Neil deGrasse Tyson prompted a flood of angry tweets on Thursday after posting what he considered to be a more truthful version of the United States Pledge of Allegiance.

“If the Pledge of Allegiance told the truth,” the astrophysicist wrote on Twitter, along with an image that read: “I pledge allegiance, to the Flag of the Divided States of America. And to the PACs, for which it stands, one Nation, at odds, divisible, with Liberty and Justice for some.”

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The statement was retweeted more than 8,000 times, and favorited by more than 11,000 people. It ignited a backlash from some irate Twitter users, who didn’t appreciate Tyson’s revision.

Some Twitter users were simply dismissive:

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.@neiltyson Have your PR firm's intern's assistant delete your account. — Sean Davis (@seanmdav) April 2, 2015

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.@neiltyson Hey, remember when you used to do sciency stuff? That was cool. — neontaster (@neontaster) April 2, 2015

While others were a bit more agitated by Tyson’s tweet:

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@RBPundit @neiltyson hey Neil, the door is right over there. Head on out any minute now fuckwit — Eric Bishop (@Ericb1980) April 2, 2015

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As if @neiltyson knows anything about telling the truth. https://t.co/r2uAVHxhHq — Jack in NYC (@talkradio200) April 2, 2015

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@neiltyson oh shut up already. If you hate this country so much leave you have conned enough money out of ignorant people to leave — Phillip (@PhillipG76) April 2, 2015

@neiltyson you make Ralph Wiggum look like Einstein. Maybe stick to junk science & making up Bush quotes, eh? — Accidental Librarian (@CrystalDawn0603) April 2, 2015

And the Jehovah’s Witnesses even used his tweet as an opportunity to evangelize:

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@neiltyson shows how much we need God's kingdom to take over. True peace and hope. It's the only way. http://t.co/x0R1cDXyih bible truth — Walter W. Welle (@WalterWelle) April 2, 2015

But Tyson himself appeared to endorse such trolling earlier in the day, with one condition:

I don't mind trolls. But if you're going to be one, then please try to stay on topic. — Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) April 1, 2015

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A survey of replies to Tyson suggests that condition was thoroughly ignored.