Reign of Relativism
Why Are Catholic High School Students No Different?
A poll conducted by Zogby International of 1,003 high school students found that 80% of Catholic seniors believe homosexuals should have the right to marry while only two-thirds of the total of all demographic high school senior groups in the survey claimed gay marriages should be legal. Dennis Gilbert of Hamilton College, in Clinton, N.Y., did the survey. In an interview in the September 6 Wanderer, Gilbert said, "Large majorities of seniors take pro-gay positions on relevant gay issues. And virtually every definable demographic group took these positions," apart from evangelical or 'born-again' Christians."
According to Father X -- a priest in the San Jose Diocese who asked to remain anonymous, the document Pastoral Guidelines for Ministry to Homosexuals in the Diocese of San Jose contributes to the ethical confusion on homosexuality among Catholic high school students because it has no moral component. This diocese document claims "...individuals do not choose and cannot change their sexual orientation but must understand it and integrate it into their life of faith and conscience."
"There is a presumption in the diocese that homosexuality has a biological basis," said Father X. "This, in part, originally came from the Kinsey report, which lead to gay safe zones in the public schools and were eventually followed by the Catholic schools. The problem is that a lot of Catholic teachers and theologians feel that they need to filter the Church's teachings according to their philosophical agenda or they won't teach it."
According to James Likoudis, a nationally known writer on catechetic and sex education, the reason Catholic high school students are just as pro-homosexual as their secular counterparts is that the relevant Church documents are filtered out. He said, "The Vatican document The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality intended to remove corrupting sex education programs in Catholic schools is a dead letter in this country, as can be seen in the continued proliferation of Catholic sex education programs in practically every diocese."
In the diocese of San Jose, there are similarities in what Catholic students and students in public schools get. Frank Scanlon, a student at Bellermine Catholic high school said, "There's no gay slant at Bellermine, even though at a retreat, one kid came out that he was gay. But, they taught us about condoms, and if you have sex use them."
Scanlon's father said, "a lot of the kids consider their religion class a joke. They had one priest who didn't want to impose the Catholic faith because of the non-Catholics in the class. He didn't want to make them feel uptight."
Father X said," A parent came to me, in 1994, saying that one book of a seventh-grade class was pornographic in a Santa Clara Catholic school. The book had stuff on how to put on condoms, and if you urinate on a partner make sure you don't do it on the eyes or ears." Father X organized a group of parents who meet with the principal and pastor. The principal and pastor defended the teacher's right to use the book. But when they went to the diocese superintendent of schools it was found to be against the diocese's policy. The book was taken out despite the teacher's complaints.
Parents in the Oakland diocese had a different experience with a sex-ed program called New Creation. Catholics United for the Faith, a Catholic information apostolate in Steubenville, Ohio, has faulted New Creation for its "graphic illustrations that offend against modesty and chastity;" for "emphasizing information over formation;" and for "violating the latency period." In 1998, the principal of St. Bede's of the Oakland diocese told parents that their children either had to attend the New Creation classes or they would have to quit the school. When a reporter for the Faith asked the superintendent of schools for the Oakland diocese, Anne Manchester, if mandatory attendance at these classes contradicted the guidelines in set forth in the Church's Educational Guidance in Human Love, she responded the site (St. Bede's) could make the decision.
A recent graduate of Gunderson high school, a public high school in San Jose, Robert Davila said, "The school is diverse -- they have Hispanic clubs and gay clubs. They demonstrate how to use condoms so you won't get AIDS." The extent to which Catholic schools may run counter to Church teachings is only one part of the problem since the vast majority of Catholic high school students go to public schools. In the fall of 2000, Governor Davis signed legislation that went into effect on January 1 that mandated California public schools expose homosexuality, bisexuality, transvestitism, transexuality, and other lifestyles to all grade levels, including kindergarten.
"The only place the Catholic public school students are going to get the sexual moral teachings of the Church on a continuous basis is at the pulpit," said Father X. He remembers former San Jose Diocese Bishop Pierre DuMaine saying, "For the vast majority of Catholics, the only religious talk they will hear is the homily and the only literature they are going to read is the bulletin. So, what does that tell you about their importance?" Before Vatican II, it was the practice in the United States for bishops to have syllabi or schedules for the year's parish homilies where the specific moral and faith teachings were to be systematically presented. Father X said that many priests have made a case that the Church in America needs to return to the syllabi.
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Why Are Catholic High School Students No Different?
