Well guess what happened to him?
Yep. PZ Myers received hate mail and death threats and so on and so forth.
I'm not going to say what Myers was thinking or not because he makes that rather clear in the first place.
People went up in arms because some guy took a "cracker" that would no doubt have tasted like cardboard anyway for some reason that it seems only he knows.
Myers wrote in the first post of his ("this") that I linked to:
So, what to do. I have an idea. Can anyone out there score me some consecrated communion wafers? There's no way I can personally get them — my local churches have stakes prepared for me, I'm sure — but if any of you would be willing to do what it takes to get me some, or even one, and mail it to me, I'll show you sacrilege, gladly, and with much fanfare. I won't be tempted to hold it hostage (no, not even if I have a choice between returning the Eucharist and watching Bill Donohue kick the pope in the balls, which would apparently be a more humane act than desecrating a goddamned cracker), but will instead treat it with profound disrespect and heinous cracker abuse, all photographed and presented here on the web. I shall do so joyfully and with laughter in my heart. If you can smuggle some out from under the armed guards and grim nuns hovering over your local communion ceremony, just write to me and I'll send you my home address.
That is what annoyed the Catholics in the US the most.
I think he had a rather relevant point to begin with.
The guy in question didn't actually do anything except not relish in the taste of cardboard.
Quick digression, on paper anyway I am a Roman Catholic, I went to a RC schools, and have been to more masses then I care to count or remember. I know what the Eucharist wafers taste like and it is not Jesus or bread.
I probably would have suggested the same thing (Except as pointed out here I thought of something far more grandiose), because the whole issue is stupid.
Ok, so yes the doctrine of transubstantiation says that it does become the body of Christ, except that testing it still shows that it is round edible cardboard. I was always under the impression that it was something of a symbol and that you had to actually believe that it was the body of Christ for it to work.
I guess I musn't have paid enough attention in RE class.
It's like the Catholic League saying this:
Myers was angry at the Catholic League for criticizing the student.
Really? It doesn't read that way, unless you consider sending death threats to the student part of the "Catholic League official criticism guidelines".
It's like trying to get Myers reprimanded because you can access his blog through the university that he works at.
Guess the Catholic League didn't read the guidelines very well then.
The guidelines only apply to pages that are hosted by them. Pharyngula isn't hosted by them so they are not responsible for whatever Myers posts at all on his own blog.
That's like someone trying to sue The Adelaide Index because my blog has a link there and I've published a copyright violation.
And on top of that Myers wasn't representing his institution on his blog anyway, all the thoughts are his. The Catholic League found a few lines of the guidelines that supported what they wanted, but they also disregarded quite a bit of other guidlines, like how the page is supposed to look.
At times like this it would be a good idea to see what Jesus has to say
2 comments:
Yes yes, they're silly. Here in the US, I think they officially speak for 5-10% of our total Catholic population, but I've been out of the game for awhile so *shrug*.
I could probly get some consecrated Jeezits (tm) if I had to; I have a pyx and know where keys are to two tabernacles, but eh. I'll leave that for the proper people to do.
I must say, I read a wonderful anecdote recently on surprise communion at a Methodist church... makes me wish I'd been there that day to remember Christ in the form of banana bread!!
Oh, clarification - communion day was a surprise to the minister as it's not an every day or every week event at that particular church, and time flew while fun was being had...
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