Below are some of the encouraging emails I've gotten, and some of the negative ones. I've left out parts, and in particular have left out any identifying information. The contrast in tone between positive and negative is quite striking. I wouldn't trade my supporters for the Administration's, even though they are less numerous.
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Do not let the thought police shut you down.
The left-wing media always tries to skew the truth.
Keep fighting the fight for critical thinking!
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Just wanted to send a quick note letting you know it's refreshing to see people challenge the prevailing culture in academia. I understand your constraints and appreciate your resolve.
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Just a note of encouragement in a dark time.
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I recently read about the controversy involving you and Indiana University and thought I would take the time to reach out.c Congratulations on speaking truth to power. There are so few in America today who have the courage to do so. Bravo!
Keep up the good work and take good care of yourself. ***
Just heard about you via a YouTube channel I subscribe to...I live and go to school in Canada ...I wish there were more academics like you up here. To say academia here adheres to a ‘progressive’ ideology would be an understatement. It’s especially chilling in the social sciences.
I am sure that a professor at my soon to be grad school is ignoring my request to be my thesis advisor ...
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SO sick of you stupid small minded boomers! WHEN WILL YOU DIE hopefully soon
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also go hang yourself in your garage yo
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Horrible human being. God will punish you.
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Actually don’t take care. Get hit by a bus.
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why u so ugly :/
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I am a high school math teacher. I am conservative in my views and I am surrounded by “unlike-minded” colleagues.
I may not agree with you…that is my right. I might agree completely…again that is my right. But either way, you are well within your rights to speak your views.
Thank you for the “rebuttal” to the accusations and standing your ground. I was proud of my alma mater for supporting your right to freedom of speech although I was saddened that the Provost felt the need to try to malign your character. Most things, taken out of context, can be twisted into something very misleading which is what appears to have happened.
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Eric – God bless you, stay strong, keep your voice as loud as you can. There are way more of us out there than you realize (in fact, just enough to elect a President like DJT!). We just need to stand up, and push back, as you have.
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I know it has been some time since we last spoke / wrote, but I wanted to reach out after seeing all the news regarding your "kertuffle".
... I do not recall witnessing any of your purported bigoted actions or statements in either setting.
Your G406 class... were quite formative. They caused me to think more critically in my own analysis and research. It would be dissapointing if other BEPP students neglect to take your class, or engage with you in any manner for that matter, because of this kertuffle.
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Good luck against the slings and arrows of outrageous reporting! I've bookmarked your "lessons learned" page. The more all of us who value academic freedom can learn from your experience, the better.
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This is just to express support and dismay. It is a deeply disturbing case, showing again that intolerance has gained power at many US universities. May you get through this nonsense soon and unscathed.
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We do not know what to do other than pray people come to their senses. This is an unbelievable situation and shows how we have taught a group of young people that feelings outweigh facts and hate is the appropriate response to opposing views.
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It is not from my disgust alone that i say this though. I noticed that your tweet, for example contained one too many typographical errors, for example, which a true intellectual would have most certainly caught prior to sending it off into the world. That was embarrassing enough for you. Then, I noticed a post of yours from awhile ago, concerning a transgender person & their teacher’s protest to a name policy. I find it absolutely, mind-numbingly, insanely hilarious that you claim to be an intellectual, yet fail to understand that data implies that transgender children are not confused or wrong about their self-reported gender (as early as 2-3 yrs). Nor are transgender children just engaging in imaginative play. No one is “rejecting” their “birth gender”. That statement is as insensitive as it is unscientific. It’s just plain incorrect! You are an embarrassment to IU, to males, to America, & to yourself & whomever is stupid enough to still be part of your family. You are not as intelligent as you think. You are simply arrogant & privileged enough to have had enough resources to achieve what you had wished. Remember this Eric: those who can, DO!
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Dearest Eric. God bless you and yours, brother. Your example of faith has always helped and encouraged me. We are praying for you! Much love.
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how are u still employed u misogynistic fool
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All this emotional ranting, yet not one person decided to refute the claims. It's almost as if the original tweet was right.
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Ok boomer
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Shut up nerd
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Wearing my #FemaleGenius hoodie to support the @IUBloomington Women in Business group, who sold them to protest the racist, sexist, and homophobic stances of professor Eric Rasmussen (@erasmuse).
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Resign boomer
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I hadnt heard of you before Mr Sachs' tweet. I didnt care enough to look any of those cases up. But since you provided a link, i poked around a bit. I think you got a bad rap. Glad to read it seems to be dying down. Stay up sir!
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U may indeed be a serial killer, I know by your racist tweets sociopathy is probably something you're familiar with. Comments about AA not being able to attend upper-crust universities is laughable, my daughter has an IQ of 146. Your ppl created the environment for that anyway.
