PZ Myers has issued a call for a consecrated wafer, I think so that he can desecrate with some Cheez Whiz or maybe by transforming it into scat through that miracle called digestion, and now he has Catholics (some likening the theft of the host to kidnapping) and even a few atheists condemning him. As much as I’m against a freeway Wafer Alert system and in favor of just about anything that will twist Bill Donahue’s panties into painful knots, I’m not with PZ on this one.
I’m not sure that I agree with some of his critics, either. Here’s one such objection to PZ and the New Atheism from Freddie at L’Hôte:
It makes sense because the goal of the new atheism has never been to convert. It has never been to include. It has never been to change minds. The ridicule is the goal; the contempt is the end; the sheer fun of sanctimony, self-righteousness and loathing are the purpose. Go to Youtube and look for all the young atheists proudly telling their webcams that Jesus is a lie and religion is a fantasy and God is a disease and on and on…. Do they really want to convince anyone? No. What they want is to feel that they are better than others. They want to insult for the joy of insulting. They want a sense of superiority, one I imagine is often denied in their lives, and by ridiculing something others find sacred, they find their method. This is classic adversary philosophy: I think this thing is true because in its being true it debases you and elevates me.
While this may be true for many atheists (and certainly it’s used regularly by pastors, priests, rabbis and imams as well), there are plenty of skeptics who are justifiably angry at religion. Many have recently escaped from untenable situations and have earned the right to rant a bit. It may even be healing, if they don’t stay immersed in their anger for too long. And they do convince a few people, who learn that they’re not alone in their unbelief and their anger.
I’ve been in that angry moment. I didn’t feel superior. I was pissed off that so much of my life was stolen from me. I felt betrayed by people and institutions that I trusted. I was promised the universe and it was all torn away from me. This wasn’t superiority. What I felt was grief, anguish, and some serious indignation. I’m sure that others felt/feel the same.
4 responses so far ↓
1 xJane // Jul 15, 2008 at 2:44 pm
I’m of two minds on this as well: I neither agree with PZ nor with his detractors. When I first read his ”threat“ to the Host, I was taken aback, but assumed it was rather in jest or in the heat of the annoyed moment (here it is for those wondering:)
But he’s not backing down from it. I’ve certainly been in the place where I might say that, but I would probably not actually act it out. I wonder if he’s painted himself into a bit of a corner on this. I broadly agree with him that “it’s a frackin’ cracker”, I’m not sure where I draw the line…but I know he’s crossed it. He’s often stated that “these people” (the religious) are not deserving of respect, since they’re either crazy, stupid, or both. But I think they are deserving of respect. And as such, things that they hold to be holy are also deserving of respect. Thus, the Koran ought not be flushed down the toilet, Hosts ought not be cheez-wizzed (although, for that matter, I think cheeze-wiz is a high crime in itself that ought never be performed on anything), and the Hill of Tara ought not have a freeway running through her.
That said, I might well enjoy participation in Host desecration; it goes well with wine, perhaps we should add some (real) cheese to perfect the Californian Trinity of crackers, wine, and a cheese. But that’s more because I’m not quite over my stint as a Catholic. Nor am I an impartial observer.
There was an interview with PZM about this which, I think, helps define his particular attitude toward the (what others think is) sacred:
So, broadly, something singular that someone might find sacred (my mother’s grave, as the saying goes; or perhaps a grandfather’s Bowie knife; or a Rosary blessed by the Pope) is off limits, even to the atheist full “of sanctimony, self-righteousness and loathing”; but Chick Tracts, plastic Rosaries, and Gideon Bibles (maybe even English Koran translations) are fair game. I’m still not sure I agree, but it’s much closer to something I can agree with than is “profound disrespect and heinous cracker abuse, all photographed and presented here on the web”.
2 Brian // Jul 15, 2008 at 8:19 pm
I was shocked, angered, and deeply saddened when I read this last week. The shock and anger quickly wore off, but the sadness remains. It saddens me that there are people who think so little of other human beings that they would go out of their way to do something so hurtful and offensive. As he admits, there can really be no more disgusting act than such a desecration for hundreds of millions of Catholics and other Christians who believe in some form of “Real Presence” in the sacrament. If you’re angry at Bill Donahue, fine, call him up and ask him if his refrigerator is running in the middle of the night. I don’t care if he makes sex toys out of rosary beads or rearranges the letters in a bible to spell “poop fart penis” over and over. But this is…much more personal, and it affects not just Bill and PZ, but myself and every other Catholic. Any Catholic can tell you that the sacrament of Holy Eucharist is to our relationship with God what sex is to the relationship between a woman and her husband. It is a loving consummation, a giving of self, a sustaining and nourishing bond. It commemorates Jesus’ death for us, and our death of self for Him. It is a declaration of union between we members of His Body, imperfect, sinful, and stumbling though we may be.
I’m saddened that someone would want to do this. I’m saddened that this is the state of “civilized” discourse in our age. I’m saddened that I and other Christians contribute to such ill will through our failure to live up to our ideals, and that some of us have reacted in this matter in ways directly contrary to those ideals. I don’t know what else to say. I don’t know what else to do, but to pray, as I am commanded (Matt 5:44). I pray, as I am sure Jesus would pray, that God forgive all of us, for we do not know what we do.
3 sarah k. // Jul 17, 2008 at 10:50 am
It is such a juvenile acting-out that I can both see how people would be drawn to the spectacle of it, and despair at the fact that his mommy didn’t teach him no respect. He’s just acting like a bratty 13-year old trying to provoke his parents who won’t let him drive the car by acting lewdly at the mall and crying for attention.
4 xJane // Aug 4, 2008 at 9:47 am
I’d like to continue this conversation a bit; PZ has posted a new development, a review of his desecration by a random pundit and his response thereto. And once again, I am inspired to quote him at length, because I agree with him:
If he were invited to a (religious) family member’s wedding/funeral, I would fully expect him to act respectfully: kneeling, sitting, standing at all the appropriate times. If he were to find himself in a church beside a friend, I would expect the same. Just as I wore hijab when I visited a mosque with my friend. We may privately think that all the kneeling and standing is just a way to keep people from falling asleep, or that covering one’s hair (”the crown of a woman”) is dated and backward, but in the context of people who we know and like, they are acts deserving of respect; even if it’s just lip service.
And, sometimes, we need bratty 13-year olds to remind us that we were young too. So, too, do we need iconoclasts reminding us that nothing is sacred, that all things should be questioned. And though he knows much more biology than I, I would feel comfortable auditing his class and asking questions when something didn’t seem right to me. And I would expect answers until I was satisfied. That’s much more than I would get in any house of worship.
I’m not sure I’ve gotten to the point of defending him, but his defenses of himself make sense to me. He’s no Andres Serrano and I’m sure would never classify this as “art”. But social commentary indeed it is. And I think society at large probably needs to hear it.
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