Forrest M. Mims III was fired from a job editing Scientific American's
"Amateur Scientist" column because he was a creationist, a clear case of
religious discrimination.
Mims was not fired; he was never hired in the first place (though Piel,
the editor of Scientific American, initially gave him reason to
believe he would be hired). A private company does not need to have an
excuse for not hiring someone they don't like.
Many, perhaps most, evolutionists agree that Piel did not act
appropriately. Mims' work should be judged on its own merits.
Arguably, Mims would not have been good for the position. Creationism
denies the validity of much of biology, geology, and astronomy, making
a creationist's competence in those fields suspect. Piel was
reportedly worried mostly about the public relations problems of
involving the magazine with creationism (Piel and Mims 1991), and
given subsequent events, his worries were justified. Although many
people believe Piel made the wrong decision, his decision was not
entirely without merit.
Mims himself did not emerge from the incident looking virtuous. He
recorded one phone call with Piel without Piel's knowledge or
permission (although reputedly at the advise of a lawyer friend). When
Mims was not hired, he spoke harshly, publicly, and doggedly against
Piel. The issue likely became such a big deal because both
sides
overreacted.
References:
Piel, J. and F. Mims. 1991. Science's litmus test (telephone
transcript). Harper's 282(1690) (Mar.): 28-30,32.