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You make 200K and we pay your salary. You shouldn’t have turned year. My oldest daughter had you and she told me things that I couldn not believe IU didn’t fired you then. My youngest is at Kelley school as a freshmen and she doesn’t have you. Your karma says a lot about you.
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You're stupid...There isn't any reason to argue with someone like yourself. Racist, Bigoted and Homophobic??? Why are you even still employed. Oh yeah, you're an OLD WHITE racist, bigoted and homophobic dude.
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What do Eric Rasmussen and Trump have in common? Both are deplorable humans.
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@erasmuse where and when are your office hours? I am an IU professor and I have the right to come and see you to talk about IU-related matters. Like: why a jerk like you should not teach at IU.
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Dr. @erasmuse allowed my family to use his home -- though he had never met us -- on a visit to Bloomington some years ago.
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So proud of you, Eric. I was off Twitter myself a bit and was shocked to see you plucked out for the firing line as a victim of social justice egalitarian mania.
Glad that you realize this is a situation where one must go on offense and not apologize. You did nothing wrong.
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Cold hearted swine.... Taking notes Eric I see....
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I enjoyed your article on the Unz Review.
I’m an IU grad but was never lucky enough to have you as a teacher. I am inspired by your candor and your courage.
You probably have many more supporters than you know.
With kind regards,
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You do not deserve the scorn and vitriol being directed at you and your family. It is appalling watching my alma mater cave to the left-wing crowd and their faculty enablers who demand absolute conformance to one ideology. I pray that you continue to stand strong in your beliefs, both religious and intellectual. You are not alone! Though I do not necessarily agree with everything you say, America is a bastion of freely-expressed ideas from across the spectrum. We are abandoning the founding values of our nation when we begin policing thought in the same way that IU is now attempting to censor you.
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Enlightening those children posing as adults (the IU administrators, not so much the students) must be a grind, but please do hang in there. Your fearless and refreshing voice of reason is being heard and welcomed by many beyond the classroom. Such clear and concise words as yours are desperately needed.
Besides that, you have singlehandedly restored my hope that my alma mater may still graduate some students (yours) who understand logical reasoning and thereby are prepared to succeed in the world. There was a time - in my father’s (BS ’48) and grandfather’s (ME ’14) generations - when IU stood as an example of such. However, its lurch toward the far left in recent decades has driven our family toward other institutions. Your example of standing firm through this passing storm is of inestimable value to all.
Sincere Regards and Best Wishes
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It's refreshingly pleasing to witness a man of knowledge such as yourself speaking out against the hypocrisy that the world abounds in today. I feel your views on gender equality and slavery etc. are profoundly convincing.
I would be most interested to learn your thoughts on the monotheistic religion of Islam.
Kind regards
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Keep fighting the Good fight Professor. That is all.
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Good evening Professor. I am sending this from my personal email, I didn't bother to create a fake one.
I wanted you to know that... and I heard about your current kerfuffle from him - he supports you fully.
Much like the email I sent to Amy Wax at UPenn, I wanted you to know that you have the support of many for using your intellect and not caving to the thought police....
I guess people assume that as a non-white professional, I would be a liberal and support affirmative action wholly and unabashedly. Its sad that I cannot even dare to speak out against those who wish to eradicate free speech and the like.
Anyways, I digress and just wanted to let you know that you are far from alone. Stay strong and keep a stiff upper lip.
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Hope you die of testicular cancer
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Eric, It is distressing that an ignorant bigot such as you appear to be, cannot be immediately dismissed from any and all positions on the IU Bloomington campus. Your views are antithetical to a free, informed and open society. I will of course keep you informed whenever I find myself at the top of the stairs of the Sears tower in Chicago so as to avoid being there at the same time as you. It would be a shame if you tripped. That would not be good at all.
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Please retire and save the university the shame associated with employing a racist and bigoted jerk like yourself.
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Your latest 'news' underscores what tenure is for!
Gotta say, I am sick of the snowflakes and PC and relative truths and dumbing students down and safe spaces and lack of critical thinking and attacks on academic freedom et al, ad nauseaum.
Keep fighting the good fight. I admire you being brave to teach what you understand students need to hear. And discuss. And debate. And analyze. And research. And on it goes . . .
Hope you won't be hearing about me in the news any time soon as I am sans tenure.
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You have so much support.
Don’t give in.
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In a way, seeing your tweets was refreshing, but only briefly; like drinking vinegar, thirst is replaced with another discomfort. It made me self-conscious of my own experience as a college student (junior in electrical engineering). I’m afraid to say anything remotely political. Heck, I post online under an alias for fear of a professor finding my profile and grading me unfairly for it.
“Mr. Montag, you are looking at a coward. I saw the way things were going a long time back. I said nothing. I am one of the innocents who could have spoken up and out when no one would listen to the 'guilty,' but I did not speak and thus became guilty myself.”
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Hello Professor,
I graduated from IU in '09. I read wrongthink pieces from sites like UNZ quite often these days. As a Catholic and generally conservative person, I don't think I could survive at IU in 2019, even though it has only been a decade.
