Pharyngula

I am a very naughty boy

Category: Kooks • Religion
Posted on: September 29, 2008 12:03 PM, by PZ Myers

I've barred the doors — I'm sure that any moment now, a squadron of goose-stepping nuns will come marching up the street to wag their fingers at me and rebuke me for what I've started. It seems the Youth of Today are going on YouTube and…flaunting their disrespect for crackers!

People can find a video of almost anything on YouTube: babies' first steps, Saturday Night Live skits, news clips, concerts and now - to the shock of Catholics everywhere - desecration of the Eucharist.

YouTube has long been a destination for Catholics seeking video clips of Masses, apologetics lectures or devotions, but now Catholic outrage is growing as the site has become home to a string of videos depicting acts of Eucharistic desecration, including flushing a host down the toilet, putting one in a blender, feeding one to animals, shooting one with a nail gun and more.

They don't provide links, perhaps fearing that this could become even more popular. Here you go, somebody is having lots of fun with his crackers. Gosh, maybe more people will be publicly committing heresy now!

You can guess what the response is.

"I don't know what to say," said a stunned Msgr. C. Eugene Morris, professor of sacramental theology at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, when told about the videos. "I am outraged that YouTube is tacitly supporting this and giving this behavior an audience."

Hey, Eugene! It's just a cracker! Get over it — as long as people aren't disrupting your services or pilfering chalices, there has been no interference with your religious freedom, and no harm done.

Thomas Serafin is president of the International Crusade for Holy Relics, an internet watchdog group of Catholic laymen. His group has been fighting online affronts to the Catholic Church, including the sale of the Eucharist and of relics of the saints online, for more than a decade.

"YouTube has to be held accountable and stopped," Serafin said from Los Angeles. "If Catholics don't take a stand right now, they can expect such outrages to continue."

Serafin added: "The internet is, in many ways, a new world, and it is our duty to evangelize this world, but we have to speak up and be heard to do that."

Thomas and his organization are more than a little creepy — death cultists oblivious to their own bizarrely morbid obsessions. They have a right to evangelize if they want, but others have a right to mock and laugh at them, too. These wackos are organizing now, though, to get YouTube to censor and blacklist anyone who visibly makes fun of religious beliefs. YouTube has not cave in yet, though, and I hope they hold out — it is absurd to say that Catholic videos of blood and bones are not offensive, while videos of demolished bits of bread are outrages that must be yanked.

Serafin said people should call or write YouTube to demand that the videos be taken down. YouTube's public relations email address is press@youtube.com

People who think YouTube should not be in the business of prosecuting blasphemy should also write and let them know that you are pleased they are not the religion police.

Now whose fault is all this? Mine. I am so proud.

One name still making the rounds in YouTube and bloggers' discussions on Eucharistic desecration is Paul Z. Myers, the University of Minnesota professor who asked his blog readers in July to "score" him "some consecrated communion wafers."

"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," Myers wrote in response to the case of a University of Central Florida student who stole a consecrated host the previous month.

Myers later posted a picture of a host - which he claimed was consecrated and sent to him via mail - as well as pages from the Koran and atheist Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion" in a trash can, underneath coffee grounds and a banana peel.

As for the current YouTube videos, Dominique cited Myers as inspiration for the video series.

This is great! Everyone should join in! It makes me so pleased to see growing, vocal opposition to the fundamental absurdity of religion, do keep it up.

Of course, the price we pay is a lot of complaints back at us, which is fine — annoying, but it's their right. Since I just got back from a long weekend, I thought I'd peek into the eucharist auto-trash folder and see what's dribbled into my email lately, and you'll find a sample below the fold. I just grabbed the top 15, so it's also fairly representative of the content.

Most of these, by the way, are also being sent to President Bruininks and Chancellor Johnson, who, I'm sure, are thoroughly sick of them all. I wouldn't be surprised if they're filtering out anything that mentions "Myers"!

Your disciplining of Paul Z. Myers for desecrating the the Eucharist was not adequate. You will have to do more like terminating him or giving him a very long suspension. People are outraged at his behavior. Even if we do not share someone's beliefs we do not show our disrespect in such an extreme way. I don't think you recognize what has happened here. I advise you to rise to better than you have.

