My Stupid State, part eleventy-seven

[chequita guevara]

Florida University Charges Student with 'Blasphemy by Association'

Forget for a moment, if you can, the sight of Catholics rending their garments and bewailing the "kidnapping" of a Communion cracker. Ignore, if you will, the bloviating antics of Bill Donohue of the Catholic League, whose apparent purpose for existence is to manufacture outrage at the lack of respect the world gives to Catholicism, one of the largest religions in the world. Set aside, if possible, the sheer, disgusting, pig-headed wrongness of the plethora of religious nutjobs who have sent both Webster Cook and PZ Myers death-threats over their lack of respect for, as Myers puts it, the holy cracker.

The University of Central Florida is considering expelling a student whose apparent "crime" is having witnessed this brouhaha, firsthand.

[chequita guevara]

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_education_edblog/2008/07/ucf-student-who.html

[Imran Siddiqui]

Which places the University of Central Florida exactly where, on the scale of odious nonsense? UCF is a public university, the largest in the state of Florida, and the sixth largest in the nation.

UCF is SOOO going to lose.

[Ben Kenobi]

Are you forgetting the fact that he tore up a Koran too?

What are your thoughts about that?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Who, che or me?

On my part: who cares? If he did it to piss off Muslims on campus, then you can take him off the student board or something, but you shouldn't be able to expel him from a public university for exercising his freedom of speech and religion.

[BlackCat]

Aren't you aware of the fact that offending a religion is a crime against humanity ?

Edit: Oh, this is to Che.

[Ben Kenobi]

Reading the source in the OP.

1. Freedom of religion and expression doesn't apply to private worship spaces. He ought to be expelled.

You don't have the right to disrupt a mass for your own political agenda. Nor do you have the right to steal things that are precious in a church. This is no different then stealing a Koran from a mosque in the middle of the service and then ripping it to pieces in front of everyone there.

You'd be lucky to get out with your life if you tried that in a mosque.

Yes, you are allowed whatever freedoms you want, but you don't have the right to interfere with other people's freedom of religion, and you certainly do not have the right to steal things from the church.

He should be expelled, and rightfully so for his lack of respect for the rights of other people.

I get it that you don't like the Catholic church. Fine. Don't go. Don't bother the people in the church who do go. Leave them be and let them worship in peace.

[chequita guevara]

Uhm, the mass was held on public property, i.e., the University of Central Florida. Not a private space nor a private service. Anyone is allowed to attend. They weren't being disruptive until someone made an issue of the young man not consuming the waffer.

In any event, the student who did nothing wrong is also being punished. All he did was express a desire to see the waffer. The school is considering expelling him for what? Sitting there?

[snoopy369]

*ack* ... it's WAFER, not WAFFER. The latter is probably a belgian heresy or something

[DanS]

Not consuming the wafer is pretty serious. I wonder what he was trying to accomplish.

[Imran Siddiqui]

the mass was held on public property, i.e., the University of Central Florida. Not a private space nor a private service.

Being expelled for taking a wafer, without any malicious intent is a bit ridiculous. If he was taking the wafer because he wanted to steal from the church and cause discord, then punish him strongly, by all means.

Also, as che pointed out, the guy sitting there, doing nothing is who is being expelled.

[Ben Kenobi]

Uhm, the mass was held on public property, i.e., the University of Central Florida.

It says that the chapel is on the campus, not that the chapel is the property of the University of Central Florida.

It's private religious space. He doesn't have the right to disrupt the mass under any circumstances.

Anyone is allowed to attend.

And anyone can be booted out if they are disruptive, which happened here.

They weren't being disruptive until someone made an issue of the young man not consuming the waffer.

Yes, it's a big issue. No one should take communion unless they are Catholic, and the parish I go to makes that clear to visitors, that they aren't supposed to take communion unless they are confirmed Catholics.

He did two things. One, he disregarded the warning. Even if he was curious, he should not have disregarded the warning.

Two, he disrupted the mass in showing the wafer, "hey I stole a wafer," after being warned that he should not do so.

The school is considering expelling him for what?

For his lack of respect of Catholics, and the religious rights of other people.

If he was willing to apologise for the incident, then that would solve this issue.

As for the student who was there who did not take the wafer, I don't understand why the university would expel him, unless it wasn't clear who was involved. You can't be held responsible for something you didn't do.

[-Jrabbit]

wtf?!?!?

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
you certainly do not have the right to steal things from the church.

They gave him the wafer!

[Ben Kenobi]

Also, as che pointed out, the guy sitting there, doing nothing is who is being expelled.

Unless they can show collaboration, I don't see why.

This makes me even more intrigued what was actually going on there. Why just the one of them, and not both. If they didn't have a clue about the wafer, wouldn't they both have gotten up to receive?

If they knew and wanted to steal a wafer, then it makes sense that one would go up and the other would stay behind.