Truer words have never been spoken...

"There have been no winners in the hurt, confusion, division and pain that have been caused by this policy."  -- Randy Davis, executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Convention.

This has been a hard day for me and so I appreciate these words.

The Catacombs are getting more crowded...

Welcome to the Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM) to the shadow world of religious life at Vanderbilt.  Let's pray for our friends at the BCM.  We know what it's like.

I've always loved Chattanooga...

In this case, the Chattanooga Times Free Press:

"First, the obvious: Vanderbilt University's 'non-discrimination' policy is wrong -- to say nothing of absurd, counterproductive and unrealistic.

But it shouldn't be illegal."

wrong, absurd, counterproductive, and unrealistic -- I think that about sums it up!

Culture of communion

Yesterday I celebrated a funeral Mass for lady who was 95 years old.  Her family shared with me a talk that she had prepared in 1974 as part of her involvement with the Cursillo movement.  It was on the Church as the people of God.  It was a very good talk: theologically sophisticated but direct and simple.  It made me think well of the Cursillo movement of that time that provided such robust intellectual formation.  The night before at her wake, we prayed the rosary together at the funeral home.  I told one of her sons who is a friend of mine that I had not led a rosary at a funeral home with such strong participation since I was pastor in McEwen, an Irish enclave in rural Middle Tennessee.  The recitation of the rosary at the funeral home embodied what her talk described: an experience of a culture of communion.  It bonded all together in common prayer, even those who had been "trapped" in the room when we started and stood there mute throughout.

I have been reflecting on the experiences this semester with the Vanderbilt administration.  What we have is a clash of cultures.  That is why it really can't work out.  The administration is beginning with a premise of radical individual autonomy.  It holds that everyone should be able to be whatever he chooses to be.  The protection of individual autonomy is the ultimate value.  In this light the non-discrimination or all-comers or whatever policy makes perfect sense.  And opposition to it is down right evil.  At the funeral home, for example, the concern would have been on those who were uncomfortable praying the rosary.  They would feel excluded and so that element of communion would have to be abandoned.

The culture of communion is being driven off the stage at Vanderbilt.  The only groups that will be tolerated are those with a weak identity.  But this is far from unique to Vanderbilt.  It is true everywhere, even in the Church.  The rosary is one of those powerfully bonding elements of Catholic culture, but I could tell that there was a lot of discomfort with Catholic faith and practice at the Mass, even in that overwhelmingly Catholic crowd.  Here at Vanderbilt, one of the religious groups' leadership wrote that they are comfortable with the policy because their group seeks to promote open questioning.  I think that is great, and the policy definitely allows for such groups.  But just do not dare to offer answers!  Because, you see, answers are exclusionary.  Some are right and some are wrong.

I suggest that a culture of radical individual autonomy like that being promoted at Vanderbilt is really not a culture at all but a denial and rejection of culture.  Culture makes demands on individuals, whether through cultivation or through cult.  I had a wonderful experience of culture at Vanderbilt this spring at the performance of Hayden's Lord Nelson Mass.  A common cult and the cultivation of common talents resulted in something so much greater than any individual act of a spontaneous genius.  You know, academics know that radical individual autonomy is a cultural dead end.  They would not tolerate it for a moment in their disciplines.  The critical apparatus has to be there or the peer reviewed experiments.  But when it comes to the far more important area of the art of living, they balk.  What a loss of culture.

Veto

Gov. Haslam has just extended to Vanderbilt the kind of toleration that Vanderbilt will not extend to religious groups:

“I don’t agree with Vanderbilt’s ‘all-comers’ policy. It is counter-intuitive to make campus organizations open their membership and leadership positions to anyone and everyone, even when potential members philosophically disagree with the core values and beliefs of the organization,” he said in a statement. “Although I disagree with Vanderbilt’s policy, as someone who strongly believes in limited government, I think it is inappropriate for government to mandate the policies of a private institution."

Chancellor Zeppos likes to be treated the way he refuses to treat religious groups:

“While we respect the governor’s position on Vanderbilt’s policy, we are gratified by his rejection of government intrusion into private institutions and their ability to govern and set policies themselves,” Vanderbilt Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos said in a prepared statement.

Doesn't he get it yet?  Go see the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12).

11th Commandment....

Thou shalt not condemn other religious groups.

I have been getting some "fishing expedition" questions that seem to be inviting me to comment on the decisions of other religious groups at Vanderbilt.  I won't do it, and I encourage others not to either.

The problem with the policy is the Vanderbilt administration's illiberal application of it, not the conscientious decisions of religious groups.  I know that there is not a religious group on campus that does not have some problem with the policy -- if not for themselves, then in solidarity with those who do.  I have experienced the low morale at the chaplains' meetings.

I regret that there has been fragmentation of the religious response to the policy.  I believe that the administration has used fear and intimidation to bring about the fragmentation.  All the power in this situation, of course, is in the administration's hands.  Power is also the reason that the Greeks have been exempted from the policy.

Preparing Lay Faithful (and some clerics and religious, too)

As we adjust to the new reality in our relationship with the university, I am learning to like it.  It is more realistic.  I think that it is actually better for us to have a relationship that respects the fact that the Catholic Church and Vanderbilt University are different entities with different interests.  Clear boundaries make for better relationships.

I think that the new relationship with the university will allow the students to exercise their apostolate of friendship on campus more effectively.  They do not need an organization or title to be witnesses of Jesus Christ.  As the chaplain, I will be able to offer spiritual formation for the students to accept in a spirit of freedom.  In the world, the activities of the Church are not sponsored by secular institutions.   I do not see how the approbation of a secular university matters much in the mission of the Christian faithful.

I am excited about the adventure that the Holy Spirit has launched us on!