Difference between revisions of "2008 sacred wafer scandal"

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(also, we don't use religious terms except in the context of explaining them.)
(→‎Overview: moved the "undisputed facts" section to its own page; added "conclusions")
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'''Also known as''': Crackergate, Wafergate, Wafer Madness
 
'''Also known as''': Crackergate, Wafergate, Wafer Madness
 
==Overview==
 
==Overview==
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===the undisputed facts===
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* [[/facts]]: the facts which are not in dispute
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[[category:events]]The [[2008 sacred wafer scandal]] began on 2008-06-29 when [[University of Central Florida]] undergraduate student government senator [[Webster Cook]] was attending [[communion]] at the University's [[Catholic Campus Ministries]] club service on the UCF campus in Orlando, [[Florida]]. As part of the communion ritual, he was given an item referred to by Catholics as a [[consecrated host]] – which is, in practical terms, a [[Eucharist wafer|particular type of edible wafer]] which has been subjected to a Catholic [[consecration]] ceremony – with the understanding that he was to eat it as part of the Catholic [[Eucharist]] ceremony.
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* '''discussion'''
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** [[/Catholic League]]: their position, with analysis
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Wishing to show the item to a fellow student senator in order to explain more about the [[Catholic]] faith, he retained it and went to sit down, intending to eat it afterwards. Someone apparently objected to this [and apparently there is some dispute over whether this was an unfortunate event or not, although it is common enough in many Catholic churches], and attempted to wrestle it from Mr. Cook's hands:
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** [[/John Pieret vs. Woozle]]: attempt to map out a very long, tangled dialogue
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===conclusions===
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{{excerpt|From a [[WFTV]] [[2008-07-05 Body Of Christ Snatched From Church, Held Hostage By UCF Student|report]], 2008-07-05:}}
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The [[Catholic Church]], by its failure in this matter to rebuke those behaving poorly in its name or in its defense – especially those who claimed that Cook's act was "worse than a hate crime" – has merely sealed the coffin of its [[moral authority]], already decimated by its indefensible stances on [[assisted suicide]], [[contraception]], and other issues. --[[User:Woozle|Woozle]] 14:43, 10 October 2008 (UTC)
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"When I received the Eucharist, my intention was to bring it back to my seat to show him*," Cook said. "I took about three steps from the woman distributing the Eucharist and someone grabbed the inside of my elbow and blocked the path in front of me. At that point I put it in my mouth so they'd leave me alone and I went back to my seat and I removed it from my mouth."
 
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A church leader was watching, confronted Cook and tried to recover the sacred bread. Cook said she crossed the line and that's why he brought it home with him.
 
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"She came up behind me, grabbed my wrist with her right hand, with her left hand grabbed my fingers and was trying to pry them open to get the Eucharist out of my hand," Cook said, adding she wouldn't immediately take her hands off him despite several requests.
 
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{{-excerpt|* "him" refers to Cook's fellow student senator who was visiting the church with Cook}}
 
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It is apparently more or less at this point that Mr. Cook left the church, taking the item with him.
 
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The Catholic community promptly went into an uproar, fueled in part by remarks by officials at The [[Catholic League (US)]], a Catholic advocacy organization not affiliated with the [[Catholic Church]]:
 
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{{excerpt|from a [[Fox News]] Orlando [[2008-07-07 Student Who Took Religious Icon Getting Death Threats|report]], 2008-07-07:}}
 
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“We don’t know 100% what Mr. Cook's motivation was,” said Susan Fani, a spokesperson with the local Catholic diocese.  “However, if anything were to qualify as a [[hate crime]], to us this seems like this might be it.”
 
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{{-excerpt|The article would appear to be misleading about Ms. Fani's affiliation; she is with the Catholic League's local diocese branch, not a member of the [[diocese]] itself [http://www.onenewsnow.com/Election2008/Default.aspx?id=152074]}}
 
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Mr. Cook subsequently received threats of [[death threat|death]] and other harm from those supporting the Catholic side of the disagreement. He also returned the item, apparently never having intended to keep it indefinitely or harm it, though the death threats may have played a part in his decision.
 
