A Voice in the Wilderness In Defense of "Mere Conservatism"

University of Illinois Shoots The Messenger

URBANA, Ill. -- The University of Illinois has fired an adjunct professor who taught courses on Catholicism after a student accused the instructor of engaging in hate speech by saying he agrees with the church's teaching that homosexual sex is immoral.

The professor, Ken Howell of Champaign, said his firing violates his academic freedom. He also lost his job at an on-campus Catholic center.

Howell, who taught Introduction to Catholicism and Modern Catholic Thought, says he was fired at the end of the spring semester after sending an e-mail explaining some Catholic beliefs to his students preparing for an exam.

This story from my home state is disappointing, but by no means surprising. I hope that the skeptical conservatives among us, specifically the religious ones, will see in a news report like this the true nature of the Left.  They are disinterested in the unity and they raise young people to think that their emotional reaction to something they disagree with is not only the most appropriate reaction, but the "true" one.

An unidentified student sent an e-mail to religion department head Robert McKim on May 13, calling Howell's e-mail "hate speech." The student claimed to be a friend of the offended student. The writer said in the e-mail that his friend wanted to remain anonymous.

"Teaching a student about the tenets of a religion is one thing," the student wrote. "Declaring that homosexual acts violate the natural laws of man is another."

Howell said he was teaching his students about the Catholic understanding of natural moral law.

An "unidentified" college kid, a "friend" of the student who was actually in the class no less, certainly wanted his views heard and for the professor to be punished...but wasn't courageous enough to put his John Hancock to his own words.  Perfect.  Maybe he is the person who always leaves provocative comments on conservative websites under the name "Anonymous"?

Now I've been led to believe that the liberal-dominated university (i.e. every public institution of higher learning in the United States) is a magical land of academic inquiry and investigation.  So it would make sense that the University of Illinois wanted a class that teaches what it is that Catholics believe.  They hired a man, one Ken Howell, to teach what Catholics believe.  As soon as he taught what Catholics believe, he was fired for hate speech.

I could be wrong, but I'm fairly certain that the Catholic church has been crystal clear regarding its position on gay marriage and abortion.  For those who get their updates on traditional and current Catholic doctrine from Nancy Pelosi, let me catch you up a couple of thousand years: the Christian bible teaches that marriage is a one man-one woman institution, and protecting innocent life that is being snuffed out for the personal convenience of someone else is a non-negotiable in the bible's eyes.

University Leftists are caught between The Rock of Ages and a hard place when they attempt to interact with orthodox religious teachings.  On one hand, they want to keep up the well-intentioned image of being pro-tolerance, pro-multiculturalism and politically correct.  One the other, however, when they run up against people who believe in objective, eternal, supernatural Truth, such as bible-believing Protestants and Catholics, they are certain that such people are not intolerable and "haters."

G.K. Chesterton once wrote: "There is a thought that stops thought, and that is the only thought that ought to be stopped."  He was speaking of the militant secularism that typified early 20th century England, and certainly applies to our modern purveyors of secular-progressive ideology in the media, academia, and politics.  Christians raising their kids in America today are subjected to propaganda supporting moral and ethical issues that are in direct conflict with their own convictions from all corners of the entertainment world and education system.  We are told to shut up and sit down.  We are told to accept everything we hear, and dare not voice any opposition, or risk being called a bigot, homophobe, or racist.

Yet when one Catholic professor, teaching a class called "Modern Catholic Thought", simply states the bible's position on gay marriage, he is fired for unforgivably breaking the secular commandment "Thou shalt not offend anyone on the Left."

Wake up, religious Americans (especially those of you who are parents).  The fight isn't simply over gay marriage or abortion or gun control.  It isn't all about Obama's pastor and Sarah Palin's accent.  The truth of our faith is at stake.  The ability to freely communicate that truth to those who so desperately need to hear it is at stake.  We have a part to play in defending the truth, in promoting liberty, and in looking after the least among us.

The hearts and minds of millions of Americans are on the line.

What are we doing about it?