I feel sorry for this student.
Yes, I think if he participates in a communion service, he should follow the rules. Yes, I think his demand for an apology for being "physically assaulted" was brash. But he has returned the wafer. Perhaps I am unduly influenced by my hope that, had he planned to protest, he would have learned basic facts about the first amendment--but based on the news reports, I do not believe that he planned all along to be disruptive.
Now, as the story has been picked up by CNN and of course countless blogs, the local diocese has weighed in:
"We don't know 100% what Mr. Cooks 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."
We just expect the University to take this seriously," she added "To send a message to not just Mr. Cook but the whole community that this kind of really complete sacrilege will not be tolerated."
A hate crime? Really complete sacrilege? Seriously? Not just regular sacrilege? I'm not surprised when your average blog commenter threatens violence, or even when the Catholic League's Bill Donohue calls for the student's expulsion, but I expected that an official spokesperson would reserve the extreme language for actual crimes with actual victims who actually suffer.
This student's act--as offensive as it apparently is--would not be the worst indignity that God has endured. Surely He can prevail against a baggie.
Apparently, he was attempting to show one of his friends what the wafer really was. An educational moment that could have happened after mass with the priest or whoever, but the priest who commented that his act was one of "kidnapping" is a little overzealous in his analysis of the situation.
I'm pretty sure that Jesus was okay with Webster Cook taking a wafer, I mean, Jesus didn't say he couldn't....
Posted by: UU College Student | July 09, 2008 at 09:17 PM
How long will it take for this incident to appear in a South Park episode?
Posted by: Steve Caldwell | July 11, 2008 at 01:16 AM