I am very grateful to you for expanding my very limited knowledge on a number of the topics you discussed. In my "lived experience" I lack the diversity of people/experiences that you raise in your article. Therefore, I am unable to contribute much to the discussion. But reading your piece was a learning experience for me. There is one central concept that I can address. I taught theology to undergraduates for many years and in addition to covering the "official" teachings of the church I made sure my students knew that not everyone agreed with those teachings. I would also explain the rationale for this disagreement. College students are young adults and should be given the "whole" story and the tools to think critically. Suppression of ideas is never acceptable....even though we have a history of that in our church. I never suggested a relativistic approach. Rather, students needed to have all the aspects of a topic in order to make a moral and ethical choice. Silencing and censorship are forms of demeaning the human person.
Thank you so much for this Sr Maureen. I completely agree. In all my teaching, I always make sure that students know what the Church's teaching is, and then provide them with the resources and arguments to reflect upon and deepen their understanding by considering different perspectives and positions. I think it is patronising to seek to protect university students from valid arguments and legitimate debates. If they can't handle these, they should not be at university!
Agree completely. No doubt you experienced the same disappointing reaction from your students as I did. Most of my students had gone to Catholic elementary and/or Catholic high school. Over time I realized I had to rethink how I would present the material because most students had never been introduced to the "other" side of a given theological concept. They simply knew (and accepted) the official positions. Ecclesiology is my area of study/research with a special focus on Vatican II. It disturbed me that, if they had heard about the Council, they regarded it the same way they regarded WWII, an event in history. We have generations of Catholics who are sadly lacking in the content of the faith tradition to which they self identify...reminding me of a quote from the Old Testament: "There arose a generation that did not know the Lord." I truly hope future church historians will not look back in time and be able to say the same about us.
Funnily enough, most of my teaching had to start at the opposite end of the spectrum - highly secularised students, and Pentecostalists and Muslims who knew very little about the Catholic tradition. They were so stimulating to work with, and offered quite different reactions from when I've worked with Catholic groups!
Thank you, Tina, for your honest and courageous truth-seeking. Your refusal to remain silent or accept censorship in the name of inclusivity is admirable 👏
Thank you for your loyal support Ursula. This is a small and sometimes lonely platform of dissent. Few people are willing to be openly supportive, even if they quietly agree. I'm sustained by those who are willing to speak out, and by the young women I meet who cannot express their concerns because of the hostile environment they inhabit in their universities and peer groups.
The censorship you describe is very grieving. JK Rowling was once censored by the right, because they thought her use of magic as a plot device was spiritually dangerous; now it’s the progressive left that thinks she is dangerous. You have been censored in the past by some sections of the Catholic hierarchy; now there’s a progressive magisterium that wants to exclude you (in the name of inclusion) and silence your dissent (in the name of diversity). Shame upon them.
Thank you Timothy. I find it terrifying when academics are willing to engage in empty sloganeering, because as soon as we start signing up to that kind of rhetoric, we become prey to so many dangerous ideologies. I speak out on this for the same reason that I speak out on aspects of Catholic teaching that make no sense. At its best, the Catholic theological tradition privileges the interdependence of reason and revelation, philosophy and theology, in its quest for understanding. I fully accept that there are mysteries of faith that resist rational explanation, but the non-rational is different from the irrational, and irrationality is always dangerous.
This is a superb post. It concisely yet thoroughly -- and entirely rationally -- lays out the claims that those of us who recognize biological reality have been trying to make for years. Yet you have done it better.
My politics tend left -- often far left -- but I have been agitating for almost 20 years now against the myth of "transgender" identity. I've lost friendships over it. But I won't stop fighting.
There are two sexes: male and female. That is biological reality. I don't care how many of my supposedly liberal confrères don't get it. They are wrong. And I will still never align myself with the MAGA horde, no matter how many of them think they can cynically yoke this issue to the rest of their authoritarian agenda.
Thank you Lisa! I'm so grateful for the encouragement. When my courage fails - as it often does - I gain strength from knowing I speak for others who share these concerns, many of whom are less free to speak out than I am.
Hi Tina. Long time no see! I hope you’re well. Strange to encounter you over this topic, which has been exercising me philosophically since my then 10-year old returned from primary school announcing that she wouldn’t have to have periods because she could change her gender! I tried to move things conceptually beyond the painful standoff by offering a talk at work on the question of whether or not progressives could disagree about “trans rights”. I was denounced as a transphobe by some colleagues and my talk unceremoniously cancelled by the Head of Dept. (days before she left for a job elsewhere!). Anyway, Merry Christmas to you! Cheers, Neil Gascoigne
How lovely to hear from you Neil - and thank you for sharing your experience. I wish I could understand why so many academics who ought to know better have chosen censorship instead of free and honest debate about an issue that is so complex and potentially damaging for young people and women. It makes me so grateful for every voice of solidarity - not necessarily in agreement with what I say, but in agreement that we must not be silenced. Nina Power is also willing to take a stand - so there are three ex-Roehampton academics speaking out! Season's greetings to you and yours. x
I am very grateful to you for expanding my very limited knowledge on a number of the topics you discussed. In my "lived experience" I lack the diversity of people/experiences that you raise in your article. Therefore, I am unable to contribute much to the discussion. But reading your piece was a learning experience for me. There is one central concept that I can address. I taught theology to undergraduates for many years and in addition to covering the "official" teachings of the church I made sure my students knew that not everyone agreed with those teachings. I would also explain the rationale for this disagreement. College students are young adults and should be given the "whole" story and the tools to think critically. Suppression of ideas is never acceptable....even though we have a history of that in our church. I never suggested a relativistic approach. Rather, students needed to have all the aspects of a topic in order to make a moral and ethical choice. Silencing and censorship are forms of demeaning the human person.
