Catholics Need Not Apply. Firing Professor Howell. Rise of Anti-Catholicism

By Deacon Keith Fournier
7/19/2010
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Catholics insist that there is a Natural Law, 'present in the heart of each man and established by reason.'

The E-Mail was sent on behalf of an anonymous student: "Teaching a student about the tenets of a religion is one thing. Declaring that homosexual acts violate the natural laws of man is another." This is PRECISELY the Catholic claim! Homosexual sexual acts violate the Natural Law.

The relativists of this age have persuaded many, including some Catholics, that there are no objective moral truths; there are only 'my' truths and 'your' truths.

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CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - The story of the unjust firing of Catholic Professor Ken Howell by the University of Illinois is far from over. The President of the University is sending out form letters in response to the overwhelming number of complaints he has received. He has promised to have the decision reviewed. The excellent lawyers of the Alliance Defense Fund are doing what they do so well. Catholics, other Christians and other people of faith and good will have joined together to right what is an obvious wrong.

Professor Ken Howell is a faithful Catholic who was hired to teach courses on the Catholic faith and intellectual tradition. He is well qualified on every front. He taught those courses in complete fidelity to the magisterium, the teaching office, of the Catholic Church. He is a victim of the "Dictatorship of Relativism" which Pope Benedict XVI warned of in the homily he gave prior to the Conclave wherein he was chosen to become the successor of the Apostle Peter. Professor Howell taught what the Catholic Church affirms about the existence of the Natural Law and its binding nature on all men and women of every age.

This position is not simply a "religious" position. It was the foundation of Western Civilization. There simply are objective Moral truths which can be known by all men and women through the exercise of reason and these Moral truths should govern our life together. For example, the taking of innocent human life is always wrong, period. That is why faithful Catholics are at the forefront of the great human rights struggle of our age to restore the recognition of the fundamental human right to life for our first neighbors, children in the womb.

So it is with the Church's teaching that homosexual sexual acts are morally disordered. They are. Authentic Human Freedom has a moral constitution. It must be exercised in reference to the truth concerning the human person, the family, our obligations in solidarity to one another and the common good. The unjust firing of Professor Howell is a warning to all who hold that truth exists in an age which has followed the pied piper of relativism.

We are engaged in a struggle between two competing visions of the human person, the nature of marriage (and the family and society founded upon it) and the structure and obligations attendant to the responsible exercise of authentic human freedom. Just before leaving for the summer month, 7,000 pilgrims filled the Paul VI Hall to hear the Pope say these words: "Freedom is authentic and helps in the construction of a truly human civilization only when reconciled with truth. If disconnected from truth, freedom tragically becomes the principle that destroys the inner harmony of human beings, a source of abuse for the strong and the violent, a cause of suffering and mourning."

It is important to pay attention to the e-mail complaint which generated the unconstitutional termination of Professor Howell. It was sent to Dr. Robert McKim by a student who was not in Professor Howell's class. He purported to be writing on behalf of a student who was and wished to remain anonymous. The e-mail read in part "Teaching a student about the tenets of a religion is one thing. Declaring that homosexual acts violate the natural laws of man is another." Here in one simple sentence is the real danger this whole matter exposes. This is PRECISELY the Catholic claim! Homosexual sexual acts violate the Natural Law.

Catholics insist that there is such a Natural Law, "present in the heart of each man and established by reason." This law "is universal in its precepts and its authority extends to all men. It expresses the dignity of the person and determines the basis for his fundamental rights and duties." (CCC# 1956) It is in this Natural Law that we find the moral truths which should inform our life together if we hope to build a truly just and free society. It is in this Natural Law that we find those fundamental and foundational human rights which must be recognized by the civil or positive law as belonging to all men and women. These rights do not come from Government but from God.

The relativists of this age have persuaded many, including some Catholics, that there are no objective moral truths; there are only "my" truths and "your" truths. They seek to relegate our claim of the existence of such truths to simply being a "religious" position. We will not and we cannot back down. In the midst of this confused age we must insist that there are objective truths which can be known by the exercise of reason because they are revealed by the Natural Law. Further that these truths are the only solid basis for building a truly free, just and human society.

Such truth claims grate against the enforcers of the "dictatorship of Relativism". Catholics insist that these objective truths must form the basis of a truly just civil society. ...

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1 - 10 of 39 Comments

Emmy D
2 years ago
He has been re-instated. See article in CU's local paper, the News-Gazette.

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/religion/2010-07-29/ui-rehires-catholicism-prof-ends-funding-newman-center.html
Peter
2 years ago
I find this article all sizzle and no steak.

1. What precisely was the nature of the course? Was it a course in catholic theology? Was it a course about religion in general? Did the professor say "The church says homosexuality is a violation of natural law" or "Homosexuality is a violation of moral law?" The first would always be appropriate. The last would be appropriate only in the context of religious instruction.

