It was prescience, not paranoia, that prompted some social commentators to predict that gay activism would become the principle threat to religious freedoms in America. A recent incident at George Washington University provides the latest confirmation.
In 2010, the University of Illinois fired a Catholic professor who taught courses on Catholicism in the school’s religion department after a student accused him of hate speech because the professor affirmed what the Catholic Church taught about homosexual practice. After a national outcry and a swift legal response, the professor was reinstated, but the fact that he was initially fired is an absolute outrage.
Now, two gay seniors at George Washington University are seeking to have the Catholic chaplain at the university’s Newman Center removed over his alleged anti-gay stance. (The Newman Center is named after Cardinal Newman and is there to serve the school’s Catholic students who make up roughly 3,000 of the university’s 10,000 students.)
The two students, Damian Legacy and Blake Bergen, have mounted a campaign to get Father Greg Shaffer dismissed, accusing him of being ardently anti-gay and (perish the thought!) anti-abortion as well.
What? A Catholic priest who opposes homosexual practice and abortion? How can this be? What has become of the Catholic Church? (Dripping sarcasm intended.)
According to published reports, “Legacy and Bergen say they are primarily upset about the counseling Shaffer offers. They say he urges students who have homosexual feelings to lead a life of celibacy.”
What else would Shaffer be expected to do when a gay Catholic comes to him for counseling? Encourage promiscuity? Encourage serial, gay monogamy? Encourage redefining marriage so the gay Catholic could “wed” a same-sex partner? And since the priest has committed himself to celibacy and is, hopefully, being faithful to his commitment, is it so outlandish for him to counsel others to be celibate as well? (As a married man, I’m not claiming that I could easily be celibate. I’m simply discussing the situation at hand.)
We are told that Damian Legacy “spent considerable time at the Newman Center during his first two years at George Washington. He was an altar server at mass. He believed that he would become a Catholic priest after graduating.
“All that changed, though, when Legacy told Shaffer that he and Bergen had entered a homosexual relationship. Shaffer allegedly charged Legacy with being immoral and lacking in faith.”
So, the young Mr. Legacy believed that he could be a good, faithful Catholic while being involved in an active homosexual relationship? And he was offended that the priest allegedly told him he was being immoral? Seriously?
Well here’s a newsflash for Damian Legacy: According to the Bible and Catholic teaching, sex outside of marriage (which is only the union of a man and woman) is immoral, be it heterosexual sex or homosexual sex. That’s exactly what a faithful Catholic priest (or Protestant pastor) would tell you, and so, rather than trying to get him fired for telling you the truth, you should be thanking him for caring enough to warn you.
According to Legacy, “To have my faith leader view me that way, just because of one piece of the way that God made me, and to think that one part is responsible for the destruction of my human dignity, it just didn’t…I can’t even begin to describe the mental conflict that it creates.”
Perhaps the priest was trying to help this young man see that he was more than a sexual being and that there was a way to exercise self-control and find a deeper place of satisfaction within his own religious faith? Or is Legacy telling us that God made him in such a way that he was not able to refrain from sex with another man, even while in college? Perhaps the “mental conflict” of which he speaks is caused in part by his actions?
The two students are also upset with Father Shaffer’s statement made after President Obama announced his support for same-sex “marriage” last May, when Shaffer wrote, “As Vatican II states, God is the author of marriage. He has defined marriage as between a man and a woman. Every single rational person knows that sexual relationships between persons of the same sex are unnatural and immoral. They know it in their hearts.”
Shaffer may have stated his opinion strongly, but this is hardly over-the-top for a Catholic priest, and overall, he is simply affirming the teaching of Vatican II.
Legacy and Bergen are also distributing “a letter to high-ranking administrators” citing “academic studies connecting homophobic behavior to loss of appetite, insomnia and other detrimental psychological consequences.” (I imagine they will not be citing academic studies connecting homosexual practice with greatly increased risks of contracting deadly STD’s, among other health issues.)