Dear Doctor Bruininks,

I recently learned of the actions of Professor Paul Myers at UMN in which he desecrated the Catholic Eucharist and then posted photos of the desecration on his website before disposing of it in the trash. Now why would a man in our hypersensitive, politically correct, multicultural society go out of his way to willfully and publicly offend one fragment of that society with whom he has no beef other than his rejection of their beliefs? Well, obviously it all has to do with Professor Myers's attempt to self identify as a "controversial" , "iconoclastic", and "tell it like it is" member of academia. Who knows what back-slapping and monetary/sexual favors will come his way as the result of his courageous stand?

The problem is, of course, that you can beat the tar out of the Catholic church with impunity. Kind of like that punk in the movie "Witness" who tormented the twice-as-strong, strapping young Amish man knowing full well that the Amish culture did not permit retaliation. I also recalled a comedy skit offered by Robin Williams in which he used his overrated and miniscule comic imagination to ridicule pro-life proponents. Writing the next day a critic referred to this performance as "controversial and brave". The fact that you probably never heard of this part of his repertoire tells you all you need to know about how truly brave and controversial he was. Contrast that with Lenny Bruce who, the day after the Kennedy assassination, performed a comic skit mimicking and ridiculing Jackie Kennedy's retreat over the back of the automobile after the bullets were fired. Now that was brave and controversial and members of the audience had to be restrained from lynching Mr. Bruce right there on the stage.

Had Professor Myers really taken a unique and courageous stand, I'm sure he would have suffered a fate similar to Professor Larry Summers at Harvard. But instead of slapping this small minded man silly for his self-aggrandizing actions made at the expense of UMN's reputation, you respond with hand-wringing over academic freedom and privacy rights. Had he posted on his web a photo of a polar bear that he slaughtered as a protest against global warming, I wonder if your respect for his privacy would have been equivalent. No, change that. I don't wonder.

I make sure I use my mailing list to enlighten my circle of friends regarding the craven actions of your professor and your equally cowardly response, and I'll ask them to forward the information to their circle of friends. Hopefully I'll be able to create some significant level of the well-deserved disrespect for your University and its tinhorn biology teacher.

Sincerely,

John Conwell

Paul Z. Myers,

Now that you have desecrated the Eucharist and offended me and over a billion Catholics, I would like you to publicly desecrate the Koran.

I'm waiting to see that marvelous display of "academic freedom."

David Lanser

Dear Dr. Myers,
As you are a scientist, you are objective.
As a scientist, I am objective. But I also know that there is an existence I cannot see. If someone else does not believe the same, I do not criticize them.
Why do you have a problem with the belief system of the Catholic Church? Why does it disturb you? From a historical perspective, the Catholic Church originated the university system that you enjoy so much.
To actively desecrate the Eucharist, in which you do not believe, has no meaning for you. It is an expression of an emotional or spiritual disturbance in someone who is usually logical in approach. Your hostility is a symptom, and you are using it to persecute. If I were not already Catholic, I would run to join up. A belief system so maliciously treated must have something of value as its basis.
If you are open-minded, I challenge you to say one sentence each day-"God, if You are real, prove it to me."

Sincerely,
Judith McGuinn, MD

I'm terribly sorry that you saw fit to desecrate the Holy Eucharist and show total disrespect for 67 million Catholics nationwide.Your bizzare behavior won't be tolerated.You certainly owe all Catholics an apology.Knock it off.
Sincerely,
Carl R. Carieri

Dear President Robert Bruinks,

Today I received the information regarding your biology professor Paul Zachary Myers who had desecrated the Holy Eucharist and suffered no penalty. I was really shocked. I am from Minnesota, Winona County. Years ago I was told that one of my cousins lost his faith at the University of Minnesota. Now I can understand why. I beg you to do what is in your power to eliminate this professor and others who would like to destroy the Church from your staff.

Sincerely,
Marie Louise Jilk
Northfield, Illinois

Gentlemen and Lady,

We are a worldwide church of one billion people and 60 million in the USA. We love our Church and believe in its teachings. All we ask is that you respect our beliefs and leave us alone. We do not want our Eucharist belittled and desecrated. It is our belief and faith that Jesus is truly there and through the centuries there have been many miracles to prove it, if one takes the time to research this beautiful faith, founded by Jesus Himself. You will know this when you die. In the meantime, especially Dr. Myers, I hope you will mind your own business and grow up. We have freedom of religion in America -- we also need to respect others' beliefs. If that student took the Eucharist from the Church, it was wrong, and Dr. Donohue had every right to object and do what he did to defend it. He will be rewarded -- will you?

