In case you missed it, PZ Myers has created quite a stir by taking a consecrated wafer from a Catholic Church with the express intent of desecrating it. He has a point, naturally:
By the way, I didn’t want to single out just the cracker, so I nailed it to a few ripped-out pages from the Qur’an and The God Delusion. They are just paper. Nothing must be held sacred. Question everything. God is not great, Jesus is not your lord, you are not disciples of any charismatic prophet. You are all human beings who must make your way through your life by thinking and learning, and you have the job of advancing humanity’s knowledge by winnowing out the errors of past generations and finding deeper understanding of reality. You will not find wisdom in rituals and sacraments and dogma, which build only self-satisfied ignorance, but you can find truth by looking at your world with fresh eyes and a questioning mind.
Does the idea that “nothing must be held sacred” include the notion of individual liberties such as the one Myers utilized ought be protected? Just asking.
But never mind. It was interesting to me that Meyers was surprised not by the overwhelming reaction by Catholics, but that there are Catholics at all!
Catholicism has been actively poisoning the minds of its practitioners with the most amazing bullshit for years, and until recently, I had no idea that a significant number of people actually believed this nonsense, or that the hatred was still simmering there, waiting for an opportunity to rise up in misplaced defense of absurdity.
Apparently, Mr. Myers doesn’t get out much.
Catholics, of course, are unamused at his theatrics–the eminently reasonable Jimmy Akin is calling for his job. The university may actually have some grounds for corrective action, given that its Code of Conduct requires that all university employees be fair and respectful to others. Whatever Mr. Meyers has done, it clearly has not been that.
Question for the non-religious readers: what make you of Myers’ actions? Anyone want to rush to his defense?
(Update: Stupid spelling error corrected. Good heaven’s, it’s becoming a trend!)