Most Hoosiers know about the lawsuits against a Catholic high school in Indianapolis. The plaintiffs are a couple of lesbian faculty members who were fired for being in same sex marriages. On the other hand, Notre Dame has recently hired openly gay Pete Buttigieg as a teacher and researcher. Does that make sense? What do you make of the Catholic Church’s incomprehensible double standard?
Even though it’s been decades since I’ve been a practicing Catholic, I know where they are coming from. While attending parochial schools for the first twelve years of my life, we were admonished to avoid “sins of the flesh.” As an example, entertaining even one ” impure thought” was considered a mortal sin. Which would send you straight to hell. Is there a single teenager in this world who has never thought about sex? I could critique at length their stance on sexuality, but it would take up far more space than is possible in a simple blog. Nevertheless, if you choose Catholicism as your religion, you have a right to practice as you see fit. And that includes sending your kid to a high school where lay teachers provide the desired example: straight, married sex. Nothing else.
Do I agree with their dogma? Of course not. Just as I don’t agree with the Amish who refuse to accept modern lifestyles and choose to live in the past. But I respect their right to raise their children according to their religious beliefs. Why, would a gay person want to work in one of their schools? It boggles the mind. Pete Buttigieg could probably have landed a job at any Ivy League College. Why did he choose to work at Notre Dame? Maybe he’s making a statement. Or he’s still paying off a mortgage in South Bend. I dunno.
The argument is that since parochial schools receive some taxpayer money, they can’t discriminate on the basis of their religious beliefs. But the fact is, they aren’t totally supported by tax dollars. And if all the parochial schools were to close, the public school system would be overwhelmed by the cost of educating these new students.