Lesbian Coach's Employment 'Concluded' at Belmont University

A firestorm of controversy erupted this week in Nashville

Headlines scream that Coach Howe was fired for being gay. The controversy has electrified both religious 'conservatives' and 'progressives', Catholics and Protestants, until the whole state of Tennessee is in an uproar. The Belmont-Howe ordeal is symptomatic of a culture falling off the cliff, and the vultures on both sides circle relentlessly. For Coach Howe, Belmont, and all those called to eternal life, however, the Church truly has the answer to the cross of homosexuality: the inalienable right to choose, elevate, and defend chastity.

NASHVILLE, TN (Catholic Online) - A firestorm of controversy erupted this week in Nashville after Belmont University came under fire for it's "no fault removal" of lesbian soccer coach Lisa Howe. Belmont University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university located in Nashville, Tennessee. It is the largest Christian university in Tennessee and the second largest private university in the state, behind nearby Vanderbilt University.

Formerly under the Southern Baptist umbrella, Belmont broke ranks with the denomination in 2007, citing the desire to remain a Christian university, but no longer a specifically Baptist one. Reportedly, Coach Howe expressed a desire to university supervisors to share with players that she and her partner were expecting a baby. The university allegedly denied her request twice, citing their "don't ask don't tell" policy pertaining to the individual sexual identity of staff.  Howe elected to do so anyway.

Lesbian Fired for Being Gay?

Headlines scream that Howe was fired for being gay, yet she had been gay for the six years she was a successful soccer coach for the university; Howe was only confronted by supervisors after she went public with her plans for starting a family with her lesbian partner after they expressly directed her not to. Understandably, the controversy has electrified both religious conservatives and progressives, Catholics and Protestants. The whole State is in an uproar.

I am, frankly, saddened by dissenting "Catholics" who are defending Howe and other active, militant homosexuals on their blogs, websites, and Facebook pages. I find their presumption and misplaced sympathy tiresome and even silly.

Besides the fact that Howe did exactly what she was asked not to do, I have difficulty with Catholics and other Christians who proudly elevate their feelings of pity for homosexuals over Scripture and Church teaching, as though their own feelings are somehow more sympathetic than the clear voice of an all-merciful God through the Scriptures and the teaching Magisterium of the Church. Sadly and tragically, they are lost in a sea of propaganda.

Using "do not judge, lest ye be judged" and other "Jesus loved everyone" Scriptures out of context is tantamount to fraud. There are indeed many interpretations of many Scriptures; that is why Jesus gave the Church the power and authority to interpret them as the "pillar and foundation of truth."

The Scriptures actually command the Church to judge (1 Cor. 5 & 6). It is her role as spiritual witness in the world. Christians will one day judge the world and the angels; St. Paul asks how we will ever be able to do that if we do not or will not judge properly on earth. 

Admittedly, one must also act according to his conscience, but only after he has obeyed the injunction to form his conscience in accordance to the truth. That is how we will all be judged.

Paralyzed By Passions

Breaking with the revealed will of God on the matter of homosexuality in favor of one's feelings often has less to do with ignorance regarding Church doctrine than it has with an emotional and spiritual conflict that leaves people virtually paralyzed in applying the Catholic gospel of Christ to their own lives, and those of the homosexuals whose lifestyles they defend. Those who do so feel sorry for gays because they are treated so abominably by some Christians, because they sense hypocrisy, or do not want their own sins judged.

They do so at the detriment of their souls, and the souls of those they attempt to defend. It is necessary to salvation to acknowledge this unbelief and return to the welcoming embrace of the Church.

But their position also has some merit. No one can reasonably ignore the serious proclivity in this country toward bigotry against homosexuals. While we actively defend the bulwark of truth, obedient Catholics and other Christians must take care not to become hateful or discriminate against homosexual persons. 

Most people with same sex attraction maintain their proclivity toward the same sex is an unwanted inclination. As such, homosexual attraction, when not acted upon, is not sinful; in and of itself it is merely a temptation. Gay people often feel, however, that they have only two alternatives: entering the gay community or engaging in self-hatred.

They must be invited, welcomed, inspired to the third alternative: the resolute and firm commitment to chastity based on the innate dignity of the human person, made in the image and likeness of his or her Creator. It is a sacred dignity shared by Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mother, both chaste, and its pursuit is assisted by the matchless power of God and all His angels and saints in heaven.

Unfortunately, many people with homosexual tendencies do not feel worthy of this dignity when confronted with the unjust and unchristian bigotry they sometimes experience in our country and our parishes. Additionally, their voices raised in a desire for purity are often squashed by religion hating, militant gay activists that hold public opinion in sway.

A Sign of the Times

Chastity, of any sort, is a mark of the modern Church. We are all called to it. Living in a culture stagnating in its sexual cesspool, chaste gays are a particular sign of contradiction, both to self-righteous Christian bigots and to those flaunting lives in active homosexual, mortal sin.

As such we must give them a voice, seek them out and draw attention to the stunning dignity and beauty of their sacred choice. Like all of us, these holy men and women fight against paralyzing passions, and they fear a fall more than anything else. Surely Jesus longs and strains toward them as they bear their cross:

The physical and psychological origins of homosexuality remain largely unexplained. "Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, the Church has always declared that 'homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.' They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.
 
[However], the number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not small, and this inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition (CCC 2357-2359)".

We must give our chaste, gay brothers and sisters a platform to go with the equal rights they possess with the rest of us in America. It is those living or defending actively gay lifestyles that push for privileges beyond equality.

Was Lisa Howe discriminated against? Probably not legally, since Tennessee does not recognize homosexuality as a civil right. Morally? Maybe. She worked for six years at this university as an admittedly gay woman. Was the university's decision based on her homosexuality or her insubordination?

No matter. The Belmont-Howe ordeal is symptomatic of a culture falling off the sexual cliff, and the vultures on both sides circle relentlessly. For Coach Howe, Belmont, and all those called to eternal life, however, the Church truly has the answer to the cross of homosexuality: the inalienable right to choose, elevate, and defend chastity.

-----

Sonja Corbitt is a Catholic speaker, Scripture teacher and study author, and a contributing writer for Catholic Online. Visit her at www.pursuingthesummit.com.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'

Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online