The reaction to your tweet has been laughable, but not surprising. Endless virtue signalling from useless university administrators, diversity officers, and other bureaucratic bores is a given these days. I'm sure the campus woke politics response team is already scheduling solidarity workshops and the like to combat your mere presence.
Keep up the good work, and I'll be praying for you.
Cheers,
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I'm amazed you were given your highschool diploma, let alone a PhD and a job.
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Hello, Professor Rasmusen.
I just wanted to express my gratitude for your courage, like that of Daniel. I've been working as an IT staff at a state university for over a decade now, and it's always been awkward to passively take in the waves of decadence and puritanical rhetorics from our secular members of the institution. I hope to be able to stand my ground of faith when challenged like you. As Japanese say, Ganbatte [in the Lord]!
The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace. - Numbers 6:24-26
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I saw the vitriol directed towards you. Being an alumni of the Kelly School of Business I was particularly dishearten to see the animus directed towards you for your insightful observations. The value of the US academic tenure system lies in the freedom of our most intellectually talented individuals to peer beyond the normative group-think culture in order to help students develop critical thinking skills to judge evidence for themselves. They in turn help society advance towards greater levels of understanding via thousands of discussions with their peers at the school, which in turn cascade outward to ever expanding circles of people.
My hope is that you continue to shine as a beacon of academic freedom at IU, and stay fearless in your pursuit of truth, no matter how the prevailing fancies of the day attempt to stifle your efforts to spur your students to think for themselves.
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Keep up the good fight! I’ve read the Book: we win!
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Keep the fight for First Amendment alive!
I don’t agree with your views except our desire to ensure free speech and academic freedom! You should be able to speak your mind without fearing that you will lose your livelihood; that has a chilling effect on speech.
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Though we have never contacted or met, I just wanted to share with you that I am familiar with the slander of your name that is occurring on this campus. I support you in this time and have great respect for the way you've handled this thus far. ***
I laud your integrity in expressing sentiments that many people share, but are too afraid to utter aloud. The current position you find yourself in is all too familiar. In South Africa, where I live, there are almost daily denunciations in the media of anyone who even dares to say what may be considered racist, sexist or against popular belief. Universities in South Africa are just as quick to silence any research perceived as offensive.
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You're probably inundated with mail, so I will only say thank you. I don't agree with everything you seem to believe, but by God, you have the right to believe whatever you wish. And talk about it until you're blue in the face.
This cancel/woke culture is insidious and unbelievably hypocritical. The malicious leading the stupid.
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When I first read Lauren's message, I thought good for her standing
for what is right.
Then, I saw mention of your kerfuffle (I like that term) in a daily
blast I get about Indy Politics...there was a link to your rebuttal
page. I spent the last hour cruising through your points.
I'm coming to the conclusion that yes indeed, you are the victim of
being a lone conservative in academia and being just lambasted for
such by the liberal IU PC Police.
Your words and actions are being completely twisted by those who do
not like the *facts* you espouse...nor links to other viewpoints.
I'm sorry for what you are enduring, and I thank you for being
you. It's a lone road you're traveling because conservatives lost
their freedom to express views to the PC Police years ago. A little
freedom was gained back with Trump at the helm, but no, there are
plenty of situations conservatives still have to keep mouths shut for
fear of what I call "resortists." That would be people who resort to
name calling, social pressure, and fact twisting when they can't come
up with logical points to back their beliefs.
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I may not agree with everything you have said or written, but I firmly believe that you should have the right to express your religious and political convictions without fear of public shaming campaigns or harassment by university officials and student organizations. I think that the various movements obsessed on political correctness are pushing societies towards a very dangerous path. Public shaming is one form of dehumanization, and dehumanization by public shaming is almost without exception the first step towards genocide, the first step towards a tyranny from which, in the end, no one will be safe.
Best wishes from Finland!
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"But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. 'Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.' but in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." 1 Peter 3:14-15 ***
As a philosopher and a free thinker, when I heard and read about the farce you find yourself in, I empathized.
I see you are handling it calmly and intelligently. Good for you!
Hang in there!
BTW, I loved the article on women in academia. I wish I had the courage to post it! I will instead post another photo of my dog. :-)
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You should walk tall. Nothing to apologize for. I’m sorry you have to suffer from the mob. ***
I am an undergraduate student who attends Indiana University in Bloomington. There are many topics I could explore, but I will not spend time diving into it for a simple email. I wanted to message you to let you know that I do not agree with some of the things you say, such as: "I am on record as saying that homosexuals should not teach grade and high school. I don't think they should be Catholic priests or Boy Scout leaders either." But, that said, I do understand your logic on many of your expressed topics. I am female, and IU's leaders do not speak for me. I would not be worried about taking your course in the slightest. Thank you for fighting back against people who do not dig at things. ***
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