Seton Hall University is a major Catholic university. In a diverse and collaborative environment it focuses on academic and ethical development. Seton Hall students are prepared to be leaders in their professional and community lives in a global society and are challenged by outstanding faculty, an evolving technologically advanced setting and values-centered curricula.
The English word university comes from the Latin word
universitas, which means "the whole , total; the universe, the world." A university is meant to provide a universal education, in other words, teaching the academic whole.
An academic exploration of one of the major civil rights debates facing the current generation of university students sounds reasonable, right? That sounds like a university trying to prepare its students to be professional and community leaders in a "global society," where they will have to be able to work in a "diverse and collaberative environment" while maintaining their own values, right? It's just Seton Hall living up to its mission statement, right?
"This proposed course seeks to promote as legitimate a train of thought that is contrary to what the Church teaches. As a result, the course is not
in synch with Catholic teaching," Myers said. "Consequently, the board of trustees of Seton Hall have asked the board of regents to investigate the matter of this proposed course and to take whatever action is required under the law
to protect the Catholicity of this university."
Therefore, according to
Myers' logic, anything that is not "in synch" with his version of Catholic teaching cannot be taught. That would mean, no courses on women's liberation (especially in the church), no courses on the science or psychology of human sexuality (that don't teach only about unprotected vaginal sex that results in an ejaculation inside of the woman), and
no classes on Church history that mention the philosophical and theological viewpoints that are viewed as valid by the Arians, Nestorians, Marcians, Donatists, Eastern Orthodox, Protestants, Old Catholics, New American Catholics, or any heresy or schism in the history of Christianity. Basically, Myers is calling for a style of learning that only teaches one view of the universe and humanity (
the Vatican is at the center of the universe).
If this is the way Catholic institutions are supposed to teach, then why do they call themselves universities? They are anything but universal. Sticking your head in the ground is no way to teach a generation how to interact in a viable way with a global society.
As archbishop, Myers does not have the authority to cancel a class. But the conservative archbishop serves as chairman of Seton Hall’s board of trustees and president of the school’s board of regents, the governing body that oversees academic issues.
Larry Robinson, Seton Hall’s vice provost, said the course was approved by both the political science department and the dean’s office.
The "Official Voice of Seton Hall University,"
the Setonian, reports associate professor W. King Mott and the program of Women and Gender Studies's academic reasons for offering the course:
The class is not an advocacy course, according to Mott. Rather, it teaches the issue of gay marriage from an academic perspective. “It is one thing to say ‘I am for or against gay marriage,’” Mott said. “It’s another to actually understand the issue.”
The course will teach various cultural perspectives of marriage, such as Eurocentric and Asian views, Mott said. The course will also include an analysis of the contemporary political situation regarding gay marriage, such as Proposition 8 in California. Additionally, it will include a look at which states allow and prohibit gay marriage and what that means, Mott said. Finally, students taking the course will write an analysis on gay marriage from a perspective they choose after they have been educated on the issue...Mott said he hopes his students will have the ability to form an educated opinion after taking the class, regardless if it is for or against the issue. “I hope my students gain an appreciation and respect for disinterested analysis that can be used to formulate an informed opinion,” Mott said.
Forming an informed opinion via disinterested analysis, now that's a frightening goal for Catholic universities, indeed. Of what is Archbishop Myers, author of
Space Vulture, so afraid? That his Catholic
students might actually form their brains and consciences, be able to articulate themselves intelligently, and possibly come to disagree with the church? If this is the case, then Myers and the Catholic Church have already lost the debate.
I, for one, think it's fantastic that Catholic "universities" would not offer courses on marriage equality and that they don't teach about the academic, philosophical, theological, scientific, psychological, etc. views and facts that contradict Catholic teachings. There's no better way for the Catholic Church to dumb itself out of an argument than by not understanding the other side. Look at how well it worked with Galileo, women, liberation theologians, Darwin, Kinsey,
victims of sexual abuse by beloved Catholic clergy, etc. etc.
Let them keep forming their flock in ignorance. This only strengthens the reality that, to rest of the world, the
Catholic Church is an archaic, outdated, superstitious, and self-serving political and financial monster that needs to take its place in the halls of
Ra, Isis, Osiris, Mithras, Zeus, Venus, and the other gods, who've faded into myth, and rightly so.
The suit, now pending in
U.S. District Court in Manhattan, was filed on December 13 by Bob Hoatson—a 53-year-old New Jersey priest considered a stalwart ally among survivors of sexual abuse by clergy. Hoatson, the now-suspended chaplain for
Catholic Charities in
Newark, is suing Egan and nine other Catholic officials and institutions, claiming a pattern of "retaliation and harassment" that began after Hoatson alleged a cover-up of clergy abuse in New York and started helping victims.
But that's not all his lawsuit claims. Halfway through the 44-page complaint, the priest-turned-advocate drops a bomb on the cardinal: He alleges that
Egan is "actively homosexual," and that he has "personal knowledge of this." His suit names two other top Catholic clerics in the region as actively gay—
Albany bishop
Howard Hubbard and Newark archbishop
John Myers.
There's no better reason for a closeted Catholic cleric to be against gay rights than to justify his own compartmentalized life. How do I know this?
Because I used to do the same thing.
Image Credits:
Archbishop John J. Myers in Cassock by NJ.com Archbishop John J. Myers Alien Science Fiction Writer by NJ.com
Why the papal takeover? Because Pope Ben believes that he's showing the world that he's trustworthy when it comes to handling sexually abusive clergy. Just ask these victims of the serial pedophile that Benny boy dragged his heels to defrock in Wisconsin. 
