LGBT
Hey All.
So, some of you might be curious as to where I have been for the last week or so. I’ve been unusually absent from the usual day-to-day on Ubuntu work, so I figure that I’d put a post up to explain this a bit.
I am, as most of you know, a student at a Jesuit university in Ohio, John Carroll ( JCU ). There is currently a bit of noise about the LGBTQ ( Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Questioning ) community, and their rights.
The long and short of it is that the Administration of John Carroll decided on creating an “agreement” to dictate conduct, rather then a legally binding statement to protect the LGBTQ community. I have been involved with this a good deal, and it would mean a lot if you were to post your opinions here, or send an email to my University in support of creating a legally binding clause protecting LGBTQ members of the University. Any opinions you would like to share can be directed to the President of JCU, Father Niehoff, S.J.. Father Niehoff is supportive of this change, so if you are to send an email, please be respectful.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please consider helping us bring equity to Ohio, and John Carroll University.
*Edit*
Rbt Y-Lee was nice enough to share this link here. I figured someone else might find this as interesting as I did. Thanks Rbt!!
This post is filed under Life, the Universe and Everything, Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized, Wisdom on Ubuntu | Comments (7)7 Responses to “LGBT”
Leave a Reply
I find it ironic JCU President issued a statement the policy should not be changed because it would go against “traditional Catholic moral teaching.” When in fact traditional catholic moral teaching embraces homosexual marriage, it always amazes me most xtians are completely ignorant of the history of their own religion. The historical fact is that through most of the history of “the Church”, there were many homosexual marriages, including a marriage between two Roman saints, St Sergius and Saint Bacchus.
See http://www.jinxiboo.com/blog/2009/5/3/when-same-sex-marriage-was-a-christian-rite.html
Anyway good for you Paul, peace :-)
I wish the best in getting the University to protect LGBTQ groups. I think it’s a huge step towards accepting people as they are, and that’s a wonderful thing.
+1 for equality
@y-lee, Hey Rbt, it wass great to see your name on a comment on my page. Thanks for reading :)
I had no idea about about St Sergius and Saint Bacchus, that’s really incredible. Interesting take. Father Niehoff did make clear that he supports the LGBT community, and that he would like to see change, even citing a few lines from the Cannon of the Catholic faith. That’s a really cool link, thanks for bringing that up.
@Shane, d0od, Thanks for the comments. I know the University community won’t stop until this is resolved.
LOL paul, ever wonder who reads your RSS feeds? Well me for one ;) Just been too scattered and busy to comment much on anything online. Anyway it seems few know about St Sergius and Saint Bacchus, that is why I brought it up. Actually I just found about it myself about a month or so ago. The history of Christianity is not exactly big on my list of things to learn if you know what i mean, other than reading that History of God book … which i have and would like to again and certainly recommend to anyone… Esp given the ubiquitousness of xtianity. peace :)
Learning the Christianity history from John Boswell’s books is entertaining, for sure, but I’m afraid he can’t be considered a viable source of information in this matter. His views of the subject he discusses are controversial and were many times criticized by other historians. Just look at Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saints_Sergius_and_Bacchus#Popularity_and_veneration
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boswell#Legacy
So, if Mr Boswell stated that St Sergius and Saint Bacchus were in fact lovers, that’s just his speculation alone, and not a scientific fact and please don’t assume he was a enlightened man who reveals the truth.
@Chris Kotowicz, you seem to be a bit confused, my reference to the book History of God is by Karen Armstrong not John Boswell. Perhaps I should have been clearer and pointed that out but i felt it was unnecessary as anyone with any degree of cultural literacy would be well aware of her book. And second of all John Boswell is certainly a ‘viable source of information’ as the very wikipedia article you link to states “John Eastburn Boswell … was a prominent historian and a professor at Yale University.” That alone makes anything he wrote academically respectable. And furthermore judging by your last sentence you seem a little confused about what history is. History is not science and historical analysis is always subject to interpretation and there is always doubt and little way to either verify or falsify anything but the most basic of “facts”.
As to the criticized by other historians, really they don’t hold water, Historian Paul Halsall, Fordham University History Department and Center for Medieval Studies, in considering one negative review of Boswell’s book:
“In sum reviews such as this by Kennedy and Kemp struggle as hard as they can to attack Boswell, but can only drag up minor footnoting errors [sometimes even only typographical errors] as their main evidence; they rely on slanted vocabulary which begs the questions raised, and they are historically unsophisticated in adopting a Tridentine view of the “Church”, which was never accurate, and should have no hold on scholars.”
“It may be that serious academic scholarship will eventually undermine Boswell. At the Byzantine studies conference people were unhappy about his translation of the life of Sergios and Bacchus, and Claudia Rapp mentioned that she has an article on an alternative explanation of the adelphopoiia ceremonies. In the meantime, Boswell is standing up very well to his critics.”
As to critics mentioned on the wikipedia articles you link too, one is Anton N. Marco, Christian Leadership Ministries. Hmm yeah very reliable source (NOT). Another is Kemp and Kennedy mentioned above, Kemp appears to be a philosopher and not a historian (Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of St. Thomas ) at a archdiocesan Roman Catholic University, and Robert G. Kennedy seems to be a professor also at St. Thomas in the Ethics and Business Law Department. Hmm both seem questionable to me and hardly impartial. Another link critical of Boswell appears to be published by First Things a monthly ecumenical journal founded by Roman Catholic theologian Richard John Neuhaus, again not a academically respected peer reviewed impartial journal of history. And likewise Brent Shaw who appears to be an actual historian published in The New Republic an American magazine of politics and the arts. Again not a academically respected peer reviewed impartial journal of history and even worse a magazine of a rather dubious reputation, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Republic#Controversies. Admittedly David Woods also referenced by wikipedia is an actual historian at University College Cork and the link seems to be a web site and again not an academic journal. Another link given critical of Boswell is a newspaper review again not by an historian, Paglia appears to have her degree in ‘feminist studies’ clearly not qualified to evaluate Boswell’s claims or conclusions and certainly not appearing in an academic journal.
So we are left with Warren Johansson and William A. Percy, Homosexuality in the Middle Ages. This seems a well referenced work published as far as I can tell on the internet. Percy is an actual historian (and gay activist) and Johansson appears to have given up on formal academic studies but seems fairly well educated and also a gay activist. So while Homosexuality in the Middle Ages like the rest is not published in any reputable academic journal does appear fairly well referenced and somewhat dense and confusing in places is critical of Boswell’s conclusions.
So all in all the references at wikipedia of those critical of Boswell (and forgive me if I missed one) seemingly carry far less weight than Boswell himself, former holder of the Griswold Chair in History at Yale, and whose research is meticulously thorough. This proves only that people unqualified to evaluate claims they don’t want to hear often go to elaborate lengths to deny the claim. Witness evolution or global warming. Anyway as Paul Halsall wrote in his review mentioned above, “Given this apparently careful scholarship and the frequently arcane nature of his sources, few scholars are likely to examine his evidence carefully.”
While i am not a historian and really could care less about the history of Christianity (or anything else about christian absurdity truthfully) I think the evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of Boswell being right in his major conclusions and if not does it really matter? Paul’s blog is essentially about human rights and I felt the link to the ‘marriage’ between two Roman saints, St Sergius and Saint Bacchus, was something Paul would be interested in and relevant to the issue.
And Paul if such a long comment is too much for you feel free to delete it ;)