"Be Still and Know" UPDATE

On March 20, 2009, Nick Street, the "LGBT Editor" of a website called "Religion Dispatches" wrote an informative article about the production of "Be Still and Know" at Sacred Heart High School of Atherton, and its cancellation at Most Holy Redeemer Church.

Mr. Street interviewed the director and adaptor of the play, Sacred Heart drama teacher John Loschmann. He also interviewed Alex Sanchez, the author of the book "The God Box," from which "Be Still and Know" was adapted. The article gives some background on the production, and tells us something we had not known before:

"Loschmann, who taught at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco for 15 years before he arrived at Sacred Heart in 2001, was inspired to adapt The God Box for the stage after Sanchez visited the school a year and a half ago."

So Mr. Sanchez had already visited Sacred Heart High School. From the interview:

Mr. Street: "Your visit to Sacred Heart Preparatory School was the catalyst for John Loschmann’s adapting your book for the stage. What was your impression of the school? How was your visit?"

Mr. Sanchez: "Overall my visit was awesome. The students were engaged, intelligent, and articulate. One thing I do when I visit schools is ask for a show of hands: How many of you know somebody who is gay or lesbian? Typically, 90 to 99 percent of students raise their hands. Sacred Heart was no exception."

Of course, we maintain that Mr. Sanchez's work is totally unsuitable for any Catholic institution, especially a high school. We repeat that, and we refer to the "Spirituality" page on his website. (Every page on the site has something objectionable, but since this is a Catholic website discussing what goes on in a Catholic school, spirituality is a good place to start).

The "Spirituality" page is headed with this sentence:

"If you're young and gay, it can be confusing to try to reconcile who you are with a particular religion or spirituality."

Please notice the homosexualist bias in this sentence. It is assumed as a fact that one's defining characteristic is "gayness" --that is "who you are." And if you have any "religion or spirituality," that is secondary. The job is simply to find, or create, a "particular religion or spirituality" that meets your self-definition. (No wonder Most Holy Redeemer wanted to host the play--that's exactly their project.)

And Mr. Sanchez' is only to willing to help the young reader out in this quest. The next sentence reads:

"In addition to my novel, The God Box, here are some websites to help you out:"

Mr. Sanchez thereupon links to 33 websites, every one of which, without exception, denies Catholic teaching on sexuality.

But now we learn than in addition to having a play based on his work produced at the school, he also met with the students about a year and a half ago. Why do the responsible administrators and faculty at Sacred Heart think that such a man is suitable guest and example? As we said in our first post on this subject, what we are seeing in some of our Archdiocesan institutions is an "evangelizing for homosexuality."

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney