Proclaiming "nothing is sacred," atheist P.Z. Myers took the Christian eucharist, pierced it with a rusty nail, and threw it into the garbage. Then he posed his action on the world wide web.
Who is Myers? He's a biology professor at the University of Minnesota and a close ally of Richard Dawkins. In fact, Dawkins has praised Myers, conducted public conversations with him, and I count several links to Myers' articles on richarddawkins.net. Dawkins also urged his fans to write in support of Myers.
Myers rose to semi-fame, or perhaps I should say notoriety, when he praised University of Central Florida student Webster Cook who stole the eucharist from a church and held it hostage. Apparently figuring that such antics were more likely to gain attention than his own relatively undistinguished scholarship, Myers decided to get into the act himself.
On his blog Pharyngula, Myers wrote "It's a Frackin' Cracker" and said that if someone would send him a eucharist he would "show you sacrelige, gladly and with much fanfare." Myers' desecration was widely viewed on the web and raised much comment, much of it infuriated--but we can assume that this was Myers' intention.
Asked whether he cared about injuring the feelings of Christians, Myers professed surprise. "I've got so many people writing me and saying that I have seriously hurt them. But what have I done? I have thrown away a cracker."
This would be like someone burning a cross and then saying, "I cannot understand why all those black people are upset? All I did was set fire to a piece of wood." If a child did it, you can possibly say he was innocent. But when a professor acts this way, isn't malevolence the obvious explanation?
The National Catholic Register caught up with Myers recently and asked him the source of his hostility toward religion. "Religion has been selling everybody a bill of goods for so many years. It's about time somebody spoke up and said it's a load of nonsense."
Asked whether Christianity deserves credit for founding the first Western hospitals, universities and even scientific breakthroughs, Myers said, "No. People made those contributions to Western civilization."
But werent' those people Christians acting on their religious convictions? "That's like saying that because for so many years people got smallpox, smallpox is to be credited for all the virtue men have done."
Here we see Myers' thought in all its glorious idiocy. No, Myers, the two are not even comparable. Smallpox has nothing to do with the building of Gothic spires and astronomical observatories and setting up institutions like Harvard and the Red Cross. Christianity was a powerful motivating force in why people did those things. You can find all this out by opening up a history book.
The problem with people like Myers and Dawkins is not that they are complete morons. It is that they are biologists who know something about one thing but pretend that they know a lot about other things. Consequently they come across sounding like morons. Have pity on them.
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 35)
1. DD: "The problem with people like Myers and Dawkins is not that they are complete morons. It is that they are biologists who know something about one thing but pretend that they know a lot about other things"
Dinesh, in all seriousness, what do you know? From what I've read over the last few months, you pretend to know a lot about many things you don't.
But I would agree with you, it is a problem when people do that. Yourself included.
And seriously, did you compare defacing a cracker to a cross burning? And you wonder why you are becoming increasingly irrelevant.
Ryan Anderson at 1:00PM on Sep 10th 2008
2. I wonder if Myers would so bravely desecrate a Muslim symbol? I suspect not, unless he immediately went into Salman Rushdie mode for fear of beheading. Christians will no doubt turn the other cheek, again, as they continue to be media's favorite whipping boy.
fanman at 1:28PM on Sep 10th 2008
3. "The problem with people like Myers and Dawkins is not that they are complete morons. It is that they are biologists who know something about one thing but pretend that they know a lot about other things. Consequently they come across sounding like morons. Have pity on them." DD
And you would know all about being someone who knows something about one thing, yet nothing at all about other things, yet you keep pontificating (to speak in a pompous or dogmatic manner) and yammering without any real knowledge of the things you say.
And yes, just by reading the replies to your blog, you are indeed pitied as well.
As far as what P.Z. Myers did, I would have to say he might be one cracker short of a sleeve. I don't have to agree with your religious convictions, but I should respect you and your right to practice what ever nut-job shit you want.
TJ at 1:29PM on Sep 10th 2008
4. If christians were so rightous, they would forgive Myers for his actions. When people look for attention and get it, they have won. Why should christians care so much what Myers does? It wont make them worse christians. In fact, keeping their faith intact in spite of Myers (without yelling and screaming at him) would make them better christains.
The eucharist is just a symbol for christs body. You dont have to get upset just because he threw away the cracker. Make your faith stronger knowing that you dont need the symbol to be strong.
By the way, I am not a christian.
