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 2 of 35)
16. Ryan; is that what "turn the other cheek" means to you? If so, I'm sorry I've failed once again to be a Christ-like example. If I could just exorcise this worldy spirit!
fanman at 2:22PM on Sep 10th 2008
17. "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."
As opposed to Dinesh who knows nothing of any substance or consequence but pretends that he knows a lot about everything and consequently reveals himself to be an actual moron.
Uncle Meat at 2:22PM on Sep 10th 2008
18. I suspect that geniune followers of Christ wouldn't get so worked up over such a childish antic. They would be more concerned with the many "Christians" who desecrate the faith in support of war, greed and hatred. Dinesh D'Souza, REPENT!
randy at 2:45PM on Sep 10th 2008
19.
WOW - Obscure acadamian tooses a cracker in the trash and D'adolph D'Itler gets his knickers in a bind. Well, you can put lipstic on a pig, but it still makes him a right-wing douchebag.
Palin's church on the other hand, thinsk Gays can be cured by prayer and that God wants everyone to come to Alaska for the Rapture. Where is THAT article?
I supported the bridge to nowhere and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt:
http://www.andrewhalcro.com/files/FH000020.jpg
T.Brough at 2:29PM on Sep 10th 2008
20.
There was a point to this video that Dinesh missed. He desecrated the qur'an, the eucharist, and the god delusion.
Two out of the three groups see this as desecration. The third group gets a huge laugh out of it.
These things are objects. Two books, and a cracker. Defile the Qur'an,(it's a muslim no-no, fanman) you offend the islamic faith. Defile the cracker, you've offended the christian faith. Defile an atheist book - we revel in the fact that we don't need to be offended by defiling anything.
ex-christian at 2:40PM on Sep 10th 2008
21. Asshole Dave,
You wrote:
"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"
Mother lickers like you have mistakenly categorized liberals weak, and cowardly only to be shocked and surprised when we turn around and bitch slap you for fucking with us.
You cocksuckers better start developing a taste for pain and humiliation because we finally caught on to the fact that you morons just won’t respect us for attempting to take the high road and we’ve just about lost our patience.
The fact that you would even defend an extremely divisive and vitriolic bitch whore like Ann Coulter just proves my point and I suspect you love her because she has the "equiptment" you clearly lack.
On your knees boy and be careful with those teeth if you know what’s good for you.
Uncle Meat at 2:44PM on Sep 10th 2008
22. It is not "just a cracker." It seems so obvious. A cracker would not have engendered all the comments. The Professor would not have taken pictures of a cracker in his garbage can.
Maybe his real point is simply that "people should come to realize that it is just a cracker".
Or, in a more characteristically strident tone, "Millions of people throughout our civilization past and present, whom, incidentally, I consider dangerous fools believe this is the sacred Eucharist. But I insist, and want to convice them, that it is just a cracker."
But it just seems so clear to me that what he made an issue of throwing away was not "just a cracker." Why would he do that.
Or put it this way. In your replies, please do your good faith, logical best to compare and contrast the banana peel in his garbage can with the cracker. Why aren't we talking about the coffee grounds?
I'm just making a simple point here. Don't conflate. It, again, is: What the Professor threw away was not just a cracker and he knows it. That's all. I just want the Professor's followers here to explain the difference between the banana peel and the cracker, and why he took pictures of and blogged about the one and not the other.
Besides, it's really more of a wafer.
GaryB at 2:45PM on Sep 10th 2008
23. Psst...the cookie isn't really Jesus's flesh. If it was, you'd be cannibalizing 2000 year-old zombie meat. How can you blame a guy for throwing THAT away rather than eating it? BrAiNs!
Mokele Mbembe at 2:55PM on Sep 10th 2008
24. 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."
By that logic - sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, fresh water, public health, and the aqueduct are products of the Roman contribution to western civilization.
Is Jupiter a great god or what?
ex-christian at 2:58PM on Sep 10th 2008
25. And you wonder why you are becoming increasingly irrelevant.
Ryan Anderson
>>
You are here every damn day, and you think DD is irrelevant? Go figure?
thomas J gassett at 2:59PM on Sep 10th 2008
26. D'Souza says, "Here we see Myers' thought in all its glorious idiocy. No.."
This sentence should end.. "..here we see my idiocy!"
Here I was thinking that it was one of their booklets!
It's a magic cracker! LMAO
It's a magic cracker! LMAO
It's a magic cracker! LMAO
It's a magic cracker! LMAO
It's a magic cracker! LMAO
It's a magic cracker! LMAO
It's a magic cracker! LMAO
It's a magic cracker! LMAO
not-pboyfloyd at 3:04PM on Sep 10th 2008
27.
And let's not forget about Zeus.
He's responsible for the ancient Greeks inventing competitive athletics, drama, democracy, oratory, rhetoric, biology, zoology, and the atomic theory.
Holy crap! all these invisible, non-corporeal superentities can really get things done!
ex-christian at 3:12PM on Sep 10th 2008
28. It is NOT a sacred item until the priest blesses it and consicrates it holy during the 'ritual'. Oh D'stupid at least get the principals correct. So who cares if he tossed an unconsicrated wafer into the trash, I've seen priest's do it HUNDREDS of times....Once more time ..we don't care about athiest's just christians that DON'T ACT LIKE CHRISTIANS. If you call your self a christian you should at least TRY to act like one.
emanon at 3:23PM on Sep 10th 2008
29. I can respect anyone that holds an atheist view. It's their life, and they have the right to define it.
What chaps my ass are Christian haters that won't show Christians the same respect, and that's what we have here stinking up this blog. Atheist wouldn't waste their time debunking bible stories. Their argument is with the existence of God, not organized religion. You can tell the haters from a atheist, as they concentrate their ANGER on one religion ... heck, why would an atheist even be angry? You would think these freaks were all abused by priest, not that they have a reasoned positions on the existence of God.
The same bad actors spew over Christianity, and attack people that believe. They have a right to their opinion, but apparently Christians don't. What we have here are Christian haters that couldn't make cogent atheist argument to save their insignificant lives. If they could, they wouldn't spend their lives debunking bible stories with such zeal.
thomas J gassett at 3:21PM on Sep 10th 2008
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卐Thomas J Gasset卐 at 3:23PM on Sep 10th 2008