Richard Dawkins sues Josh Timonen

[Tank]

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/10/22/31283.htm

Finally he rumbled the little shit. This is sweet, so sweet!

[Velma]

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/10/22/31283.htm

Finally he rumbled the little shit. This is sweet, so sweet!

Must admit to a bit of schadenfreude upon hearing this.  

[Tank]

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/10/22/31283.htm

Finally he rumbled the little shit. This is sweet, so sweet!

Must admit to a bit of schadenfreude upon hearing this.   lol

[Velma]

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/10/22/31283.htm

Finally he rumbled the little shit. This is sweet, so sweet!

Must admit to a bit of schadenfreude upon hearing this.   lol

Okay, maybe more than a bit.  

[Sophus]

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/10/22/31283.htm

Finally he rumbled the little shit. This is sweet, so sweet!

Must admit to a bit of schadenfreude upon hearing this.   lol

A bit.... Dawkins dedicated his latest book to Josh. This is going to be ugly. What a shame. He's got talent too.

[Tank]

A bit.... Dawkins dedicated his latest book to Josh. This is going to be ugly. What a shame. He's got talent too.

Which one? Dawkins or Josh? Josh was/is an absolute wanker.

[Sophus]

A bit.... Dawkins dedicated his latest book to Josh. This is going to be ugly. What a shame. He's got talent too.

Which one? Dawkins or Josh? Josh was/is an absolute wanker.

Apparently so, which is why I was saying it's a shame Josh turned out to be a scumbag because he's also talented. It's going to be harder for him to find a job now.

EDIT: No wait. Invite him to Florida where he can run for governor on the Republican ticket.    (We have an embezzler running for governor presently)

[Tank]

Huge thread developing here http://www.rationalskepticism.org/news- ... ml#p532057 and Josh Timonen has joined up and joined in.

[hackenslash]

I'm trying to remain pragmatic. Having said that, unlike some, I didn't have over 10,000 posts summarily deleted. I do feel a bit of guilty pleasure.

url=http://www.rationalskepticism.org/news-politics/dawkins-sues-josh-timonen-t14455-400.html#p533322]hackenslash[/url]"]

Have you ever sat back and watched tons of people discuss lies about you?

Actually, most of the membership here have some experience of that, given some of the things that we were smeared with wholesale by you in the aftermath of the late unpleasantness, so yes, we understand completely.

It's horrible.

Indeed, especially when it isn't actually true, and the version of events published doesn't actually reflect what occured.

[Sophus]

Here's Josh's response:

The Ultimate Betrayal

It’s a sad, sad day today.  All I’ll say at this point is that the truth will prevail.  It won’t begin to fix the damage that’s been done, but the truth will prevail.  

With the internet, you can so easily spread outrageous lies, destroy someone’s reputation, self-worth and dignity, and not even have any evidence to back up your malicious attacks.  And it amazes me that so many people are so quick to spew venom about people and a situation they know nothing about.  Even after my name is cleared, the words and attacks will remain.  

A quick aside about the closing of the RichardDawkins.net forum:  I can understand that this decision was devastating to many of the forum users, and for that I am sorry.  It was never our intention to hurt anyone through that process, it was purely a political decision.  It’s frustrating to have been the fall-guy for this.  I am not Richard Dawkins, I am not the Richard Dawkins Foundation Board of Trustees, and I did not act independently.  This was a decision made by the organization, that I then executed.  I kept my mouth shut through all of the personal attacks to protect the foundation, and to not get personally involved.  The decisions that were made by RDF had nothing to do with my personal opinions or feelings on forums or content.  They were based solely on protecting Richard Dawkins, RDF, and their reputations.

This year has certainly been the darkest time of my life, the ultimate betrayal, and then the hordes of mostly-anonymous internet users decide to pile it on.  It’s making it very hard for me to see the light at the end of this tunnel, where I might regain some kind of hope for humanity, and find motivation again to dedicate my life to improving it in some small way.

I’ve never had irreconcilable enemies before, ever.  This is new for me.  I’ve never before been the target of a baseless vendetta.  But I’m dealing with it as sanely and calmly as I possibly can.  

I worked myself to the bone over the last four years to promote reason and science, hoping that my small role in this movement could affect some lasting positive change.  I refuse to let this smear campaign destroy me.  I created the Scarlet Letter “A” icon and its associated campaign to bring us all together, not tear us apart.  I hope to be able to continue on that mission.

This lawsuit is a joke, and completely ridiculous.  The accusations are baseless and unfounded.

I will be releasing a public statement soon through my legal team Costa Abrams & Coate, LLP.  

Josh Timonen

PS: I have registered on several forums under the name “joshtimonen” (rationalia, rationalskepticism, JREF, etc).  Yes, it’s me.

PPS: I should note that RDF have apparently removed my name off of articles that I wrote on RichardDawkins.net.  Both ‘Surviving Jesus Camp’ and ‘Expelled Overview’ say they were written by “The Richard Dawkins Foundation” and not me personally.  And they’ve also taken the line off of the website which stated “Designed by Josh Timonen”.  Lovely.  

It screams guilty to me.  

[spoiler:3debn47v]Maybe this'll make Josh drop by the Happy Atheist Forum.[/spoiler:3debn47v]

[Sophus]

So when do you think this story will hit mainstream news media? Nobody outside the atheist community is talking about this. EDIT: Now they are. I bet we see lots of talk about this on FOXy tomorrow.

This is my favorite comment from the RS website:

Here are a few suggested book titles for RD:

The Selfish Josh.
The Expensive Employee.
The Blind Employer.
Unweaving the RDF.
The Auditor's Tale.
The Josh Delusion.
The Greatest Blow to RDF: The Evidence for Embezzlement.

PZ Myers has just registered with the forum and gotten in on the fun too.

[Tank]

[youtube:uamzhui8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn1hFLtWFTM[/youtube:uamzhui8]

Done by one of the members at RatSkep

[SSY]

I LOVE it when people about whom an argument is raging, get involved. It's like pouring petrol on a fire. Surely this is the best thing about the internet?

[karadan]

Wow.

 :pop:

Ooooh:

[youtube:31lvpyx6]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrDUv3rPkmE[/youtube:31lvpyx6]

[Sophus]

Does the ugliness of Sam Harris' new book have something to do with atheists no longer hiring Josh Timonen?