Friday, July 9, 2010

University of Illinois Instructor Fired Over Catholic Beliefs

URBANA, Ill. -- The University of Illinois has fired an adjunct professor who taught courses on Catholicism after a student accused the instructor of engaging in hate speech by saying he agrees with the church's teaching that homosexual sex is immoral.
The professor, Ken Howell of Champaign, said his firing violates his academic freedom. He also lost his job at an on-campus Catholic center.

Howell, who taught Introduction to Catholicism and Modern Catholic Thought, says he was fired at the end of the spring semester after sending an e-mail explaining some Catholic beliefs to his students preparing for an exam.

"Natural Moral Law says that Morality must be a response to REALITY," he wrote in the e-mail. "In other words, sexual acts are only appropriate for people who are complementary, not the same."

An unidentified student sent an e-mail to religion department head Robert McKim on May 13, calling Howell's e-mail "hate speech." The student claimed to be a friend of the offended student. The writer said in the e-mail that his friend wanted to remain anonymous.

"Teaching a student about the tenets of a religion is one thing," the student wrote. "Declaring that homosexual acts violate the natural laws of man is another."

Howell said he was teaching his students about the Catholic understanding of natural moral law.

"My responsibility on teaching a class on Catholicism is to teach what the Catholic Church teaches," Howell said in an interview with The News-Gazette in Champaign. "I have always made it very, very clear to my students they are never required to believe what I'm teaching and they'll never be judged on that."

Howell also said he makes clear to his students that he's Catholic and that he believes the church views that he teaches.

McKim referred questions to university spokeswoman Robin Kaler, who said she couldn't comment on Howell or his firing because it's a personnel issue.

According to the university's Academic Staff Handbook, faculty "are entitled to freedom in the classroom in developing and discussing according to their areas of competence the subjects that they are assigned."

In an e-mail to other school staff, Ann Mester, an associate dean at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said Howell's e-mail justified his firing.

"The e-mails sent by Dr. Howell violate university standards of inclusivity, which would then entitle us to have him discontinue his teaching arrangement with us," Mester wrote.

Cary Nelson, president of the American Association of University Professors, said professors should be able to tell students their own views and even argue in favor of them, provided students can disagree without being penalized.

"It's part of intellectual life to advocate for points of view," said Nelson, an emeritus English professor at the University of Illinois. "Hopefully when they go out in the world, they can emulate that. They can argue a case, and do it in a well-informed and articulate way, and can make a more productive contribution to our democracy that way."

Howell has taught at the university for nine years, and was recognized by his department in 2008 and 2009 for being rated an excellent teacher by students.

He said he and McKim disagree on religious views and believes he lost his job over "just a very, very deep disagreement about the nature of what should be taught and what should not be taught."

After he lost his teaching job, Howell also was fired as director of the St. John's Catholic Newman Center's Institute of Catholic Thought. The on-campus center directed questions to the Diocese of Peoria, which had paid for his position.

Patricia Gibson, an attorney and chancellor of the diocese, said Howell was let go because he could no longer teach at the university.

"We are very concerned and very distressed by what we understand is the situation from Dr. Howell," she said. The diocese hopes to discuss the situation with someone at the university, she said.

A Christian legal defense group, The Alliance Defense Fund, said it is considering helping Howell.

Published July 09, 2010 | Associated Press

No comments:

Post a Comment

Like This Blog? ... Then please click to FOLLOW :)


A request was made that I make a video tutorial on how to make a Macramé Rosary. 1st effort by myself and my brother, the camera man :)
*** The tutorial shows and mentions #11 seed beads ... ERROR! LOL .. should be #6 seed beads! ***


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow Me on Pinterest
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Apostle, St. John tells us exactly how to recognize the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood. He says "as for them, they are of the world - and the world listens to them because they speak the language of the world. But we are children of God and those who know God: LISTEN TO US. Those who are not of God REFUSE TO LISTEN TO US. That is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood." ~1 John 4:6 [The "us" to whom St. John refers are the Apostles, and their successors the Bishops.]


