The renowned astrophysicist, cosmologist and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson gave the internet a Christmas gift on December 25 by trolling Christians with a couple of jokes that they obviously did not take very well, with some even accusing deGrasse of insulting the holiday and the religion.
It all began innocently with his first harmless quip, which has probably been used by several comedians over the years.
QUESTION: ThIs year, what do all the world's Muslims and Jews call December 25th? ANSWER: Thursday
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2014
Then deGrasse decided to post a kind of an ode to the father of modern physics Isaac Newton. This tweet sparked an internet firestorm as it was retweeted more than 15,000 times in less than one hour.
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
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2014
The tweet not only hailed Newton, who was born on December 25, 1642, but also reiterated the fact that Jesus Christ almost definitely was not. While Christ’s birth date is not listed as December 25 in the New Testament, early theologians believed he was in fact born during the spring. The winter date as Christ’s birth date may have actually been adopted to coincide with existing pagan festivals, as part of the existing ruler’s attempt to convert non-Christians to Christianity.
This is exactly what deGrasse tried to communicate with his next tweet.
Merry Christmas to all. A Pagan holiday (BC) becomes a Religious holiday (AD). Which then becomes a Shopping holiday (USA).
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2014
Upset that deGrasse was taking jabs at Christmas, some believers and conservatives seemed to lose their temper over his tweets, fighting back with responses such as the following:
@AJDelgado13 @neiltyson Only a small & uncharitable man would take time on Xmas morning 2 take shots but Merry Christmas to you anyway Neil.
— Don Schaum (@don11cs) December 25, 2014
@neiltyson funny, I don't see u mocking Hanukkah anywhere in ur tweets. Did Christmas rape u or something?
— Haywood Jablome (@Rustynails1) December 25, 2014
However, these reactions did not deter deGrasse, who continued to post jokes about the Christian holiday.
Santa knows Physics: Of all colors, Red Light penetrates fog best. That's why Benny the Blue-nosed reindeer never got the gig
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2014
And of course, then the exchanges turned really ugly.
@neiltyson Your ego is even bigger than your ass and belly. Congratulations !
— Atakan İpekçi (@Atakanipekci) December 26, 2014
@neiltyson are you also gonna attack the Islam, Jewish, Buddhist faiths or are you a pussy and only gonna attack the easy target
— Dex (@ReyGoober) December 26, 2014
deGrasse tried to bring an end to all the negativity the following day by posting a tweet about how necessary it is for people of all religions to be tolerant.
Imagine a world in which we are all enlightened by objective truths rather than offended by them.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 27, 2014
When that did not suffice as a satisfactory conclusion to his Christmas controversy, deGrasse decided to address the issue, which he himself has referred to as his “most retweeted tweet”, on his Facebook page.
“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,” he wrote.
Photo Credits: Mashable
