Disrespecting ideas: a good thing (Image: Allen Beaulieu)

P. Z. Myers has angered millions with his tirades against religion posted on his popular science blog, Pharyngula. But as Jessica Marshall finds out, the scourge of creationists turns out to be a mild-mannered man from Minnesota

PAUL ZACHARY MYERS drinks his daily coffee at the Common Cup, whose mission is posted in a handwritten sign above its stone fireplace: “The purpose of Common Cup is to provide a Christian environment and a welcoming place for the local and campus communities to come together.”

“I write some of my most subversive screeds against religion sitting there,” Myers says. …