Pope Cack IV at 1:33PM on Sep 10th 2008
5. This article contains several problems. First, the cracker was not the only "desecrated" item: the Koran and Dawkins' book "The God Delusion" were also violated, more prominently only because they were larger items than the wafer. Opening with an ad hominem that calls Myers an undistinguished scholar merely in search of attention casts doubt on the integrity of the author. There is willful misinterpretation of the action in stating his intent was merely to generate infuriated commentary. Myers' statement about receiving e-mails about peoples' hurt feelings does not express surprise, as stated, but rather seeks to cast the action in its most fundamental form: throwing away a cracker. And, it is mere intellectual dishonesty to insist that the institutions of Christianity were responsible by proxy for scientific breakthroughs, when many of those breakthroughs came despite the efforts of the Church. To conflate the building of a hospital and university with breakthroughs in science, is egregious. Science does not, as the author seems to wish the reader to conclude, operate on "religious convictions". Finally, closing with an even more childish ad hominem -- "idiotic morons" -- relegates the article to a ranting commentary, not a well thought-out rebuttal.
Louis at 1:39PM on Sep 10th 2008
6. "The problem....is that they.... know something about one thing but pretend that they know a lot about other things. Consequently they come across sounding like morons."
LOL
Ah, D'Irony.
Doofus at 1:40PM on Sep 10th 2008
7. Boorish behavior by an individual is not grounds for the wholesale slander of all people with whom they share a single feature - except in your articles.
Pliny-the-in-Between at 1:53PM on Sep 10th 2008
8. Actually, when it comes to academia, there are some things people like Prof Myers do consider sacred: 1)Political correctness, tolerance and diversity 2)the doctrine of evolution and 3)University tuition price hikes.
If you have the audacity and unmitigated gall to disagree with any of these sacred doctrines and thus run afoul of liberals in academia, like Anne Coulter, Bill Crystal or David Horowitz have done recently, you'll be excoriated, protested, screamed at and/or showered with unidentifiable liquids - all by peace loving liberals like Myers who preach how they just want to live and let live and whose favorite word is "hypocrite." Nice.
Dave at 2:02PM on Sep 10th 2008
9. Fanman; sounds like you are suggesting, or hoping for, a christian jihad?
Ryan Anderson at 1:56PM on Sep 10th 2008
10. "I wonder if Myers would so bravely desecrate a Muslim symbol? I suspect not, unless he immediately went into Salman Rushdie mode for fear of beheading. Christians will no doubt turn the other cheek, again, as they continue to be media's favorite whipping boy."
Actually, Myers desecrated the Koran as well. Perhaps you should at least read the relevant post (http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/07/the_great_desecration.php) before you start assuming things about him.
Tommy Blanchard at 1:57PM on Sep 10th 2008
11. I would imagine that the catholic church wastes many, many crackers and many, many gallons of wine world wide ever time they have a mass. That is unless they have some magical inventory management system that even Wal Mart and Home Depot don't know about.
I guess my point would be who gives a flip?
Ryan Anderson at 1:59PM on Sep 10th 2008
12. From Dinesh's article:
Asked whether Christianity deserves credit for founding the first Western hospitals, universities and even scientific breakthroughs, Myers said, "No. People made those contributions to Western civilization."
In the good old days all the scientists were Christians. Strangely, so were all the big names in science.
Today there are many more scientists who are atheists. Included are atheists in the elite group called Nobel Prize Winners (e.g. Steven Weinberg).
Why do we always have to pick up a history book? Why can't Dinesh demonstrate to us a causal relationship between religiosity and scientific achievement?
I am willing to entertain the possibility that religiosity can serve as a basis/incentive for charity work.
insaneatheist at 2:01PM on Sep 10th 2008
13. I'm not sure if this was done at a catholic church or a christian, but there is a BIG difference between the eucharists. Catholics believe that it is the True body of christ and not just some symbol. Through transubstantiation the "cracker" is transformed into the body of christ. CHRISTIANS believe it is just a symbol. Either way, why can't you just repsect somebody elses beliefs?? Just because you are some "all knowing scienctist" doesn't mean you have the right to morally offend people. Grow up america
captainmoth2 at 2:04PM on Sep 10th 2008
14. This Smallpox strawman is probably the dumbest I've seen yet.
Mokele Mbembe at 2:13PM on Sep 10th 2008
15. Who are you to deny the sacred rite of atheists to desecrate holy booklets?
It's a 'dirty' job, but somebody's got to do it!
not-pboyfloyd at 2:21PM on Sep 10th 2008