| Campus Inquirer | August 2008 |
Opinion: Reflections on Crackergate
by Max Jackson, Campus Freethought Alliance at UCF One Sunday, Webster Cook found himself under attack, verbally and physically, during a Mass hosted by Campus Catholic Ministries at the University of Central Florida. Why? For walking away with the Eucharist wafer rather than putting it in his mouth. He would tell you that he just wanted to show it to his friend. The Florida media would tell you that he was just an immature, destructive troublemaker (or according to Fox News, committing a hate crime). Regardless of his intent, there resulted a violent altercation. Webster was verbally and physically coerced towards either returning the Eucharist or swallowing it. He stubbornly refused to do either, confused and indignant at the startling and unexpected violence. He walked away with the Eucharist, keeping it in a drawer in his home until he could speak with a bishop about the use of violence in its attempted reclamation. This is when the sensationalism started. "BODY OF CHRIST HELD HOSTAGE" wailed one over-dramatized headline, with videos of teary-eyed priests begging Webster to return this most precious of artifacts. Webster was portrayed as an immature, attention-craving rogue, and the Catholic world tore into him. There are some dark, bitter ironies to all of this, foremost being the acronym "WWJD?" that was more likely than not in that room somewhere on that day. What would Jesus have done? I might be ignorant about it, but my shallow understanding of Christianity indicates that Jesus would more closely resemble Webster here than the Catholics—which isn't to give him messianic implications. Webster acted very stubbornly, and the entire incident could easily have been avoided had he acquiesced to their demands and returned the cracker during the service. His actions, however stubborn, were nevertheless in the right. There are some even worse implications here, and if you are reading this then you and I probably share the same views on them. There were legions of people who would have proudly murdered Webster and his family, the promised heavenly reward fueling their defiance of man's mortal law. Ironic that many of those who craved Webster's blood on their hands were likely the same people who wept for the innocent lives tragically lost on September 11th. Ask yourself this: how would America have reacted had Webster stepped on Muslim toes? We cannot afford to ignore the implications here. Religion has its good and its bad, but its worst evils are far from gone. It is important for the faithful and skeptical alike to recognize the need for reform, for compassion, for a rational approach to life. The West is not immune from evil, and an unfortunate many of those who point the finger at the Muslim world for being backwards are guilty of the same faults. The incident is largely behind us, but the lessons remain: promoting free inquiry in a world that craves emotional satisfaction over truth will prove difficult and highly challenging. Ours is a battle not just against religion and superstition, but against human nature itself. However, progress continues, and with hard work and dedicated effort, we can all make a difference. Max Jackson is president of the Campus Freethought Alliance at the University of Central Florida and is a Campus Regional Director for the Center for Inquiry. He is majoring in psychology and political science and minoring in anthropology.
Upcoming Events September 7, 11:00 a.m.
Gayle Greene: "Insomniac's Slant On Sleep"
CFI Los Angeles, CA September 8, 6:30 p.m.
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Victor Stenger: "God: the Failed Hypothesis"
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Student Volunteer Opportunities with the Center for Inquiry Get involved with the campus freethought movement on the international scale! You can contribute your knowledge and wisdom as an experienced campus group leader, or donate your design or writing skills.  CFI is looking for student volunteers to advance reason, science, and freedom of inquiry on campuses at the national or international level. Below are brief descriptions of the volunteer committees:
Activism: The chair of the committee works in coordination with CFI's new Office of Public Policy in Washington, D.C., to help implement grassroots activism campaigns. Digital Media Outreach: assists in creating multimedia resources for the CFI On Campus website and viral videos for outreach. Promotions: designs campus promotional materials including stickers, buttons, brochures, flyers, and posters.  Podcast: contributes to the Course of Reason, CFI's new podcast highlighting campus freethought activism.
Publications: helps coordinate revisions of CFI’s Campus Group Organizing Guide and contributes to the Campus Inquirer, the Secular Humanist Bulletin, and other publications at CFI. Web: assists in developing and expanding CFI's campus website. To get involved with a committee or for more information about the committees, e-mail Debbie Goddard at dgoddard [at] centerforinquiry.net.
New CFI Campus Groups We would like to welcome eighteen new affiliate and prospective CFI campus groups that have joined CFI since May: Canada: (alphabetical by province) Mount Royal College, Calgary, AB
Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS
Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON
Nipissing University, North Bay, ON
University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Ajax, ON
 University of Toronto at Mississauga, ON
University of Toronto at Scarborough, Brampton, ON
University of Western Ontario, London, ON
McGill University, Montreal, QC United States: (alphabetical by state) Metropolitan State College of Denver, Englewood, CO
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Derby High School, Derby, KS
Boston University, MA
University of North Carolina at Asheville, NC
Monroe Community College, Ontario, NY
SUNY Stony Brook University, NY
Texas Wesleyan University, Arlington, TX
Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT To get involved with a group, e-mail Dan Riley at driley [at] centerforinquiry.net, or go to www.centerforinquiry.net/oncampus to help start a group on your campus.
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