The bottom line is that two students are telling the Catholic chaplain of a university’s Catholic center, “Thou shalt not be Catholic.” George Washington University, what will you do? Will you stand with the right of a Catholic chaplain to be Catholic (and I write this as a non-Catholic myself), or will you will stand with anti-religious bullying?
The good news is that Catholic students are rallying around the chaplain. Perhaps their courage will prove contagious.
Welcome back! It's hard to believe that Christmas break is over and that it's time to start a new semester. It's almost as hard as believing that one of your professors is actually sending you an email using the word "Christmas." But even the liberals agree that I am no ordinary professor. Please allow me to explain.
After I got tenure, I left the political Left and became a conservative Republican. I know you've never had a conservative professor before and you are probably wondering what to expect. In a nutshell, you can expect to hear the truth about a number of things for the very first time in your college career. And that means you can probably expect to be offended from time to time.
Just in case you are wondering whether you are getting in over your head, let me give you a few examples of beliefs I hold, which you may well deem to be offensive. Based on the following revelations, you can make an informed decision as to whether this class is really for you.
African-Americanism. I think the term African-American is ridiculous. If you insist on being called this then you aren't American and you've probably never been to Africa. If you demand to be a hyphenated American then you're just un-American. Get over yourself or get out of the country. Sorry if you're offended but you offend me with your ethnocentrism.
Coke. I cannot stand that four letter word that begins with "c" and refers to female genitalia. Repeating it at The Vagina Monologues does not make women empowered. It makes them unrefined idiots. If you c*** c*** a feminist play without using feminists who say the word c*** then you simply c*** be taken seriously. Sorry if you're offended, but women who curse like sailors offend me.
Daddy issues. Every semester, I get at least one female student who comes into class late and hyperventilating. She makes a scene in order to get sympathy. Then, she apologizes after class while dumping all her personal problems on me. Let me be blunt: women like this have daddy issues. Put simply, daddy didn't give them enough attention and now they are seeking it from me because I remind them of daddy. Sorry that offends you. Go tell your daddy.
Guns. I have more guns than I need but fewer than I want. In fact, as I sit in my home office writing this email I am positioned between two packed gun safes. There are enough guns in this room to issue a 21 gun salute in the event you don’t make it through the semester. There are also about 12,000 rounds of ammunition in this room. And there is more elsewhere in the house. Some people are afraid of guns but I am afraid of gunlessness. Most of your professors say that homophobia is a social disease. I say that hoplophobia is a social disease. If you don't like abortion - oops! I mean guns - you don't have to have one.
Momma's boys. Every semester, I get at least three male students who cannot run their lives. They constantly ask me questions that I have already answered on the syllabus. When is the first test? What kind of questions are on it? How many tests are there? These are the kinds of young males who still could not wipe their bottoms when they were 12 (and probably still can't do their own laundry). If you are one of them, you have no chance of passing my class and no chance of succeeding in life. Please drop out now and join the army. Sorry if that offends you but you need to be a man. If that's too much to ask, just complain to momma next time you're home dropping off your laundry.
Pepsi. I cannot stand that five letter word that begins with "p" and refers to female genitalia. Every year at The Vagina Monologues, they sell p***** pops, which are little candied vaginas on a stick. The feminists walk around licking them in a display of feminist empowerment. I hate to be p**** but why don't they sell p**** pops, too. Maybe that would offend them. That's too bad because their sexism offends me.
Queer Centers. When I was a kid, we played "smear the queer" (dodge ball). Later, they said we could not call it that. Now, the word "queer" has made a queer re-entry into the realm of social acceptability. Some colleges are even opening “Queer Resource Centers.” Make up your mind, thought police. And stop acting like women with daddy issues! Sorry if that offends you. Indecisiveness offends me.