2. What was the nature of the complaint? Was the complaint merely that the professor made an assertion, or was there more to it? Did the professor require agreement, either explicitly or implicitly?

3. What did the university do? Did university police enter his classroom and escort him out mid-lecture? Did they discuss the issue? Where there alternative courses of action?

4. Finally there are other faiths that invoke natural law in support of their systems of belief. Would you work as hard to defend their rights?
Edwin
2 years ago
I appreciate your brave stance, deacon. And I agree with your position, especially that Truth has an absolute form and should not be subject to "relativism". However, I would hesitate to use incendiary words such as "Cultural Revolution" and even "Police power of the State". Such words only fan the "us vs them" belief that the Enemy wants to incite amongst Man.

Peace, and Love, above all, is the Law of Jesus Christ, our Saviour. Let us not take on an adversarial stance against our brothers, lest we fall into the trap of the Enemy.
Michael Leonard
2 years ago
May God Bless all who are faithful to His Universal Church and its teachings from the Holy Spirit to our Holy father Pope Benedict XVI on the matters of faith and morals. Prof Howell is a modern hero of Christianity who will be rewarded for all eternity for his own faithfulness to Christ our Lord, if he continues to persevere through his current trials. As our Savior reminded us in the Gospels when He proclaimed that they called Him beelzebul (the devil) how much worse will they persecute those who love Jesus. Monsignor Ketcham is the exact opposite of this seeking to protect his own interests instead of the interests of the one True Church. This misleads others into believing that it is alright to dissent from Church teachings on faith and morals with no consequences which is very much false. This is a major problem in our Church today that needs to be addressed often. That being said God is always in control even though He will not force us to follow His will, He can and has punished those nations in the past who promoted and stood up for grave evils such as abortion and homosexuality. Also know that although homosexual behavior is a grave offense to God the individual person who has these tendencies is very much loved by God, they are called to abstain from this abominable behavior for the good of their own souls. The same goes for abortion which is a grave selfish act being promoted by selfish individuals who lack compassion for the poor on all the Earth. May God Have Mercy on us for not shouting out on the rooftops the grave injustices being done in the name of so called individual rights and freedoms!!!
Kathy Fehder
2 years ago
I signed a petition to the university regarding Howell's firing, and the message claimed that he had not been fired, but is under review.
Esther Ferencz
2 years ago
Deacon Fournier,

Amazing how CATHOLICS can be mistreated and NO ONE NOTICES or CARES....meaning MEDIA...Let one of them or a certain # of minorities have this happen...ummmmm alll over the press, T V. Its getting very old and quite disgusting~~~~`
Lisa
2 years ago
Cyril -

With all due respect, the issue is not as pat as you or the papers close to the University would depict. Professor Howell's firing does not lie solely on the shoulders of the department head or the Newman Center. There was one student who singled him out for instructing the same Catholic principles that he had taught for more than twelve years. That student's perception of insult (even though the offending material in question is not a value judgment but rather a fact of Catholic teaching) strong-armed the University into an immediate termination, with no discernable process.

The student should be held liable for damages to Professor Howell. If a student at U of I doesn't want to hear Catholic teachings, don't take the class (whish is most likely purely elective). That such a smear campaign (whether or not one agrees with Catholicism) would be validated and rewarded should be an outrage to any student who values tolerance. The very definition of the word tolerance means that we should be able to disagree with a point of view but treat the opposing view with respect and dignity.
Mike FP
2 years ago
The central issue here is that an institution decided to use coercion to keep people from stating certain religious beliefs, in this case, the Church's teaching on homosexuality. The articulation of this belief occurred in voluntary assemblies.
This is quite a change from 30 years ago, when the ACLU felt it necessary to defend the constitutional rights of the American Nazi Party to march through Skokie, IL -- which at the time numbered about 5000 death-camp survivors among its residents -- or the "academic freedom" of Professor Butz in his efforts to argue that the Shoah had never occurred. (Hey, Jeff? Where are you?)
Bulbajer
2 years ago
Following Cyril's argument, I think that a more appropriate headline would be "non-liberal Catholics need not apply." For those who know me as the liberal that I am, I do not mean that that is a good thing; it is still wrong.
Bruce Barron
2 years ago
As you well know St.Thomas Aquinas proved the existence of the natural law-"do good,avoid evil." This of course is in it's infant form.

The human act is known to be right or wrong by applying right reason to the natural law.

It would be absolutely absurd to have an intellect and not to be able to determine and know whether one's actions are right or wrong. The will is the means by which we carry these act out.

Man has internal principles of operation by which he is governed. Of necessity he must know these principles if he wishes to reach his end. Even the intellect and will must follow certain principles and to go contrary to them end in chaos.

Truth is subjective for those who cannot face "reality".

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