CAMPUS

Did The Observer Call for Censorship?

A recent Observer editorial called for BC theology-related events to be reviewed by a panel of Jesuits in order to review their adherence to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The editorial suggested that if this panel found an event to be contrary to the views of the Catholic Church, it should send an accredited professor to define and explain the Catholic position before or after the event. This editorial has met with stiff resistance among the university’s professors, some going so far as to call the idea “censorship.”

The censorship label is inappropriate in this instance because The Observer never called for events to be canceled or remodeled. Rather, the editorial simply calls for lectures that preach or misconstrue Catholicism to be augmented by a companion lecture that allows both sides a measure of legitimacy. In many ways, this action extends, rather than suffocates the debate. If professors arguing against the Church are truly concerned about a simple counterargument, then perhaps their lecture stands on shaky philosophical or theological grounds.

In the eyes of many Catholics, it is unacceptable for confusion to result on the non-negotiable teachings of the Church at a Catholic university. Examples of this at Boston College include the theology department’s co-sponsoring of the Vagina Monologues, a theology professor who preaches that the Church’s position on pre-marital sex is archaic and bound to change, and a lecture co-sponsored by the theology department entitled Jesus Christ as Grand Marshall of Queer America.

The argument for this editorial comes down to whether or not one believes that a Catholic university has an obligation to defend Catholicism in open debate. The Observer certainly thinks so.