Members of the Malayalam rationalist group Freethinkers were pleasantly surprised today as world renowned physicist and campaigner for spreading scientific education, Lawrence M Krauss, lent his voice to those opposing the shut down of their group.
The Freethinkers Facebook group has been shut down several times by Facebook, reportedly because religious people were offended by some of the discussions going on in the group.
The group describes itself as a place for “debates and discussions on topics such as religion, politics, rationalism, science, art, cinema, literature and travel.”
It has been shut down seven times, and has, to quote its owner Naser Kunnum Purathu, risen like a phoenix every time. The shut down has also been chronicled by media previously.
The latest instance of the group was blocked by Facebook a week ago.
“This Malayalam Freethinkers Facebook page keeps getting shut down by fundamentalists each week. Support it,” Lawrence M. Krauss, who is well known for his advocacy of science outreach programs, said on his official page today.
Krauss is an American theoretical physicist and cosmologist who is Foundation Professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University and director of its Origins Project.
According to Wikipedia, he is known as an advocate of the public understanding of science, of public policy based on sound empirical data, of scientific skepticism and of science education and works to reduce the impact of superstition and religious dogma in pop culture.
He is also the author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing.