OUR VIEW: A virus of hatred spreads online

A biology professor at the University of Minnesota Morris, known as PZ “Little Paul” Myers, has no claim to fame beyond an infantile expression of bigotry that went viral, much like a flu virus. Though mostly forgotten, Myers is to an Internet hate virus what that pig in Veracruz, Mexico, is to H1N1. He is the original host in an obscure village.

Myers is the brain trust who obtained a Eucharist from a Catholic Church last year so he could go public desecrating it. For those unfamiliar with Catholicism, the Eucharist is a consecrated communion host. It is the religious community’s most sacred object, handled in the church only with methodical reverence by those who’ve been trained.

Myers initiated a fight, by committing a hateful act, for no reason other than to indulge an expression of his own disrespect and intolerance of others. This puts him in company with a teenager in Greece who urinated on a Holocaust memorial last year and posted his act on YouTube. Just like the teen urinator, Myers went out of his way to antagonize, disrespect and insult a demographic he dislikes.

Myers had every right to mistreat a sacred religious object, just as he would have a right to burn a Torah or traipse around in a white sheet. The First Amendment protects controversial expression, including hate speach.

Rights, however, come under threat when people fail to use them in a context of self-control, civility, intelligence and respect for others. The Second Amendment protects gun rights, for example, but the amendment can withstand only so much misuse before people dishonor it or even demand its demise. That’s why a majority of gun owners, and most gun rights organizations, emphasize the safe handling of guns above all else.

The need to maintain rights in a responsible context explains why most private individuals, companies, organizations and governments treat free speech with respect. YouTube, for example, has a legal right to host almost any video a person might produce. Yet it chooses an abundance of self-control. It doesn’t host porn, or videos intended to shock. The company’s guidelines forbid “hate speech,” which it defines as “speech which attacks or demeans a group based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, and sexual orientation/gender identity.” It’s a great policy, and the reason YouTube wisely removed the video of an idiot insulting Jews. The video was shocking and hateful, and therefore beneath YouTube standards.

Little Paul’s employer also attempts to maintain rights within a responsible context. The code of conduct at the University of Minnesota Morris says faculty must be “respectful, fair and civil” when dealing with others. That pretty much rules out soliciting theft of one community’s most sacred object in order to abuse it.

Myers’ vicious stunt, designed to torment and upset people of one religious affiliation, has inspired similar bigots to make videos that feature various forms of Eucharist abuse. One video features Myers signing his autograph on a Eucharistic host.

Myers and his acolytes believe love for the Eucharist is stupid. Instead of engaging in dialogue, and challenging a religious belief they don’t like with their own reason and logic, they choose hurtful confrontation. It is nothing less than hateful to bring harm to an object that’s important to someone else. If Myers burns an Indian tribe’s totem pole, he communicates hatred toward the tribe. If Myers taunts Jews by destroying the Menorah or the Shield of David, he expresses hatred.

YouTube, these Eucharist desecration videos are hate speech. They are shocking and they are filth, even though Catholics are not popular in these times. They mock the guidelines of respect and civility that have helped YouTube succeed. Take down these putrid videos, before they turn YouTube into a digital sewer.

— Wayne Laugesen, editorial page editor, for the editorial board
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NOTE: Our View editorials uphold a proud tradition at The Gazette of advocating individual freedom, constitutional law, faith, and limited government. Editorial opinions have no connection with The Gazette’s news division, and do not express the views of all Gazette associates.