Frank Deryck (The Beacon)
By Frank Deryck, Guest Commentary
After hearing Fr. Beauchamp's words regarding homosexual employees, I feel that UP is no longer the accepting community that I once considered it to be if comments like that could be made which threaten the status of its workers.
A person's sexual orientation is as fixed as their skin color or their sex; it is not something they choose, but rather something they are assigned from birth. Laws are in place that prevent an employer from discriminating based upon these ascribed characteristics. For the most part, they play their role in society to protect its citizens, but because UP is a Catholic institution, they are exempt from following these laws if the employee in question is homosexual.
I understand that UP is a Catholic university. When we accepted an offer of admission, we accepted the fact that we would be exposing ourselves to four years of overarching Catholic themes, whether we followed the religion or not. For the most part, I've noticed the religious themes to be benign. But for people to defend Fr. Beauchamp's words based on the fact that UP is a religious institution is just plain concerning.
Despite being non-religious myself, I grew up surrounded by the Catholic faith, having been in Catholic schools all my life, so I'd argue that I know the Bible just as well as anyone within the faith. I know what the religion stands for and the values that it teaches. The Catholic faith is one that preaches about acceptance and love such as loving your neighbor as you would love yourself, among other things. And yet it seems as if the general pattern is that these values don't apply if a person is gay.
It seems a little hypocritical to me that once a person's sexual orientation is brought into question, it is grounds to disregard the values that you are taught to uphold. Treat others as you would like to be treated...unless they're gay, at which point it's completely acceptable to disregard them as people? It doesn't make much sense, and despite what the Bible says, it doesn't seem very Catholic to me.
I have nothing against organized religion. As someone who has grown up surrounded by it, I can appreciate the role that it has in the lives of its followers. Religion has played a significant part in defining the morality of many, which I completely respect. However, when religion is being used as an excuse to discriminate against others based on factors that they cannot change, that's where I feel religion loses its purpose. At that point, religion becomes a weapon rather than a way of life, and much like an actual weapon, it can be used to hurt those around it.
As a Catholic institution, UP has attracted many who accept and follow the beliefs of the church. I knew that coming in, and so I accepted that it would lead to some disagreements along the way. But this is just one thing that I, like many others, cannot just accept. I do not agree with Fr. Beauchamp's words, nor do I appreciate the implications that they hold for both the employees and students of this school.
Being a part of a religion should not be grounds to exclude or discriminate against others. Rather, it should teach how to accept others regardless of their status in society. If our country can begin making the strides to accept everyone, regardless of their race, sexual orientation, gender, etc., then I do not see why our religions and religious institutions cannot do the same as well.
Frank Deryck is a senior psychology and sociology major. He can be reached at deryck14@up.edu.
