In support of that bastard Myers

There is a current little war being waged in one little niche of the blogosphere. In one corner we have PZ Myers, who has one of the more popular science/atheist websites on the net at the moment. In the other corner we have Bill Donohue, the president of the self-proclaimed spokes organization for the Catholic Church in America. At issue the eucharist. In a post, Dr. Myers responded to a news item, describing a student who took a wafer/cracker/cookie from a church, instead of worshiping, loving, holy shit EATING it!!! This kid is getting a lot of shit and death threats, because he took a wafer from the church instead of eating it. That bears repeating...

A living breathing human being is hated, reviled, and threatened because he walked out of a building with a small edible piece of cooked flour and water instead of eating it.

Now I am not Catholic, nor was I raised Catholic. However, the Lutheran and Baptist churches I went to had a similar ceremony, albeit I expect the focus was on the ceremony not the piece of bread as it appears to be for Catholics. Now PZ wrote some inflammatory things (at least inflammatory if you've been brainwashed schooled in the catholic tradition) and asked that his audience help him do some unnamed acts to said cookie wafer. Bill Donohue, speaking for all Catholics took offense at this, again on behalf of all Catholics. This led immediately to a protest to the University of Minnesota to get Dr. Myers fired. For some updates, check here, here and especially here (I love the Xian turn the other cheek love thy neighbor responses in the letters to PZ).

Now my initial response is that PZ crossed a line and should full well have expected the response he received. I agree with him almost to the letter, but my word choice would have been different. At issue here is whether the student (have we forgotten that PZ's initial post was in response to members of a Catholic church getting up in arms over a student taking a piece of the eucharist from a church, and by up in arms I do mean death threats! fucking death threats!!!). If you want to go through the communion ceremony and feel closer to your god, fine. Good for you. But I the problem lies in those members of that faith who believe that the wafer is actually in fact and in truth the body of Jesus. Ok I know the bible verse Luke 22:19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." (New American Standard edition) So how does this work, in the story of the last supper, I am assuming that the bread, which presumably had been on the table the whole time, didn't disappear only to be replaced with actually parts of Jesus' body in the form of bread. If that is the argument, then did Jesus have a bunch of wounds afterwards from the chunks of flesh that flipped into the breadbasket? or is it a metaphor (assuming it actually happened)? If it was a metaphor, why is the cookie now an actual part of Jesus? I just don't get it....not enough prepubescent guilt/hope brainwashing I guess.

I started out agreeing with PZ, although feeling compassionate for the religious side. Now I agree with PZ and no longer feel compassionate. I mean WHAT THE FUCK?!?!

I believe in the Purple Unicorn of Belize and in the holy ceremonies celebrating and remembering the splendid world which her holy horsey gave us by spilling her blood into the beer steins of those first Octoberfesters. I do dedicate this fine India Pale Ale in her name as the true blood of our Purple Unicorn. If anyone should try to Snarf my beer or take another but not chug it within the ordained 5 minutes, I shall be morally offended and may have to bust a cap in their ass.

Tell me the difference in these stories.....Ill start. 1. Story #1 has been around a bit longer than the one I pulled out of my ass. Your turn.

Oh and thinking of wafers, I couldnt help but leave you with this...