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The story apparently first hit the web on July 5 in an [[[[2008-07-05 Body Of Christ Snatched From Church, Held Hostage By UCF Student|online article]] by [[WFTV]] 9, a local TV station.
 
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On '''July 6''', a [[2008-07-06 Student Holds Eucharist Hostage|post]] on the [[Creative Minority Report]] blog strongly condemned Cook's actions and many commenters on the posting were also supportive of further physical action against Mr. Cook. The blog moderator shut down commenting apparently due to a number of dissenting comments, however, which he claimed did not "follow the rules"; these comments were also removed.
 
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On '''July 7''', the Orlando [[Fox News]] affiliate [[2008-07-07 Student Who Took Religious Icon Getting Death Threats|reported]] that Cook was receiving death threats. This article and the July 5 WFTV article apparently came to the attention of [[PZ Myers]], outspoken defender and advocate of [[atheism]].
 
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On '''July 8''', PZ [[2008-07-08 IT'S A FRACKIN’ CRACKER!|posted]] in Webb's support, decrying the responses of the Catholic community as "Dark Age superstition and malice, all thriving with the endorsement of secular institutions here in 21st century America" and "a culture of deluded lunatics" and sending out a call for further ritually-prepared crackers on which he planned to commit more "desecration".
 
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At this point, PZ himself became the target of death threats and attempts by Catholic League president [[Bill Donohue]] to have PZ fired or otherwise censured for his conduct. Much debate ensued throughout the blogosphere, and the dust has not yet settled as of this writing.
 
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On '''July 13''', a Pharyngula reader obtained a consecrated Host from a service at the Brompton Oratory, London (recording a [[youtube:FHPZFsGrt-Y|video of the abduction]] in the process), and subsequently mailed it to PZ for desecration. (He later leaves a [[2008-07-30 The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy doesn't like me/comment 216|comment]] on Pharyngula taking credit for the deed and providing a video link.)
 
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On or about '''July 23''', PZ desecrates the cracker, along with one copy each of the [[Koran]] and ''[[The God Delusion]]''.
 
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On '''July 24''', the [[Confraternity of Catholic Clergy]] calls for PZ to be fired.
 
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===discussion===
 
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* [[/Catholic League]]: discussion of their position
 
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* [[/John Pieret vs. Woozle]]: attempt to map out a very long, tangled dialogue
 
  
 
==Links==
 
==Links==

Revision as of 14:43, 10 October 2008

Also known as: Crackergate, Wafergate, Wafer Madness

Overview

conclusions

The Catholic Church, by its failure in this matter to rebuke those behaving poorly in its name or in its defense – especially those who claimed that Cook's act was "worse than a hate crime" – has merely sealed the coffin of its moral authority, already decimated by its indefensible stances on assisted suicide, contraception, and other issues. --Woozle 14:43, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

Links

Filed

  1. redirect template:links/smw

Timeline

Some of these links have been filed, but not all

  • 2008-07-08 IT'S A FRACKIN’ CRACKER!: PZ asks for more samples of the Host upon which to commit sacrilege and thereby somehow threaten the Catholic faith with a fate worse than death; PZ shuts down the comments at #1007 in order to reduce load on the server, but posts "fresh crackers!" specifically for further comments.
  • 2008-07-10
    • Fight back against Bill Donohue!: The president of the Catholic League is putting pressure on both the UMM and the State of Minnesota to "do something" about this horrible desecration, regarding which it is apparently "hard to think of anything more vile". o.0 Comments are shut down at #1227, and "Internet getting full" is opened for further comments.
    • Fresh crackers!: 579 comments as of this writing
    • Commentary: It Gets Me! "So Bill Donohue, bumbling idiot, decides to go after my favorite blogger, all-around nice guy (except to religion!), and professor PZ Myers... ...For a cracker." Author admits to having abducted not one but two communion wafers without eating them.
    • Letters of support for PZ:
  • 2008-07-11
  • 2008-07-12
  • 2008-07-13: Mail dump: PZ posts a couple of insanely vile hate emails he recieved, along with full headers. The Pharyngulites go to work and are able to track down substantial identifying information on both of them.
  • 2008-07-14: Letter of support for PZ: En Tequila. Key point: people are more important than symbols.

Reference: Support PZ blog

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