Teacher threatens 'cracker abuse' with communion wafer

The Catholic League has launched a campaign to bring public scorn on a University of Minnesota-Morris teacher who threatened to treat a consecrated communion wafer, which Catholics believe becomes the body of Christ, "with profound disrespect and heinous cracker abuse."

To which the professor in question, Paul Zachary Myers, responded: "Scumbags."

The issue arose over an argument that didn't even involve Myers.

As WND reported, a student at the University of Central Florida reported getting death threats after he stole and later returned a wafer from a Catholic Mass in Orlando.

The student senator, Webster Cook, originally claimed he merely wanted to show the Eucharist to a friend who had questions about Catholicism before consuming the host

Catholic League president Bill Donohue said then, ""For a student to disrupt Mass by taking the Body of Christ hostage – regardless of the alleged nature of his grievance – is beyond hate speech. That is why the UCF administration needs to act swiftly and decisively in seeing that justice is done. All options should be on the table, including expulsion."

Into which argument Myers leaped.

On a personal webpage which was accessible from the Minnesota-Morris university site, until administrators apparently disconnected it, he wrote under the headline, "It's a Frackin' Cracker!"

"Can anyone out there score me some consecrated communion wafers?" he wrote. "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 … but will instead treat it with profound disrespect and heinous cracker abuse, all photographed and presented here on the http://www.morris.umn.edu/index.php."

The ellipsis deletes a reference to what might be described as a physical attack on the pope. But what got the Catholic League's attention was the ending of the web address, the University of Minnesota at Morris.

"The Myers blog can be accessed from the university's website. The university has a policy statement on this issue which says that the 'Contents of all electronic pages must be consistent with University of Minnesota policies, local, state and federal laws.' One of the school's policies, 'Code of Conduct,' says that 'When dealing with others, 'faculty et al. must be 'respectful, fair and civil.' Accordingly, we are contacting the president and board of regents to see what they are going to do about this matter. Because the university is a state institution, we are also contacting the Minnesota legislature," Donohoe said.

Myers, instead of backing off, stepped up his attacks.

"Extortionists and witch hunters, that's all these scumbags are," he wrote. "When dealing with others, I must be respectful, fair and civil. Hmmm. Doesn't seem to say anything about when dealing with crackers."

"Hey, Bill! I can think of something more vile! How about intentionally desecrating the bodies of young altar boys who respect the position of trust held by Catholic priests? I think that is a lot more vile than mistreating a cracker. In fact, I can think of innumerable vile acts going on all around the world right now, and not all of them even involve Catholicism. It takes the moral vacuum of a purblind ideological bigot like Bill Donohue to think that goring his sacred cow is the worst thing in the world," said the entry "Posted by PZ Myers."

In the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Myers described himself as a card-carrying atheist, and said he'd gotten a few death threats over his words, "but I don't take them too seriously."

The newspaper, however, got dozens of comments about the situation, and Myers got hundreds.

"Would liberals feel the same if: Professor had blog ranting against blacks and showing nooses? It's only rope. Professor ranted against homosexuals and displayed burning rainbow flags? It's only fabric. Professor advocated taking pork into a mosque and called all muslims terrorists? It's only paper. With liberals, tolerance is a one-way street. You either agree with them, or are subject to thought crimes," wrote eloopd.

"If Mr. Myers made disparaging remarks against Islam, Jews or Buddhists – any religion but Christian – he would be fired, but since it is against Christians his remarks are tolerated as free speech. This is bigoted hate crime against Christians and Catholics. He should be fired. He won't because at the UofM this is acceptable," added KTG.

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