn’t offering any apologies. Instead, he stood by his statements, calling them objective truths, and ruminating about a world in which people choose to be enlightened, rather than offended.

On Christmas morning, Neil sent out four tweets related to the holiday. The tweets made reference to, respectively, many people in the world not celebrating Christmas, Isaac Newton’s birth, the Pagan origins of modern Christmas celebrations, and the physics of Rudolph’s nose.

Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Christmas tweets:

The tweets — yes, even the one about Rudolph — received a less-than-cheerful response. Tyson was accused of trying to spoil the holiday, attacking Christianity, and lying to become famous. He was told he was going to Hell, and called names too vulgar to repeat here.

Friday evening, though, Tyson returned to Twitter to comment on the response he’d received.

It didn’t put an end to the vitriol toward the Cosmos star. If anything, the negative comments intensified.

Neil was called a ‘coward’ and ‘bully,’ told he should pick on religions besides Christianity, and told that he’s clearly not objective, or he’d accept the evidence of near-death experiences. He was also told to shut up (sometimes in terms too vulgar to reproduce here) There were also numerous references to the changes in science as we gain new information, and what may have been a veiled accusation that Neil is a cult leader.

A sampling follows:

It’s not too likely that Tyson will back down in the face of this backlash, though, given that he didn’t reconsider or offer apologies or explanations to the first round of vitriol. It’s also notable that Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Christmas tweets didn’t ever directly reference Christianity — only the modern celebration of Christmas, and one famed scientist.

[Photo: BD Engler]

This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: Neil Degrasse Tyson Responds To Christmas Twitter Controversy

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