Jesuit universities criticized for 'obscene' events promoting sexual ideologies
<http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15238>http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15238
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Georgetown University's Healy Hall
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CNA STAFF, Mar 1, 2009 / 07:46 pm
(<http://www.catholicnewsagency.com>CNA).- Three Jesuit universities
are facing criticism for hosting events promoting sexual license,
cross-dressing and homosexual ideologies just as Lent begins, with
Georgetown University being accused of promoting only the orthodoxy
of "sexual liberation."
Georgetown University is hosting "Sex Positive Week" from Feb. 23 to
28, an event sponsored by feminist and homosexual student clubs such
as GU Pride, United Feminists and Georgetown Solidarity.
The Cardinal Newman Society reports that a Monday session featured a
speaker from an organization that "provides a forum" for activities
such as fetishism, cross-dressing, and bondage.
A talk on Ash Wednesday, "Torn about Porn?" advertised itself as
including a discussion about "arguably alternative forms of
pornography that are not supposed to be exploitative."
A Saturday talk from a pornographic filmmaker addressed the topic
"Relationships Beyond Monogamy."
GU Pride political chair Olivia Chitayat explained the purpose of the
week, saying to the Georgetown Voice:
"The focus of this week is to introduce the idea of Sex Positive, and
that's really about acceptance of a wide range of desires and sexual
expressions as a way of understanding one another."
"People have sex, and if they don't, it still impacts them. This is
encouraging a dialogue in a way that people don't feel ashamed about
engaging in it or not engaging in it."
David Gregory, Editor-in-Chief of the Catholic-focused student
publication The Georgetown Academy, said he was "absolutely furious"
that the Student Activities Commission funded the event.
"I think about Gaston Hall and you have 'Wisdom' on one side of the
ceiling and 'Virtue' on the other side," he told the Georgetown
Voice, referring to a campus building. "And a discussion like the one
that took place there on Monday does not promote a healthy view
toward human relationships. I'm so upset [because] there was no one
to counter this anything-goes point of view."
Georgetown University political science professor Patrick Deneen also
commented on the event at writer Rod Dreher's BeliefNet blog "Crunchy
Conservative."
He said observers should not assume that Christian teaching about
human sexuality is made known at Georgetown.
"It is not," Prof. Deneen charged. "The university feebly attempts to
pretend to be concerned about matters of sexuality, but addresses
them in terms of 'health.' Students who are required to take two
courses in Theology are rarely, if ever, introduced to something like
Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body. The only orthodoxy on
campus is sexual liberation."
Noting that the university had established a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgendered and Questioning "Resource Center," he said there is no
comparable center on campus dedicated to "an expressly Catholic
teaching on human sexuality."
"So what is the message being sent to today's students? Sex, like
everything else, is a matter of preference, choice, personal liberty
and utilitarian pleasure. It is largely consequence-free recreation.
We should recognize that the same moral climate that contributed to
the devastation of the worldwide economy is the same moral climate
that informs 'Sex Positive Week'," Prof. Deneen argued.
He accused Georgetown of wanting "desperately to be accepted on the
terms set by the broader culture."
"Rather than taking a part in attempting to shape, even change that
culture, Georgetown is shaped in its image," he said.
"Parents and university caretakers have been deeply complicit in what
goes on in today's universities. They have largely reneged their
responsibilities to set a proper tone as their young make the
transition from childhood to adulthood, instead offering them a
responsibility-free zone for four years at the same time when most
cultures have elaborate rituals and practices to assist young people
in that difficult and dangerous transition."
At Loyola University of Chicago on Tuesday, the university's Student
Diversity and Cultural Affairs Office presented a film about a
homosexual African-American who is transported in time to "cavort"
with the supposedly homosexual writer Langston Hughes, the Cardinal
Newman Society reports.
The film is part of a semester-long "Color of Queer Film Series"
sponsored by the university. Another upcoming film in the series
concerns a 12-year-old boy who falls in love with a male police officer.
At Seattle University, the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the
student Trans and Allies Club are sponsoring "Transgender Awareness
Week" which includes a session on supposedly transgender Bible heroes
and heroines. The week also includes "Criss-Cross Day," which
encourages students to "come dressed for the day in your best
gender-bending outfit."
"These obscene abuses of Catholic values come just as Christians
begin a holy season of penance, fasting and almsgiving," said
Cardinal Newman Society President Patrick J. Reilly. "Faithful
Catholics have good reason to be outraged and heartbroken."
"That Catholic universities would permit these events on their
campuses at any time of the year is unthinkable, but to do so during
the holy season of Lent is unconscionable," he added. "The saddest
part of this story is that there is no indication that these
universities are ashamed or embarrassed by what is taking place on
their Catholic campuses. Parents and potential students might begin
to wonder how these universities can in good conscience consider
themselves Catholic when they allow such perverse distortions of
Catholic values to take place."
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