Florida student, Webster Cook, Is receiving death threats from enraged catholics after taking the eucharist (a cracker) out of mass without eating it because he wanted to show his friend what it looked like. While official catholic organisations are remaining calm and rational by calling it a "hate crime" other catholics are entirely losing their minds and threatening to break into the students room and take the cracker by force. Father Migeul Gonzalez is remaining rational by comparing the situation to the kidnap and hostage of a human being; "Imagine if they kidnapped somebody and you make a plea for that individual to please return that loved one to the family". Yeah imagine that! It's not even slightly comparable to what actually happened, But imagine it! Atheist blogger PZ Myers got wind of the story and in support of the student asked his readers to get him a holy wafer so he could "treat it with profound disrespect and heinous cracker abuse" and document his activities. Of course this enraged them even further (lol) and prompted Bill Donohue of the catholic league to make a statement in which he said "It is hard to think of anything more vile". Really, Bill? Is it really hard to think of anything more vile than "desecrating" a cracker.
I don't know what I find odder, that people would want to ingest the body of christ in the first place, or that they would choose a cracker to represent the body of christ. If you insist on consuming your lord why not choose a yummy chocolate confection instead of a cracker?
Sorry Stox but this again is an isolated incident and im sure most catholics if not 99% of them would laugh at anyione that would threaten a human being over the eucharist(bread). Jesus stood against violence . Im sure there are zillions of atheists who have killed over less and both are wrong. I condemn violence over something like this as it is totally anticatholic. I have seen many catholics who go to mass with no love in their hearts and it seems like they are going to a funeral. Anyone that threatened this kid is not a true catholic.
They were catholics. I don't think you are the one who gets to decide if people are members of a religion or not.
I think i know my religion a little better then an athiest would know it wouldnt i? Hidden intentions are a funny thing arent they. There is a difference between a mechanical catholic and a catholic that knows his faith and practices it from within his heart. Even Jesus himself wasnt someone who practiced the law in a strict sense. Now the people who got violent against this kid were mechanical catholics. When Jesus was being taken away by the romans one of his disciples struck one of the slaves of the high priest in the ear. he then told his disciple " Sheathe your sword. All who take up the sword will perish by the sword" . A true catholic and a true christian would never take up a sword on something like this ever. Now stox that you know a little more about jesus, may god bless you and always be in your life.
I never said i decide but i know my religion better than you do and these people arent acting as catholics are supposed to. May jesus bless you always stox. I have a feeling one day ill see u at church, then we can pray together my friend
I can't believe how much hate mail PZ Myers is getting from catholics, it is totally out of control. Like this one... I hope PZ Myers doesn't get fired. Instead of the catholics worrying about him, they should worry about members making death threats, that is far worse. The way the church behaved towards that university student has done far more damage to their reputation than PZ Meyers ever could.
I don't understand how it could be construed as kidnapping if handing out Jesus freely. I also don't understand why preserving Jesus for the viewing pleasure of others is sinful or disrespectful. I think it is good that so many are taking the doctrine of transubstantiation so seriously though, if you are gonna believe it you might as well believe it with a fury eh? As far as desecrating the cracker, some of the earliest practices regarding communion by gnostic sects would make your stomach crawl. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borborites
They compare it to kidnapping because he took the edible jesus away and kept it instead of eating it in some kind of creepy symbolic cannibalistic ritual. I hope PZ gets his magic god cracker thing, It will be hilarious. Sometimes provoking the outrage of religious people is the best way to demonstrate how unreasonable a belief in god can make them. I'm sure he wont get fired Rebecca, My guess is his university is run by people a bit smarter than those outraged at this biscuit based "hate crime".
Whoever is threatening his life is crazy. This is something between him and god . The vatican should be condeming the people making death threats. Like i said before u dont hear any death threats by any priests or bishops because they truely understand what our religion is about. Im catholic and it didnt make me go crazy at all. the communion bread is something very holy to the catholic mass but this over reaction is illogical. They shouldnt respond to the student at all, let him show the complete disrespect that atheists have towards all religions. Hate is wrong no matter what. the kid is obviously an athiest by the way he acted during the communion. No physical force should ever even be thought of being used. If they do they wont be any better then the people who issue religious edicts on peoples lives. To stox and his fellow atheiest this is a biscuit but to us catholics it means alot more but it should mean enough to be violent about. PS and the story about someone grabbing his arm is probably false because i never seen a communion cop in my life, and i have been taking the communion bread on and off formore then 30 years. ludicrous.
Yeap I find the ones threatening his life needs to have their head examined, a cracker is a cracker, it is holy to the ones who think it is holy. But in no way can it be an excused to threaten someone's life. I would think it is more of a joke than a real threat. But it is a good thing that chap return it. No point going through all the threats (if they are real) for a cracker. You can get a lot at the supermarket. Frankly he shouldn't be in Church if he is so disrepectful towards the faith. Seemed that he wanted to be confrontational but decided that the price to pay for it is too high.
It would be a PR nightmare if catholic leaders were to threaten his life. I don't think he is atheist, Atheists generally don't go to communion. Is this another case of you deciding who gets to be a member of what religion? It wasn't a communion cop, It was a regular church goer. But it can't be true, because you have never seen it
The problem is not with catholicism. It's with the irrationality of some men when it comes to religious matters.