Abortion Alternative - The Adoption Movement


"THE BORN SUPREMACY: OUR UNBORN IDENTITY"


LUISA PICCARRETA ~ DIVINE WILL
It WILL change your life!


Prayer to avoid the Sin of PRIDE:
“Oh My Jesus help me to avoid the sin of pride when I speak in Your Name. Forgive me if I ever belittle anyone in Your holy Name. Help me to listen Jesus when Your Voice is spoken and fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I can discern the truth of Your Word when You call out to mankind. Amen.”


A prayer of St. Teresa of Avila:
O my God! Source of all mercy! I acknowledge Your sovereign power. While recalling the wasted years that are past, I believe that You, Lord, can in an instant turn this loss to gain. Miserable as I am, yet I firmly believe that You can do all things. Please restore to me the time lost, giving me Your grace, both now and in the future, that I may appear before You in "wedding garments." Amen.


“My children, let your speech be chosen with great care—it must be a light in the world. Know and believe that all you say has repercussions in time and eternity. Therefore, choose your words with wisdom and prudence, choosing to remain silent rather than fill the air with useless chatter or worse, gossip or virulent speech. Let your speech be a perfect mirror of your peaceful heart, a heart firmly grounded in the love of God and in complete trust in His goodness. Silence is often the more virtuous path. Bridle your tongue and you will be working for peace in the world.”

In the Name of Jesus I renounce as lies all thoughts that enter my mind from the evil one who accuses. By the authority of Jesus, I command them to leave me. I consecrate my mind to God for transformation into His Thoughts for my protection, salvation and His glory.


SWANSONS ONLINE -
THE BEST QUALITY, SERVICE AND PRICES FOR ALL YOUR VITAMIN, SUPPLEMENT AND HERBAL NEEDS!!!! Been with them over 20yrs and LOVIN' IT! :)

ZULILY ~ GREAT PRICES & GREAT STUFF!

Father Donald Calloway's New Book: ROSARY GEMS
Check it out!


Please Drop by and "LIKE" Battlebeads on FaceBook

Rosary beads, Chaplets and More by BattleBeads - Home of the USA Chaplet
Please Click here and "LIKE" us today!



Why you should pray the Chaplet

Stations

Full Rosary

Chaplet of the Holy Face

St. Gertrude Chaplet


Chaplet of Protection

MUSIC



Great Older Marian Playlist!
May Each Day

One Pair of Hands


Walking With the Lord
A Video Meditation


Lectio Divina

Please join to END ABORTIONS NOW!


FREE AUDIO BOOK:
The Story of a Soul by St. Therese
ANOTHER FREE AUDIO BOOK Father Solanus Casey

Little Latin Readers

Popular Posts

Universalis (weekly) Liturgy of the Hours

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed

My Blog List

Great Catholic Sites

Flag Counter

free counters
since 6/6/10

It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.
—Editorial, Pravda, April 27th, 2009; http://english.pravda.ru/

AddThis

Bookmark and Share

Just a Note:

Through the grace of God and many prayers, I survived a double surgery (with cancer) in the fall of 2008. Since then has becoming increasingly important to me to enhance my prayer life. I have taken on the task of praying for strangers and those with little hope and much adversity. To that end, I've also begun (July '09), to make rosaries and related items to put prayer into the hands of as many as I can that will PRAY for others.

The world is at the precipice ... we need to TAKE ACTION ... NOW. Time for fence sitting is quickly coming to an end. We all need to do what ever we can in the way of PRAYER & PENANCE to beg God's Grace upon humanity that we may shake away this sinfulness and pride to get back on the road that leads to heaven and our Glorious Triune God!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After you have made a decision that is pleasing to God, the devil may try to make you have second thoughts. Intensify your prayer time, meditation, and good deeds. For if satan's temptations merely cause you to increase your efforts to grow in holiness, he'll have an incentive to leave you alone.
~St. Ignatius of Loyola


BATTLEBEADS UPDATES, SALES & INFO!