Deanna Hohmann
West Caldwell, NJ

Mr. Meyers,

You really have some demented ideas. From your sacrilegious misuse of the Eucharist to your attempts to trash Mike Koelzer I really have to wonder what your real problem is. It's plain to see you have no regard for God or for innocent human life. I do hope you get some professional help and I will pray for you. May the Holy Spirit change your heart and mind. Remember, Jesus does love you!

Mrs. Deborah Gallo

Dear Professor:
Jesus freely submitted to crucifixion and death on the cross as a sacrifice to atone for our sins. In fact, in His great love he has revealed to St. Mary Alacoque that even if yours was the only soul to die for it would still be worth His life. This sacrifice is renewed everyday through the Eucharist at Catholic masses throughout the world, where Jesus becomes truly present; body, blood, soul and divinity.
How unfathomably generous that God would permit himself to be veiled behind the most ordinary of materials to teach us what true humility means and provide manifold graces to poor sinners (myself included). Not only have you chosen to reject this marvelous gift which helps lead us to salvation, but you have committed the gravest of sacrileges. Please consider deeply what you have done and repent of this horrific act. It is never too late to seek the Lord's forgiveness. He loves His lost sheep so very deeply despite the wounds they inflict on Him every day.
Eternity is a state to which there is no end. Are you willing to gamble that if you are wrong on this point, you are going to spend eternity in ceaseless torment apart from the Living God? I cannot imagine a scarier prospect. If anything, stop your persecution of the Catholic Church, for you are attacking the millions of faithful when you mock and mistreat Her.

I had never heard of the Morris campus of the University of Minnesota until one of your tenured faculty took it upon himself to desecrate the Holy Eucharist, a sacrament of the Roman Catholic Church.

It seems pretty obvious that your Dr. Paul Z. Myers has a problem above and beyond his hatred of Catholicism. In his current state, are the Catholic students in his classes safe?

Why don't you put him on sabbatical and let the mental health professionals take him away for a nice respite? (Even Nancy Pelosi would understand the nature of his dastardly act.)

Maybe that would quiet down Bill Donohue of the Catholic League. In the meantime, why not visit his website at www.catholicleague.org.

I imagine a few of the Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Muslims that I'm blind-copying on this email will visit the site, assess the commotion created by Paul Z. Myers and elect, perhaps, to check in with you regarding their reactions to what Dr. Myers did and what you have not done, so far, in response to his actions.

Donohue, although a New Yorker, is an Irish Catholic of the stripe that I grew up with in Chicago.

Chicago Catholics understand Donohue because his ire reflects theirs but we don't understand Myers nor your tolerance of him beyond the fact that he has tenure.

Is there any possibility that Bruininks and Johnson quietly agree with Myer's histrionic behavior?

Is it possible that the Morris campus suffers from pandemic anti-Catholicism--and the world needs to know?

Maybe the Catholic press needs to survey the situation on a national level to see if Donohue has a legitimate complaint or is simply the victim of that gene so many Irish strive to keep under control--hyperbole stoked by righteous rage.

I suspect that as long as Donohue breathes we'll learn more about the "Morris Three," as some now call this gathering of Myers, Bruininks and Johnson, as well as their fellow travelers in Morris, MN.

Good luck in the deluge.

Donal F. Mahoney

Perhaps you will not even read this.

It is time for academia to stand up against all intolerance and not just ignore offending 24% of the population of the USA.

Anti-Catholicism is one of the last glaringly acceptable exceptions for passing a test of "tolerance" among the enlightened ilk. If anything of the sort was done to blacks, homosexuals, Jews, or Muslims there would be a swift penal reaction from your administration; we all know that to be true.

You have a chance to do the right thing. He should be on probation at the very least. If something like this happens again, I'm sure many names will become more familiar in Catholic circles and perhaps many e-mail boxes will be a bit jammed. That's much better than what will happen to professor Myers if he continues to offend Muslims. We Christians reason with persecutors and pray for them, none of your University family will be safe if the Muslims feel slighted!

I hope you understand the difference. Godspeed, Fr. Kloster

Dr. Bruininks:

At the end of October my wife and I are travelling to Minnesota to see some old friends. We have never been to your state before and are excited to see all that we can. While we are there we want to tell our friends and to relay our message to their relatives and friends about the University of Minnesota.
We do hope they will be as disgusted as we are about a certain Dr. Myers on your faculty who, in the name of the university, has taken it upon himself to totally disrespect our beliefs in the Holy Eucharist of the Catholic Church.
We here in the East have heard about him and what he has done with what he irreverently calls a 'cracker'.
It has lowered our opinion of not only your university but of the state in general since it is a state university. This could not happen at our beloved Penn State.
The tolerance you show for everything non-Christian is remarkable and your intolerance for anything Christian is more remarkable.
In conclusion, it might be suggested to that so-called professor who only studies little fish to show some courage and burn a Koran...after all, it's only A BOOK !!

Sincerely

Michael F. Gallagher
Abington, PA

You kick against the goad.

Acts: 9:4-6
"And falling on the ground, he heard a voice saying to him: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Who said: Who art thou, Lord? And He: I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the goad."

Instead of advocating peace, charity and good will to your fellow men, you give fire to the spirit of hatred and ill-will among your fellow men.

With your public rabid dog howling against the Holy Eucharist, and Jesus Christ you let the whole world know how spiritually in pain you are.

After you are dead, and your body turns to dust/ashes, the Holy Eucharist and Jesus Christ will still be alive and well. Read your history books. Jesus Christ yesterday, Jesus Christ today, and Jesus Christ tomorrow.

Death will come to let you know just how un-important you are.

You kick against the goad, and the GOAD will triumph.

Myers:

I'm seventy years old, and have been a Catholic all my life, as my ancestors.

I hold the Eucharist as a Holy precept, concept of my Catholic faith and resent anybody ridiculing or desecrating my religious faith.

You have a very hateful spirit. Like the howling dogs of hell you have so much hatred that you cannot tolerate spiritual joy so you attach it like a rabid dog.



Repent before you die howling like the dogs of hell with a soul full of hatred!! It's not too late!! Give up your hatred!! Learn to give spiritual joy, goodwill and peace. With all your book learning you are still very ignorant. What so ever you sow you shall reap!

Hey Pauly,

All of the monkeys ain't in the zoo; the rest are at the University of Minnesota. Even more illuminating is that all the assholes are there too, not to mention the bigots, frauds, perverts, and no-nothings. I think that pretty much covers the spectrum in the educated imbeciles category. But, you stand out a little more than others.

Your total inanity of blasphemy and sacrilege in desecrating a Sacred Host while disparaging Roman Catholicism is particularly interesting. But, you are indubitably an order of fries short of a Happy Meal - and to be pitied and prayed for. The "Light" will shine soon enough though.

Regardless of your self-imposed proclivities, Jesus believes you are someone special too. He died on the cross for everyone - the most arrogant, prideful, dishonest, disrespectful and hate-filled. But, He offered us all a chance to believe in Him, with the hope of salvation and eternal happiness after death.

Factoid:
No one is required to tolerate the intolerable. And you, Pauly, are . . . I-n-t-o-l-e-r-a-b-l-e!

I'd suggest passing this on to a few of your elitist contemporaries for translation purposes, but I 'm sure they're probably more than just one order of fries short of their Happy Meal. What say you, Pauly?

Have a nice day, eh? J

PS - I won't pretend to understand your outrageous blasphemy and misconduct as long as you don't pretend to misundersdtand my justified anger.

One other development: while the flood of email is waning, the physical, posted, stamped, US Postal Service-type mail has actually been increasing. I'm getting a couple of letters, all still similar in tone to the email, and just as repetitive, every day. Here's one example, unsigned, postmarked from Saginaw, Michigan.

ATH Z MYERS
I wouldn't want to be in your place when you draw Your Last Breath!!!
Not too far off!!

Most of the email on this subject is now automatically trashed on arrival, and I don't read it. I do still open and read every letter sent to me, though…and I laugh my wicked laugh, as my regard for religious superstition is confirmed every single time.