Racial Preferences. If you can't get into college without checking a box that says African-American or Hispanic, you do not need to be here. Sorry but the only reason there are racial differences in SAT scores is because minorities refuse to take off the training wheels. You're just as smart as anyone else so hop off the Big Wheel and join the bike race. Sorry if you're offended but your racism offends me.
Wolf-crying. People cry racism all the time. In fact, I've been told I'm a racist for opposing affirmative action. That’s funny to me. I don’t think blacks need a crutch because I believe they are equal. Therefore, I'm called a racist - even though I was the first kid on my block to own a Flip Wilson record. Those people (oops, I said, those people) need to chill. In fact, I should let them borrow my old Flip Wilson record to lighten the mood. Next thing you know, they'll say Flip Wilson offends them because Geraldine made fun of cross dressing. Have I mentioned that cross-dressing offends me?
XXX. Pornography is more than disgusting. It is evil and I hate it. This is probably not offensive to anyone - unless, of course, you are a porn star. But, once you become a porn star, you pretty much give up the right to be offended. If you're offended anyway just drop my class and sign up for one of Dr. Porco's instead (no I did not make up that last name). Dr. Porco was just hired by the UNCW English Department despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that he published a book of pornographic poems - some of which were written while he was drunk and hanging out in topless bars. He tries to pass them off as academic. And that offends me, which is why I simply choose not to read them.
Now that everything is on the table, you are ready for your first assignment. Since this is a class covering the First Amendment, we are going to focus on important US Supreme Court decisions dealing with free speech. Our first case will be Gitlow v. New York. I want you to read it with two questions in mind:
Since the Supreme Court nationalized the First Amendment, speech codes have emerged on most state-run campuses. How have these speech codes survived in light of the nationalization movement?
Holmes' dissent in this case has been often quoted. If he is correct in saying that "every idea is an incitement" then how can universities actually enforce speeches codes? As they are actually enforced, do these codes violate other portions of our constitution?
As you can see, we'll be tackling some serious issues this semester. So we need to weed out all of the self-absorbed, hypersensitive products of the era of political correctness in higher education. That was the purpose of this email. If you are still reading then congratulations! You've demonstrated more intellectual integrity and emotional maturity than the majority of your professors.
Law professor Tim Wu thinks YouTube should censor videos that could offend people in the Middle East. Is the liberal establishment raising the white flag to Islamic extremists? Are academics willing to sacrifice free speech and the First Amendment to satisfy the demands of radical Muslim terrorists? Find out.
Writer Sinclair Lewis is credited with saying, “When fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in the flag and waving a cross.”
Close, but not quite. Truth is, fascism has come to America; but it’s wrapped in a rainbow flag and waving, well, let’s just say it sure ain’t waving a cross. With its latest wave of scorched-earth malfeasance, the radical left has awakened freedom-loving America to this reality.
Liberals learned a hard lesson on Wednesday. While the generally silent majority was showing exuberant support for free speech, the institution of true marriage and Chick-fil-A, “progressives” were gorging themselves on crow sandwiches doused in bitter hate. While Chick-fil-A was eating at liberals, millions of God-fearing Americans were eating at Chick-fil-A.
It was glorious. Those who would silence free speech were shouted down through an unprecedented – dare I say miraculous – show of unity in the body of Christ. Millions of God-fearing Americans took part in the “buy-cott” as Chick-fil-A’s cup runneth over.
It was a beautiful thing to behold. It made you proud to be an American. Most of the characteristically cocky “progressive” blogs and “news” sites observed radio silence as left-wing elitists – media, activists, politicos and pundits – sat in stunned disbelief.
Their wrongheaded Chick-fil-A boycott had backfired catastrophically.
Quite troubling, however, was when this predictable “progressive” hissy left the realm of comedy and breached the realm of tyranny. Multiple elected officials – all Democrats – disgraced both themselves and the offices they hold by pledging to shut Chick-fil-A down, simply because they disagree with its leadership’s biblical viewpoint.
