READER ALERT: The Red Envelope Project

After receiving the following as an email from fellow homeschoolers and from people in my church, I thought I'd copy it here, taken from The Red Envelope Project.org

The Story...
Below is a letter that has been circulating with a great idea. The message began in silent prayer from a faithful follower

Dear Friends and Intercessors:

This afternoon I was praying about a number of things, and my mind began to wander. I was deeply distressed at the symbolic actions that President Obama took as he began his presidency. Namely, that he signed executive orders releasing funds to pay for abortions, permission to fund human stem cell research, and federal funding for contraception. I have been involved in the pro-life movement for nearly 20 years, and it pained my heart to see a man and a political party committed to the shedding of innocent blood. This man, and this party lead our country, but they do not represent me or the 54% of Americans who believe that abortion is wrong and should no longer be legal.

As I was praying, I believe that God gave me an interesting idea. Out in the garage I have a box of red envelopes. Like the powerful image of the red LIFE tape, an empty red envelope will send a message to Barack Obama that there is moral outrage in this country over this issue. It will be quiet, but clear.

Here is what I would like you to do:

Get a red envelope. You can buy them at Kinko's, or at party supply stores. On the front, address it to:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington , D.C. 20500

On the back, write the following message.

This envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception.

Put it in the mail, and send it. Then send this website to
every one of your friends who you think would send one too. I wish we could send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died before having a a chance to live. Maybe it will change the heart of the president.

Warmly,
[Unknown]

Let's Send 50 Million red envelopes (and Counting)
to the President!

READER ALERT: Day of Reparation Proposed After Professor Desecrates Host

Desecration of Host Not Seen as Free Speech: Confraternity Proposes Prayer Day in Reparation
JULY 30, 2008

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania- The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy is proposing Friday as a national day of prayer and fasting in the wake of the desecration of the Eucharist by a Minnesota professor.

Father John Trigilio, Jr., the president of the confraternity, a U.S. association of 600 priests and deacons, sent out a statement this week asking Catholics "to join in a day of prayer and fasting that such offenses never happen again."

Paul Myers, a professor of biology at the University of Minnesota at Morris, says he desecrated the Eucharist by piercing it with a rusty nail, then he threw it into the trash.

The self-professed atheist wrote about the incident on his blog and posted a photo of the desecrated host.

The statement of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy said it found the actions of Myers "reprehensible, inexcusable, and unconstitutional. His flagrant display of irreverence by profaning a consecrated Host from a Catholic Church goes beyond the limit of academic freedom and free speech."

"Attacking the most sacred elements of a religion is not free speech any more than would be perjury in a court or libel in a newspaper,"added the text.

Father Trigilio told ZENIT that the congregation is asking the faithful to make a holy hour before the Eucharist on August 1, the feast of St. Alphonsus Ligouri, and to fast in "reparation for the sacrilegious desecration of the Holy Eucharist.




Copyright (c) 2008 Zenit News Agency. All rights reserved.

READER ALERT: Update on Professor Paul Myers' hate attack

Paul Zachary Myers, benighted professor of biology at the University of Minnesota Morris, looks to be having a great big giant fatwa opened up on his head with his latest hysterical rant that he will desercrate both the Eucharist and a copy of the Koran in a childish display of equal opportunity bigotry. Click here to read last week's Wednesday update and here for the original reader alert post from July 11.

Below, copied with permission from the Catholic League's website, is the latest statement from president Bill Donohue:

MYERS TO DESECRATE EUCHARIST AND KORAN
July 22, 2008

On July 15, Catholic League president Bill Donohue called attention to the way Professor Paul Z. Myers of the University of Minnesota treats Catholicism and Islam: the biologist’s pledge to desecrate the Eucharist contrasts starkly with the deference he has shown to Islam.
Now Myers says that “Thanks to all those who have demanded that I treat that silly book [the Koran] with disrespect, I’ll have to treat both equally.”

Donohue responded today:

“The latest threat by Myers only makes matters worse. Instead of treating Catholicism with the respect he has previously shown for Islam, he now pledges to disrespect Islam the way he pledges to disrespect Catholicism (once again!). This is his idea of equal treatment.

“Much has been written about the moral vacuity that marks the Darwinian vision of society that Myers embraces. He now has a grand opportunity to rebut those critics. Or sustain the perception. So which will it be, Professor Myers? I will let Ibrahim Hooper at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) know of your latest bluster. And I sincerely implore you to drop both threats now.”


*Copyright © 1997-2008 by Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. Copied to this website with permission.