Thank you so much for this Sr Maureen. I completely agree. In all my teaching, I always make sure that students know what the Church's teaching is, and then provide them with the resources and arguments to reflect upon and deepen their understanding by considering different perspectives and positions. I think it is patronising to seek to protect university students from valid arguments and legitimate debates. If they can't handle these, they should not be at university!
Agree completely. No doubt you experienced the same disappointing reaction from your students as I did. Most of my students had gone to Catholic elementary and/or Catholic high school. Over time I realized I had to rethink how I would present the material because most students had never been introduced to the "other" side of a given theological concept. They simply knew (and accepted) the official positions. Ecclesiology is my area of study/research with a special focus on Vatican II. It disturbed me that, if they had heard about the Council, they regarded it the same way they regarded WWII, an event in history. We have generations of Catholics who are sadly lacking in the content of the faith tradition to which they self identify...reminding me of a quote from the Old Testament: "There arose a generation that did not know the Lord." I truly hope future church historians will not look back in time and be able to say the same about us.
Funnily enough, most of my teaching had to start at the opposite end of the spectrum - highly secularised students, and Pentecostalists and Muslims who knew very little about the Catholic tradition. They were so stimulating to work with, and offered quite different reactions from when I've worked with Catholic groups!
Thank you, Tina, for your honest and courageous truth-seeking. Your refusal to remain silent or accept censorship in the name of inclusivity is admirable 👏
Thank you for your loyal support Ursula. This is a small and sometimes lonely platform of dissent. Few people are willing to be openly supportive, even if they quietly agree. I'm sustained by those who are willing to speak out, and by the young women I meet who cannot express their concerns because of the hostile environment they inhabit in their universities and peer groups.
The censorship you describe is very grieving. JK Rowling was once censored by the right, because they thought her use of magic as a plot device was spiritually dangerous; now it’s the progressive left that thinks she is dangerous. You have been censored in the past by some sections of the Catholic hierarchy; now there’s a progressive magisterium that wants to exclude you (in the name of inclusion) and silence your dissent (in the name of diversity). Shame upon them.
Thank you Timothy. I find it terrifying when academics are willing to engage in empty sloganeering, because as soon as we start signing up to that kind of rhetoric, we become prey to so many dangerous ideologies. I speak out on this for the same reason that I speak out on aspects of Catholic teaching that make no sense. At its best, the Catholic theological tradition privileges the interdependence of reason and revelation, philosophy and theology, in its quest for understanding. I fully accept that there are mysteries of faith that resist rational explanation, but the non-rational is different from the irrational, and irrationality is always dangerous.
Just discovered your Substack, Tina.
This is a superb post. It concisely yet thoroughly -- and entirely rationally -- lays out the claims that those of us who recognize biological reality have been trying to make for years. Yet you have done it better.
My politics tend left -- often far left -- but I have been agitating for almost 20 years now against the myth of "transgender" identity. I've lost friendships over it. But I won't stop fighting.
There are two sexes: male and female. That is biological reality. I don't care how many of my supposedly liberal confrères don't get it. They are wrong. And I will still never align myself with the MAGA horde, no matter how many of them think they can cynically yoke this issue to the rest of their authoritarian agenda.
Biology isn't bigotry!
Thank you Lisa! I'm so grateful for the encouragement. When my courage fails - as it often does - I gain strength from knowing I speak for others who share these concerns, many of whom are less free to speak out than I am.
Hi Tina. Long time no see! I hope you’re well. Strange to encounter you over this topic, which has been exercising me philosophically since my then 10-year old returned from primary school announcing that she wouldn’t have to have periods because she could change her gender! I tried to move things conceptually beyond the painful standoff by offering a talk at work on the question of whether or not progressives could disagree about “trans rights”. I was denounced as a transphobe by some colleagues and my talk unceremoniously cancelled by the Head of Dept. (days before she left for a job elsewhere!). Anyway, Merry Christmas to you! Cheers, Neil Gascoigne
How lovely to hear from you Neil - and thank you for sharing your experience. I wish I could understand why so many academics who ought to know better have chosen censorship instead of free and honest debate about an issue that is so complex and potentially damaging for young people and women. It makes me so grateful for every voice of solidarity - not necessarily in agreement with what I say, but in agreement that we must not be silenced. Nina Power is also willing to take a stand - so there are three ex-Roehampton academics speaking out! Season's greetings to you and yours. x