It has been several months since this has occurred, after such time I believe that I can discuss this with rational thought and loving attitude.
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| The school in question |
(whether student, alum, or teacher) reacted strongly to the dismissal of one Flint Dollar, a band teacher. This was due to the fact that he publicly announced via social media that he was going to 'marry' his boyfriend.
Because so many have asked my thoughts over the situation (most know of my B.A. in Sacred Theology). As stated above I've waited to respond because everyone has been high on being emotional and thus irrational. I will endeavor to explain as best I can. Bear in mind "what I have now said in regard to abstaining from wanton looks should be carefully observed, with due love for the persons and hatred of the sin, in observing, forbidding, reporting, reproving, and punishing of all other faults." (St Augustine, Letter 211)
An article, the link of which is found below, said that Mount de
Sales' employment policy states that the school does not discriminate
based on sexual orientation. Mr. Dollar stated in the article that
MDS was aware of his orientation when they hired him, so in this way,
MDS upheld this anti-discrimination policy that deals with
employment. The school would have violated their policy if they did nor hire him solely based on his orientation.
At this point I would like to point out a distinction between sexual orientation and sexual actions with regard to employment and termination of employment. As stated previously, MDS adhered to the anti-discriminatory policy in that the school hired him with full knowledge of his orientation. If one studies the clause closely, no where does it say that MDS does not reserve the right to fire an employee based on actions of a sexual nature that the school does not approve of (i.e., Mr. Dollar announcing publicly that he was 'marrying' his partner). If MDS fired Mr. Dollar for the reported reason, then MDS is acting in accordance with Catholic teaching. MDS hired Mr. Dollar as a homosexual individual, but chose to terminate his employment based on Mr. Dollar's decision to publicly announce his upcoming marriage to his partner.
Allow me a moment to veer off into a theological tract. In Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics, it states that "[N]o pastoral method can be employed which would give moral justification to these acts on the grounds that they would be consonant with the condition of such people. For according to the objective moral order, homosexual relations are acts which lack an essential and indispensable finality. In Sacred Scripture they are condemned as a serious depravity and even presented as the sad consequence of rejecting God. (Rom 1:24-27) This judgment of Scripture does not of course permit us to conclude that all those who suffer from this anomaly are personally responsible for it, but it does attest to the fact that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered and can in no case be approved of."
At this point I would like to point out a distinction between sexual orientation and sexual actions with regard to employment and termination of employment. As stated previously, MDS adhered to the anti-discriminatory policy in that the school hired him with full knowledge of his orientation. If one studies the clause closely, no where does it say that MDS does not reserve the right to fire an employee based on actions of a sexual nature that the school does not approve of (i.e., Mr. Dollar announcing publicly that he was 'marrying' his partner). If MDS fired Mr. Dollar for the reported reason, then MDS is acting in accordance with Catholic teaching. MDS hired Mr. Dollar as a homosexual individual, but chose to terminate his employment based on Mr. Dollar's decision to publicly announce his upcoming marriage to his partner.
Allow me a moment to veer off into a theological tract. In Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics, it states that "[N]o pastoral method can be employed which would give moral justification to these acts on the grounds that they would be consonant with the condition of such people. For according to the objective moral order, homosexual relations are acts which lack an essential and indispensable finality. In Sacred Scripture they are condemned as a serious depravity and even presented as the sad consequence of rejecting God. (Rom 1:24-27) This judgment of Scripture does not of course permit us to conclude that all those who suffer from this anomaly are personally responsible for it, but it does attest to the fact that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered and can in no case be approved of."
Essentially, it is important to realize that homosexuals do not have complete, voluntary control over their desires. Of course, they have control over their actions, as do heterosexuals. After a person has been conditioned to homosexual responses, it is impossible to simply wish away the desires, just as it is impossible for an alcoholic to wish away his desire to be drunk. Homosexuals also do not make a conscious choice to have homosexual tendencies. It should be noted that heterosexuals do not have complete control over their desires either. We ALL suffer from temptation, it is when we act on those temptations that we come way to sin.
It is likely that the same
decision, in regards to the school's decision, would have been made if a heterosexual teacher publicly
announced he or she was living with his girlfriend or her boyfriend because of the nature of the relationship. As Catholics, we
must stand up for our religious beliefs while being compassionate
towards those of orientations different from ourselves. That does not mean that we abandon our faith because it makes other people uncomfortable, nor does it mean that we hate and damn people because we disagree with them.
For further reading on the Mother Church's teachings I highly recommend Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons.
For further reading on the Mother Church's teachings I highly recommend Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons.
May God grant us pardon and peace, and most of all, reconciliation with one another.
I will end with this thought: Love, in it's purest form, is an act of the will in which we will the good of the other for the sake of the other. Sin cannot be ignored because what good does that do for people? "When the good are overly merciful to the bad, the good eventually become the bad."
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