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 4 of 35)
46. You might want to pass this on. Think of it as 'supply side economics'.
SEND JOHN McCAIN MORE LIPSTICK!!
The McCain campaign has 169 corporate lobbyists in his campaign alone! On top of that, there’s that no thanks for the bridge to nowhere, but thanks for the money, why he never voted for minimum wage ever, how he always votes against vets and how he’s going to change Washington by voting with Bush 90% of the time.
That’s a LOT of pigs, and there are plenty more, believe me! John McCain NEEDS MORE LIPSTICK!
You can help. Take a piece of paper, your favorite shade of lipstick, and draw whatever you want on the paper with it, maybe a message from your heart, or your rendition of colorful pig lips and mail it to
John McCain 2008
P.O. Box 16118
Arlington, VA 22215
That way, each corporate lobbyist can compare shades to see which sort of shadiness suits him best, and the McCain = Bush campaign will have the prettiest herd of pigs in All Politics!
Clif Kuplen at 4:12PM on Sep 10th 2008
47. Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
It's not just a magic cracker, it's a sinless magical cracker!
This has just GOT to be Jesus' best miracle, turning into an endless supply of magic crackers!
Kind of reminds of of Obiwan Kenobi when he says to Darth Vader, "If you kill me now, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!"
As the story goes, showing up, very occasionally, as an advice giving ghost is the very definition of, ".. more powerful than you can possibly imagine!", in the Jedi religion.
Showing up as magical crackers at the back door of the church is way more impressive.... what?... they make the magical crackers in factories?
That CAN'T be true.. tell me it's not true...
God just 'sends' the magic, through the priest into the cracker, you have to make the crackers yourself!
Oh God is so awesome! He can do anything!
I'm putting some magic into you right now... SHAZAM!... did you feel it?
not-pboyfloyd at 4:12PM on Sep 10th 2008
48. Pliny-the-in-Between:
Googles' logo for today is a classic!
*******
Aol doesn't have Google's logo on their "Enhanced by Google" search field.
I tried to google "Google" and my computer disappeared. wtf?
torquemada at 4:13PM on Sep 10th 2008
49. ?
not-pboyfloyd at 4:13PM on Sep 10th 2008
50.
They fired up the LHC in one direction, works great. Next step is to test it in the other direction - After that, we create some black holes and turn the planet into a singularity....
Woo Hoo!!! Max out the credit cards quick!!!
ex-christian at 4:18PM on Sep 10th 2008
51. Aol doesn't have Google's logo on their "Enhanced by Google" search field.
I tried to google "Google" and my computer disappeared. wtf?
torquemada
xxxxxxx
Are you sure the computer is at the event horizon or are you just using Vista and it seems like its trapped in eternity?
Pliny-the-in-Between at 4:20PM on Sep 10th 2008
52. Personally, I don't know why this professor felt the need to make such a pubic display over this particular pagan ritual (and yes, symbolically eating the flesh and drinking the blood of a deity is as pagan as it gets my friends). The world is full of pagan rituals (I, myself, juggle three flaming rabid prairie dogs every morning while facing the rising sun...it makes me feel secure and hopeful that the Great Cosmic Prairie Dog will grant me a boon and allow me into His heavenly labyrinth of tunnels when I pass from this world). Histronics such as the professor's are generally not productive as they galvanize members of the "offended" side...like DD (you twit)...and prompt them to write poorly reasoned and trite Blogs like this one. I say we let them eat crackers in peace and focus more on their attempts to direct elections (read Sarah Palin) and public policy (read Sarah Palin, again) in their favor.
John Galt
John Galt at 4:23PM on Sep 10th 2008
53. "After that, we create some black holes and turn the planet into a singularity...."
I keep thinking about the movie Event Horizon. Here come the daemons from the outer dark.
Ryan Anderson at 4:30PM on Sep 10th 2008
54. If you are willing to kneel down in front of someone.. could be a child-molester(you don't know), we're all 'sinners'.. and let them pop a cracker on to your tongue, why WOULDN'T you think that the cracker was magical?
As the religious philosophers say, "You teach the religion according to the intellectual capacity of the individual."
But then you still have to suck on the magic cracker, right?
not-pboyfloyd at 4:32PM on Sep 10th 2008
55. What is more magical?
The magical bread of christ (wafer/cracker)?
Or Romney's underwear?
Now remember, the reason for the bread/wine is a culture trying to get away from actual sacrifice - either animal or human I suppose to the gods. This transference to a symbolic sacrifice was a more politically correct means to an end.
The wine reps the blood of christ and the bread/cracker/wafer the body. When you eat it, you are consuming the holy spirit. Oh and if you haven't been to reconcile your sins to the pure priest and done your pennance - then technically, you shouldn't walk up and receive the body/blood of christ. But so few ever abstain even though the sins of the catholic church are legion and an impure thought should keep you from receiving. Yet still there are the divorced, liars, cheaters, abusers, porn watching, mean thinking catholics who just waltz up to the alter and receive their just due.
The hypocrisy of the religion is enough to warrant a stake through the old magic wafer.
TJ at 4:34PM on Sep 10th 2008
56. RA,
It was a bit awkward watching that movie with my mother.
Mokele Mbembe at 4:34PM on Sep 10th 2008
57. Harmony
There are less than three months until the election, an election that will decide the next President of the United States . The person elected will be the president of all Americans, not just the Democrats or the
Republicans. To show our solidarity as Americans, let's all get together and show each other our support for the candidate of our choice. It's time that we all came together, Democrats and Republicans alike. If you support the policies and character of John McCain, please drive with your headlights on during the day.
If you support Obama, please drive with your headlights off at night.
Thank you for your participation in this patriotic endeavor!
-------------------------------
A friend a mine e-mailed this today, I thought some of the wiser ones here might enjoy it. lol
Observant at 4:35PM on Sep 10th 2008
58. Clif Kuplen - carry over
Thanks for the web link from a couple of days ago. Interesting site.
I have been concerned with the impact of unbridled greed and almost
complete lack of accountability on this country for a long time.
Pliny-the-in-Between at 4:36PM on Sep 10th 2008
59. JG,
"Personally, I don't know why this professor felt the need to make such a pubic display"
A "pubic display"? That's desecration, all right!
Mokele Mbembe at 4:36PM on Sep 10th 2008
60. 36. Mokele Mbembe
I don't expect you to believe in the Eucharist, but I do expect you to respect that other people do!
janesophie1 at 3:45PM on Sep 10th 2008
======================================
I think your wording is off a little here. No has to "respect" someone else's belief in a particular religious tenet or ritual. Not all ideas are equally valid and worth of "respect". Christian's as a group don't seem to "respect" other religious as they declare them false, invalid, and likely to send their adherents to Hell.
In this country we are required to "accomodate" other's religious beliefs in terms of hiring, admissions, and other areas where religion-based discrimination could creep in. We are not allowed to overtly interfere with other people practicing their religious beliefs as long as those practices don't result in a substantial negative to innocent individulas or society (i.e. forced polygamous marraiges of 13 year old girls). But.....no one has to "respect" anything whatsoever about a particular belief held by someone else. I do not "respect" the belief that the world is 6,000 yrs old, or that female humans were started from the rib bone of a male, or that killing "infidels" with car bombs will allow me to score with a bunch of virgins in the afterlife.
John Galt
John Galt at 4:38PM on Sep 10th 2008