The 50 Spot: Bigoted Catholic Bishop Attacks Diversity on Campus

by Michael Jones · 2009-02-25 04:42:00 UTC
Topics:

Joseph Martino

We're dedicating the entire 50 spot today to Pennsylvania, where Scranton Bishop Joseph Martino has called for Misericordia University's Diversity Institute to close because they hosted an openly gay man to campus.  Ah, censorship and hate and its finest lowest.

The controversy swirls around a February 17 event held on Misericordia's campus with openly gay author/blogger Keith Boykin (he runs this blog, over here).  Bishop Martino released a statement prior to the event chastising the Diversity Institute for inviting Boykin, and just this week demanded that Misericordia administrators show proof that they are teaching students about the evils of homosexuality.

"Students attending a Catholic institution should have a clear understanding that while all persons should be treated with dignity, homosexual activity is not condoned by the Church and should never be construed as acceptable behavior," the bishop said in his statement.

I'd love to hear what this Bishop's definition of dignity is.  For their part, Misericordia University students have blasted the Bishop as totally out of touch with the 21st century, peddling more James Dobson than Jesus Christ.  Student Ebony Amora, president of the Diversity Club on the campus, told the Scranton Times Tribune that Bishop Martino should be ashamed.

"Frankly, he should be ashamed of himself that because a gay African-American came and spoke at Misericordia University, he wants to shut down the Diversity Institute," said Amora.

Another student, junior George Pierce said that part of Misericordia's mission is to welcome people of all backgrounds in an open, academic setting.

"I don’t think that because it’s coming from the bishop we’re going to just roll over and accept it," Pierce told the Times Tribune.

Good for these students.  The last thing they should do is roll over for a Bishop that would pass hate and discrimination off as Catholic teaching.  Bishop Martino should also be taken to task for completely violating the very mission of Misericordia University: to provide a quality education through the tenets of mercy, service, justice and hospitality.  We're not quite sure Bishop Martino understands what mercy, justice and hospitality even are.

One last student told the Scranton Times Tribune that she'll be standing up to the bishop.  Senior Alyson Neely: "Part of what diversity stands for is standing up for what you think is right. The thing they have to understand about diversity is it doesn’t just teach about homosexuality. They teach about race, culture, all sorts of things and that’s what diversity is about."

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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