So This Is What Being a Target of the Religious Right Is Like ("CrackerGate" Goes on)

Note from Joshua H: Whatever you think of PZ Myers, you've got to admit that he's friggin' smart. We don't cross-post his geekier, more scientific posts, but readers of his blog, Pharyngula, know that he often takes incredibly complex issues in biology, simplifies them and condenses them down into a relatively digestible form for the lay person -- those of us who don't happen to be experts in, say, mollusks. I wouldn’t tangle with his intellect; I’m not fond of looking like a fool.

I'll admit I can't get through a whole piece by Crunchy-Conservative Rod Dreher -- I've tried -- but I do read Roy Edroso, who shreds his stuff quite regularly, and with hilarious effect, and I have to say I feel kind of sorry for the guy. This is no match -- Myers is truly joined in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent. And as you'll see below, Dreher’s the sharpest tack in the box, by far.

It actually feels kind of good, considering that my job is secure, and that these critics are looking increasingly rabidly insane. I just sit back and watch their hysteria grow. Case in point: Rod Dreher, who seems to be crawling the walls and screaming right now. In his 'review' of the desecration issue, nowhere does he mention the cause: the violent over-reaction of Catholics to a student in Florida walking away from Mass with a communion wafer, and the subsequent uproar calling for expulsion and punishment from Bill Donohue.

His parting shot to believers: "Nothing must be held sacred."

He doesn't believe that, of course. The hateful Dr. Myers and his spittle-flecked supporters insist that their right to profane symbols that Catholics and Muslims hold most sacred is absolute and sacrosanct. To be sure, there's little doubt that what he did - obtaining a consecrated Host and a copy of the Quran and defiling them - violates no criminal statute.