Catholic Teacher Fired for Introducing Students to Catholicism in "Introduction to Catholicism" Class

Teaching the natural moral law and Catholic doctrine is now considered "hate speech." That's no surprise: in our juvenile & narcissistic culture, speech that accurately describes reality will be considered "hate speech," and since the description of reality is part of the Church's job, those who teach Church doctrine will be considered "haters." If they are not considered "haters" they are probably not doing their job.

From Catholic News Agency:

"The University of Illinois has fired an adjunct professor for teaching in a class on Catholicism that homosexual acts violate natural moral law.

Dr. Kenneth Howell was informed that he could no longer teach in the university's department of religion. The decision came after a student complained that Howell's statements were 'hate speech.'

In response to his firing, Howell wrote a letter to friends explaining the events surrounding his dismissal

'Since the Fall of 2001, I have been regularly teaching two courses in the department of religion,” Howell explained. One of the classes, 'Introduction to Catholicism,' includes an explanation of Natural Moral Law as affirmed by the Church as well as an application of Natural Law Theory to a disputed social issue.

“Most of those semesters, my chosen topic was the moral status of homosexual acts,” he explained."

Tom Peters has a post with links to the Professor's well-reasoned email, which prompted the student's complaint, as well as the college student's email. He also links to the "Save Dr. Ken" Facebook page, and gives the email address of the University of Illinois: publicaffairs@illinois.edu

The Alliance Defense Fund is acting for Professor Howell:

"David French, senior counsel for the ADF said in a written statement, 'A university cannot censor professors' speech – including classroom speech related to the topic of the class – merely because some students find that speech 'offensive.' Professors have the freedom to challenge students and to educate them by exposing them to different views. The Alliance Defense Fund is working with Professor Howell because the defense of academic freedom is essential on the university campus.'"

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney