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A Letter to University of Minnesota Morris
Filed Under (Politics) by Javier Plumey on 10-07-2008
Tagged Under : faith, letters
I fired off this email to President Robert Bruininks, of the University of Minnesota Morris, regarding disgusting statements made by one of the professors of the university on his school-operated blog. Here is sample of the comments. WARNING, serious language here:
“It’s a Frackin’ Cracker!”:
“Can anyone out there score me some consecrated communion
wafers?” Myers continued by saying, “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. I won’t be tempted to hold it hostage
(no, not even if I have a choice between returning the Eucharist and watching
Bill Donohue kick the pope in the balls, which would apparently be a more
humane act than desecrating a goddamned cracker), but will instead treat it
with profound disrespect and heinous cracker abuse, all photographed and
presented here on the web.”
Bill Donahue represents the Catholic League, who first posted comments about a University of Central Florida student who held the Eucharist hostage for days. This tirade of stupidity was an apparent response to Mr. Donahue’s comments.
Here’s the letter I sent:
Mr. Bruininks,
I am not a student at your university, nor do my children attent your institution, but I am appalled at the shocking comments made by Paul Zachary Myers, one of your professors, regarding his plans to desecreate the Eucharist. The Eucharist is an essential part of the Catholic-Christian faith and we Catholics believe it to be the physical manifestation of the presence of Christ. Regardless of his personal opinions, Mr. Myers has no right to so blatantly and shamefully disgrace the millions of Catholics around the world through the language on his university-operated blog.
If he had chosen to do this on his own personal blog, then we could excuse his lunatic ravings as a mere expression of a deluded and uneducated opinion. However, since the post was made on a blog maintained by the University of Minnesota Morris, we can only assume that his opinion is one which matches that of the administration of the university, mainly, yourself and the other faculty.
I ask that you take these steps:
1. Censure Mr. Myers
2. Delete the post from the blog
3. Demand that Mr. Myers post an apology
4. Make an official statement separating your institution from the opinion of Mr. MyersI hope that you will take action on this matter and restore the good name of the faculty of the University of Minnesota Morris.
UPDATE: I have since learned that the blog is NOT operated by the university, but instead merely linked to it. I have sent a revised letter to the President stating that if the university removes the link from their site or if they provide a clear disclaimer that they are not associated with Mr. Myers’ ramblings, then no apology from the University or Mr. Myers is necessary, though one would be appreciated, considering the incrudelity he showed in the vulgarity of his comments.
UPDATE: The University has taken off the link from their site. In this matter, Mr. Meyers’ behaviour has been proven folly and the matter is closed.
Which part of that are you actually upset about?
PZ Myers’ comments were on his personal blog, Pharyngula, which is part of the Science Blogs networks. It is in no way affilliated with the University of Minnesota.
Well, obviously his opinion sickens me and what he plans to do with the Eucharist does as well.
As for the blog, the link is available from University of Minnesota Morris pages. If they don’t approve of the content of externally linked pages, they should warn their audience about the contents of external links.
Amen! Mr. Plumey. If the Eucharist was just a cracker no one would want it - for good or evil. While the young Mr. Cook just seemed to be doing what young people with a half baked good idea do - what Mr. Myers wants is for Catholics to deny Christ. He’s no better than Nero. Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is a great “disappointment” for mankind - even more so than the disappointment of the incarnation. Why would God come to earth as a man and die? We thought he would be more powerful. He came instead to die. His victory came through obedience and humility - which ultimately conquered death. His victory in the Eucharist - the true bread of life come down from heaven - is that he is with us. He is a close and near God who gives us life. Just as bread feeds the body, the bread of life feeds our soul.
So good for you for sending the letter! Let’s pray
I hope someone also is thinking of cows, which
are sacred to Hindus. So, next time I see a professor
dining on a tasty cheeseburger, I will make sure to
start a campaign about cattle desecration. After all,
these are not just cows to us. They are sacred beings.
Please, show some respect, all you meat eaters!!!!
Hmmm…not sure I caught enough of your sarcasm ;).
Desecration is much different than consumption. We Catholics also consume the Eucharist. Do you think a Hindu would be offended if someone started tearing off the limbs of cows, defecating on them, and mocking the Hindu faith? Of course, and rightly so.
Yes, but that sort of desecration happens all the time
at slaughter-houses managed by Christians, and I don’t
see any outrage. You go into any slaughter house and
you will see cows being torn apart, and feces being mixed
with cow parts because disembowling is part of this disgusting process. So where is the outrage?
Indeed, if we started prohibiting desecration equally
for all religioins, you would probably be in violation
of someone’s religion right now.
Otherwise, you will be back to a social paradigm where
you try to impose religious uniformity of a dominant
religion, and that is what the U.S. tried to avoid.
One day you may have a Muslim majority in some
areas (you already do, in fact), and Muslims will have their own rules of desecration imposed on Catholics. What would you do then? We already have this with people being killed
for cartoons of Muhammad.
No single religion can impose its notion of desecration
on the rest of us. That protects us in practicing as
we deem fit. And an omnipotent God does not need you to protect his wafers.
Thanks for the feedback. Those slaughter houses are not doing that with the intention of desecrating a sacred symbol.
They may realize that Hindus would be offended, but they have a fundamental difference in the belief of that that cow represents. There is no malicious intent to the Hindu community.
That’s not the case here with Mr. Myers. He intends to do harm to Catholics simply for the sake of offense, which is what we find offensive.
But once Christians have been told about how desecrating it is to slaughter cows, then would it NOT be intentional desecration if Christians continue to slaughter cows? Cows should not
be slaughtered, intentional or not. So what are we to do then?
It’s all about INTENT TO HURT. Christianity and Hinduism will NEVER agree about such things. We are not slaughtering cows for the INTENTION of hurting, mocking, and defaming Hindu people and their beliefs. Most people do not realize that eating cows is going to hurt a Hindu. They will continue to do so, but with the INTENTION of hurting. The hurt is the byproduct of the action.
In Mr. Meyer’s case, the hurt IS THE INTENTION.
Ah, so it doesn’t matter that what you wrote in your letter was incorrect?
What other things that you believe to be true are also incorrect?
Perhaps that when a priest mumbles some latin words over an ordinary cracker, that the cracker then transubstantiates itself into the physical flesh of Jesus?
If you want to believe in such 10th century magic, that is your right. If disrespect of it offends you, be offended. But, just because you believe in it, doesn’t make it so.
But your being offended does not justify the calls for the expusion of the UCF student, nor the call for censure of Myers, and certainly not the death threats that both have received from “good Christians”.
In this instance, the Catholics, like Donohue, who refer to this as “vile” and a “hate crime”, are as foolish as the muslims who insisted that the Danish newspaper be shut down for printing improper images of thier prophet.
No apology is required from Myers simply because you perceive his statements to be blasphemous and sacriligious, just as the Danish newspaper did not need to apologize for running the cartoon.
As Ghandi once said - “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Why can’t your Christians be more like your Christ?”
Benjamin,
The only point of my letter that was incorrect was that the blog was operated by the university. In that case, assuming that the University distances itself from his opinion (in the form of disclaimer on the website, or the removal of the link), then I would not call for any of the items I mentioned in my letter. The apology would be called for if he was making the blog post under the auspices of the Univeristy. He doesn’t need to apologize to me for not understanding nor believing in the Catholic faith. Also, I did not call for the UCF student’s expulsion, The Catholic League did.
I have no problems with people expressing their opinions as Mr. Myers did. I find his opinion to be crude and not befitting his position as a professor. I have the right to disagree with him, and with you apparently, on the validity of the Eucharist as the real presence of God.
And you are correct. Just because I believe it, doesn’t make it so in the same way that just because YOU don’t believe in it, doesn’t it make it NOT so.
As for Christians not being like Christ. Yes, none of us are. He was perfect. If Ghandi expects perfection then perhaps he ought to have worshiped himself. I don’t think he would have done so. There are many people who do not follow every tenet of their faith. Is that a condemnation of the faith? Or perhaps a condemnation of all faiths?
If you truly believe so, then I believe you are expecting the impossible.
OK reading this is making me nuts. First off Javier has every right to say what he did in the letter to the administration of the collage. Next the intent of Mr. Myers, was to get this result and he has done it. I will pray for his soul and move on. We as humans are called to respect and love each other. The goal of Mr Myers is not either of these things. This is not about cows, crackers or public vs private, it is about respect.
The intentional desecration of any person, group, or religion is WRONG.
Lets debate to topic. If you have an analogy, fine but be sure it follows the rules and is not being used simply to cloud of confuse the issue. In this case religious respect.
Bob
Actually, the Bible endorses and commands the desecration of other religions sometimes. In other words it does command you to desecrate INTENTIONALLY AND TO HURT INTENTIONALLY. Where is Mr. McWilliams getting the idea
that we are called to “love and respect one another”? Is this the same God in which you believe?
Read, for example, Deuteronomy 7:1-5 (RSV):
Deut.7
[1] “When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Gir’gashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Per’izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb’usites, seven nations greater and mightier than yourselves,
[2] and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them; then you must utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them, and show no mercy to them.
[3] You shall not make marriages with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons.
[4] For they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.
[5] But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and hew down their Ashe’rim, and burn their graven images with fire.
[6]
“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth.
The Bible does not endorse this and your references are simply taken out of context. This is not the proper forum for getting into this kind of debate. There are lots of forums for religious debate on the web. I highly recommend The Catholic Answers forums at http://forums.catholic.com. You can ask your question there.
In the matter of Mr. Meyers, he has lost: the university has taken the link off of their site. They have recognized his folly and have acted accordingly.
I consider the matter closed.