A poll conducted by Zogby International of 1,003 high school students found that 80% of Catholic seniors believe homosexuals should have the right to marry while only two-thirds of the total of all demographic high school senior groups in the survey claimed gay marriages should be legal. Dennis Gilbert of Hamilton College, in Clinton, N.Y., did the survey. In an interview in the September 6 Wanderer, Gilbert said, "Large majorities of seniors take pro-gay positions on relevant gay issues. And virtually every definable demographic group took these positions," apart from evangelical or 'born-again' Christians."
According to Father X -- a priest in the San Jose Diocese who asked to remain anonymous, the document Pastoral Guidelines for Ministry to Homosexuals in the Diocese of San Jose contributes to the ethical confusion on homosexuality among Catholic high school students because it has no moral component. This diocese document claims "...individuals do not choose and cannot change their sexual orientation but must understand it and integrate it into their life of faith and conscience."
"There is a presumption in the diocese that homosexuality has a biological basis," said Father X. "This, in part, originally came from the Kinsey report, which lead to gay safe zones in the public schools and were eventually followed by the Catholic schools. The problem is that a lot of Catholic teachers and theologians feel that they need to filter the Church's teachings according to their philosophical agenda or they won't teach it."
According to James Likoudis, a nationally known writer on catechetic and sex education, the reason Catholic high school students are just as pro-homosexual as their secular counterparts is that the relevant Church documents are filtered out. He said, "The Vatican document The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality intended to remove corrupting sex education programs in Catholic schools is a dead letter in this country, as can be seen in the continued proliferation of Catholic sex education programs in practically every diocese."
In the diocese of San Jose, there are similarities in what Catholic students and students in public schools get. Frank Scanlon, a student at Bellermine Catholic high school said, "There's no gay slant at Bellermine, even though at a retreat, one kid came out that he was gay. But, they taught us about condoms, and if you have sex use them."
Scanlon's father said, "a lot of the kids consider their religion class a joke. They had one priest who didn't want to impose the Catholic faith because of the non-Catholics in the class. He didn't want to make them feel uptight."
Father X said," A parent came to me, in 1994, saying that one book of a seventh-grade class was pornographic in a Santa Clara Catholic school. The book had stuff on how to put on condoms, and if you urinate on a partner make sure you don't do it on the eyes or ears." Father X organized a group of parents who meet with the principal and pastor. The principal and pastor defended the teacher's right to use the book. But when they went to the diocese superintendent of schools it was found to be against the diocese's policy. The book was taken out despite the teacher's complaints.
Parents in the Oakland diocese had a different experience with a sex-ed program called New Creation. Catholics United for the Faith, a Catholic information apostolate in Steubenville, Ohio, has faulted New Creation for its "graphic illustrations that offend against modesty and chastity;" for "emphasizing information over formation;" and for "violating the latency period." In 1998, the principal of St. Bede's of the Oakland diocese told parents that their children either had to attend the New Creation classes or they would have to quit the school. When a reporter for the Faith asked the superintendent of schools for the Oakland diocese, Anne Manchester, if mandatory attendance at these classes contradicted the guidelines in set forth in the Church's Educational Guidance in Human Love, she responded the site (St. Bede's) could make the decision.
A recent graduate of Gunderson high school, a public high school in San Jose, Robert Davila said, "The school is diverse -- they have Hispanic clubs and gay clubs. They demonstrate how to use condoms so you won't get AIDS." The extent to which Catholic schools may run counter to Church teachings is only one part of the problem since the vast majority of Catholic high school students go to public schools. In the fall of 2000, Governor Davis signed legislation that went into effect on January 1 that mandated California public schools expose homosexuality, bisexuality, transvestitism, transexuality, and other lifestyles to all grade levels, including kindergarten.
"The only place the Catholic public school students are going to get the sexual moral teachings of the Church on a continuous basis is at the pulpit," said Father X. He remembers former San Jose Diocese Bishop Pierre DuMaine saying, "For the vast majority of Catholics, the only religious talk they will hear is the homily and the only literature they are going to read is the bulletin. So, what does that tell you about their importance?" Before Vatican II, it was the practice in the United States for bishops to have syllabi or schedules for the year's parish homilies where the specific moral and faith teachings were to be systematically presented. Father X said that many priests have made a case that the Church in America needs to return to the syllabi.
Click here for Credit Card and Amazon Order of Fred Martinez's book "Hidden Axis":
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1410746186/qid=1099936755/sr=11-1/ref
To order Fred Martinez's book by check or money order click:
http://hiddenaxisofevil.blogspot.com/2005/05/free-book-offer.html
To see other articles go to:
http://fredmartinez.blogspot.com/
http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/
http://thefredmartinezreport.blogspot.com/
http://themeaningofloveandlife.blogspot.com/
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