READER ALERT: More on Professor Paul Myers' hate attack

Here's an update on Paul Zachary Myers, the University of Minnesota Morris professor of biology and maaaaajor hypocrite I posted about last week. Evidently, Myers has obtained a consecrated Host and lets the world know that his bigotry doesn't extend to Islam.



MYERS STILL WANTS TO ABUSE EUCHARIST; SHOWS DEFERENCE TO ISLAM
July 15, 2008

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented on the latest developments to surface regarding the pledge made by Paul Z. Myers, a professor at the University of Minnesota, to desecrate the Eucharist:

“Myers was quoted yesterday saying, ‘I have to do something. I’m not going to just let this disappear.’ [Last Friday it was reported that he had acquired a Host.] He continued, ‘Something will be done. It won’t be gross. It won’t be totally tasteless, but yeah, I’ll do something that shows this cracker has no power.’

“The biology professor made it clear that he would never disrespect Islam the way he does Catholicism. When asked about those who abuse the Koran, for example, he said such an act was analogous to desecrating a graveyard. ‘That’s completely different,’ he said. ‘I don’t favor [that idea].’ But when it comes to the Body of Christ, he opines, ‘The cracker is completely different.’

“This isn’t the first time Myers has shown deference to Islam. For instance, two years ago he was critical of the Danish cartoons that simply depicted an image of Muhammad. ‘They [the cartoons] lack artistic or social or even comedic merit, and are presented as an insult to inflame a poor minority.’ So now the Planet-of-the-Apes biologist has divined himself an expert on the artistic value of cartoons. So thoughtful of him. He even went so far as to say that Muslims ‘have cause to be furious.’ (His italic.) Worthy of burning down churches, pledging to behead Christians and shooting a nun in the back, Professor Myers?

“We hope Myers does the right thing and just moves on without further disgracing himself and his university. The letter I received from University of Minnesota President Robert H. Bruininks makes it clear that school officials want nothing to do with his hate-filled remarks. It would also be nice if Myers’ fans would cease and desist with their hate-filled screeds.”




*Copyright © 1997-2008 by Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. Copied to this website with permission.

READER ALERT: Stop this hate attack

With this READER ALERT, I've added a new category to my list of topics; this is the first time I've ever posted a news article like this.

Please be aware beforehand that there is strong language in the following article, which I have modified by the use of asterisks.

I nearly fell off my chair when I read this article today at the Catholic League's website:

________________________________________________________

MINNESOTA PROF PLEDGES TO DESECRATE EUCHARIST *
July 10, 2008

Paul Zachary Myers, a professor at the University of Minnesota Morris, has pledged to desecrate the Eucharist. He is responding to what happened recently at the University of Central Florida when a student walked out of Mass with the Host, holding it hostage for several days. Myers was angry at the Catholic League for criticizing the student. His post can be accessed from his faculty page on the university’s website.

Here is an excerpt of his July 8 post, “It’s a Frackin’ Cracker!”:

“Can anyone out there score me some consecrated communion wafers?” Myers continued by saying, “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 (no, not even if I have a choice between returning the Eucharist and watching Bill Donohue kick the pope in the b*lls, which would apparently be a more humane act than desecrating a g*dd*mn*d cracker), but will instead treat it with profound disrespect and heinous cracker abuse, all photographed and presented here on the web.”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue responded as follows:

“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 the 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.

“It is hard to think of anything more vile than to intentionally desecrate the Body of Christ. We look to those who have oversight responsibility to act quickly and decisively.”

Contact President Robert Bruininks at bruin001@umn.edu

_______________________________________________________

Regardless of whether this buffoon thinks the consecrated Host is the Body of Christ, a fancy cracker or a pleasant snack to stave off hunger pangs during a long Mass, he has absolutely no right (according to UMM's Code of Conduct, as well as state and federal laws) to indulge himself in such religious hatefulness and bigotry.

Advanced degrees -- and tenure, no doubt -- are awarded to the strangest, most unworthy people nowadays. The idea of people losing their jobs usually fills my heart with dread, but I would be positively jubilant to read a few days hence that the Perfesser here had been given the bum's rush out of the University of Minnesota Morris and was home in his pajamas, stewing in his own choler.

I know from SiteMeter that there are some Minnesota readers who stop by this blog on a regular basis. It would be so great if you could contact your Minnesota legislature and let your opinion be known about what's going on in this state-funded university.

This link will take you to the Contact Us page of the Minnesota State Legislature's website.

The email contact for UMM President Robert Bruininks can be found above at the end of the article.

I'll keep an eye on the Catholic League website and try to update this reader alert as things progress.




*Copyright © 1997-2008 by Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. Copied to this website with permission.