Comments on: Invasion of the Body (of Christ) Snatcher http://www.coriolinus.net/2008/07/10/invasion-of-the-body-of-christ-snatcher/ read, and be entertained Thu, 16 Jun 2011 07:31:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: coriolinus http://www.coriolinus.net/2008/07/10/invasion-of-the-body-of-christ-snatcher/comment-page-1/#comment-1529 coriolinus Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:46:26 +0000 http://www.coriolinus.net/?p=2168#comment-1529 I don't dispute that you believe it to be holy. You have every right to believe what you want. The student in this case wasn't even trying to be disrespectful or irreverent; his intention was benign. He got upset and stubborn when someone physically grabbed him, but I can't fault him for that. Regardless of the intentions, failure to immediately eat the wafer is a problem only to people who share the belief that it is holy. I would have no issue if he were excommunicated, or forever banned from that particular church; it'd be a religious solution to a religious problem. Attempting to expel him from college is another issue entirely; if that attempt succeeds, it sets a very bad precendent. It would mean that anyone breaking any precept of any religion could be brought to task by members of that religion; this would unfairly persecute people who were in the minority in their beliefs in their community. I don’t dispute that you believe it to be holy. You have every right to believe what you want.

The student in this case wasn’t even trying to be disrespectful or irreverent; his intention was benign. He got upset and stubborn when someone physically grabbed him, but I can’t fault him for that.

Regardless of the intentions, failure to immediately eat the wafer is a problem only to people who share the belief that it is holy. I would have no issue if he were excommunicated, or forever banned from that particular church; it’d be a religious solution to a religious problem. Attempting to expel him from college is another issue entirely; if that attempt succeeds, it sets a very bad precendent. It would mean that anyone breaking any precept of any religion could be brought to task by members of that religion; this would unfairly persecute people who were in the minority in their beliefs in their community.

]]> By: drgoodspeed http://www.coriolinus.net/2008/07/10/invasion-of-the-body-of-christ-snatcher/comment-page-1/#comment-1528 drgoodspeed Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:03:01 +0000 http://www.coriolinus.net/?p=2168#comment-1528 Be careful here. That the wafer is holy is not a silly belief--it is the central belief of the Catholic church--yes, a mystical belief--the Christ continues to be present in this world in the Holy Eucharist, and that the bread is no longer bread, but the Body of Christ. The Body deserves reverence. Be careful here. That the wafer is holy is not a silly belief–it is the central belief of the Catholic church–yes, a mystical belief–the Christ continues to be present in this world in the Holy Eucharist, and that the bread is no longer bread, but the Body of Christ. The Body deserves reverence.

]]> By: Rourke http://www.coriolinus.net/2008/07/10/invasion-of-the-body-of-christ-snatcher/comment-page-1/#comment-1526 Rourke Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:21:55 +0000 http://www.coriolinus.net/?p=2168#comment-1526 Your opinion on this here is pretty much the same as mine. I mean, I don't think the people at Holy Rosary would have grabbed the student like that, either, but I also agree with you that "any organization of sufficient size is bound to have idiots with authority somewhere, and given enough of those for enough time, one of them will make a scene and shame the entire organization". Frankly, what frustrates me the most about the Catholic Church is not its fundamentalist wing or the old elite in the Vatican, but the fact that otherwise intelligent, reasonable people -- like the adults we knew as kids at Holy Rosary -- continue to believe in a Church whose beliefs are illogical and downright silly at times. In other words, the woman grabbed the student because she felt the wafer was "holy", and <i>that</i> silly belief in itself saddens me. I, too, am dismayed by the fact that, though unlikely, there's <i>technically</i> a chance of him getting expelled... all over some small misunderstanding due to silly beliefs. Your opinion on this here is pretty much the same as mine. I mean, I don’t think the people at Holy Rosary would have grabbed the student like that, either, but I also agree with you that “any organization of sufficient size is bound to have idiots with authority somewhere, and given enough of those for enough time, one of them will make a scene and shame the entire organization”.

Frankly, what frustrates me the most about the Catholic Church is not its fundamentalist wing or the old elite in the Vatican, but the fact that otherwise intelligent, reasonable people — like the adults we knew as kids at Holy Rosary — continue to believe in a Church whose beliefs are illogical and downright silly at times. In other words, the woman grabbed the student because she felt the wafer was “holy”, and that silly belief in itself saddens me. I, too, am dismayed by the fact that, though unlikely, there’s technically a chance of him getting expelled… all over some small misunderstanding due to silly beliefs.

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