But the American people stood strong. In response to illegal threats by the mayors of Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and Philadelphia to ban Chick-fil-A from their respective jurisdictions, the residents of those great cities rebuked these Constitution-dumping donkeys with “freedom chicken” lines that wrapped-around city blocks. “Mayor Emanuel,” they declared, “your godless values are not ‘Chicago Values!’”
In fact, Pastor Rick Warren tweeted that Chick-fil-A COO Dan Cathy called him to say that sales for Wednesday smashed all records. (Put that in your “progressive” pipe and smoke it, lefties.)
Still, not to be outdone, liberals were determined to beat a dead chicken. As liberty-loving folks peacefully showed support for real marriage with nuggets and waffle fries on Wednesday, “gay” activists held a pathetically attended “kiss-in” at various Chick-fil-A locations on Friday.
We couldn’t ask for a starker contrast. Whereas marriage supporters peacefully patronized Chick-fil-A to demand tolerance for varying viewpoints, homosexual activists engaged in gross, sexually charged public displays deliberately designed to shock and offend children and families. (Warning: vile and profane. Click here for report).
Disgusting. (Please, do keep it up, though, liberals. True colors are brightest. America is watching. Oh, and the vandalism, bomb threats and bullying of teenage girls working at Chick-fil-A? Nice touch!)
Nonetheless, I believe “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” was just the appetizer – a foretaste of things to come. In November, America serves Obama and Democrats the main course.
And the Democratic Party is helping itself not one little bit. Leading up to Wednesday, a platform change was announced. Hard-left extremists within the party are moving to endorse what some have dubbed, with plain-spoken accuracy, “sodomy-based marriage.”
At a time when record numbers of Democrats in the House and Senate face the very real threat of ouster, the DNC has inexplicably opted to put its stamp of approval on the radical redefinition of marriage – the fundamental cornerstone of any healthy society.
Already nervous, Democrats in at-risk districts are now popping anti-depressants like Pez. They have reason to freak out; especially when you consider that the Democratic Party itself remains robustly divided over this highly controversial issue.
Republicans’ response? Oh please, please don’t throw us in that briar patch.
Of course, Wednesday’s massive outpouring of support for Chick-fil-A provided a visual reminder to all concerned that the vast majority of morally minded Americans reject the oxymoronic notion of so-called “same-sex marriage.” It proved with earthshaking resonance that liberals’ whole “gay-marriage-is-inevitable” thingy remains as sterile as the fraudulent concept itself.
Don’t forget, we live in a constitutional republic where “we the people” are the sovereign, and elected officials are the hired help. When “we the people” have spoken on marriage, we’ve spoken without stuttering.
Thirty-two states have voted on it, and 32 states have protected it via constitutional amendment. Marriage is as marriage was and will be forevermore: the joining of man and wife.
But hey, Democrats made their silly mock-marriage bed, they can sleep in it.
Still, there’s another white paper bag full of goodies to take home from Chick-fil-A. Executives from corporations, large and small, should sit up and take notice. Don’t be intimidated by insufferable homo-fascist organizations like the incongruously tagged “Human Rights Campaign” and GLAAD, the “Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.” Their bark is much, much worse than their bite.
No, you’ve just seen a highly successful business model in action. It’s simple: 1) Publicly acknowledge God’s objective, transcendent truth; 2) Infuriate the toothless “progressive” establishment, prompting calls for boycotts and empty threats to ban you; and 3) Rake in the cabbage.
Stand up for what’s right, good and true, and America’s got your back.
So be encouraged. Despite liberals’ best efforts, freedom of speech, God’s design for marriage and reverence for sexual morality are alive and well in America. There is still hope for this great nation.
But not without a fight.
The line in the sand has been drawn.
It’s perverse “pride” versus patriotism. Liberal lies versus truth. Tyranny versus freedom.
It was prescience, not paranoia, that prompted some social commentators to predict that gay activism would become the principle threat to religious freedoms in America. A recent incident at George Washington University provides the latest confirmation.
