Franciscan University blasphemy accusation

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prayerrider

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I’m inclined to be a little skeptical of reports from this source. But I’ve (unfortunately) read a a few excerpts from the Carrère book in question and if Franciscan University of Steubenville Professor Stephen Lewis assigned this disgustingly blasphemous book in his class(es) I believe he should be terminated immediately and the university administration needs major overhaul.

Warning: I do not recommend reading any excerpts from Carrère’s book! Even the glosses in this linked article are highly disturbing.

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news...Tnm0ihqUkGhRzwt7LjTJ-f4FHP9yJHa3MgRU6OZqBNZJs
 
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Here is a slightly less militant article from LifeSiteNews that includes comments from Scott Hahn.

www.lifesitenews.com

Franciscan U apologizes after first defending pornographic book that blasphemed Our Lady - LifeSite

University prof Dr. Scott Hahn commented that 'assigning this book was irresponsible and imprudent. Defending it is unwise and wrongheaded.'
www.lifesitenews.com www.lifesitenews.com

Here is the full text of the apology from Fr. Sheridan, President of the University.

gloria.tv

Steubenville backtracks - without firing the professor

gloria.tv gloria.tv
 
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I’m just scratching my head on this one. On one hand, I agree that the imagery in the book is disrespectful to many people.

But on the other, this is an advanced course at a university. Shouldn’t the students be able to handle the material?
 
I presume the professor’s reasoning was, this is an advanced elective course, and those who take it are there by choice and are mature enough to handle the material.

I think the issue is that people pay to send kids to places like Steubenville hoping to get them away from stuff they would otherwise read or see if they went to other universities, including the so-called “Catholic in name only” universities. Also in order to take the course, people need to buy this author’s book, which puts money in his pocket for writing blasphemy.
 
I think you rightly suggest that a Catholic literary education should not mirror a secular literary education in depravity. To my mind, a Catholic literary education should transcend such content.
And yes, I wouldn’t be as surprised if this happened at one of a number if other ostensibly Catholic schools. But Steubenville is supposed to be at another level in terms of magisterial faithfulness. It is in listed in the Newman Guide.
 
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I understand what you’re saying. But just because the students can handle it, does that mean it should be assigned?
 
I have not read the book or excerpts of this book, but accept the comments on it from a review and above posters. It seem to be beyond the pale, for inclusion in the class. However, it seems to me that it was the type of modern literature that this advanced elective course was meant to address and dissect. I don’t believe the professor intentionally selected it for a purpose other than emphasizing a strong comparison.

I can empathize with parents (and students) seeking out institutions that many other universities embrace, but this was not an entry or mid-level course of a hundred students. We’ll never know, but it seems like and advanced course with five students where the instructor could easily mentor the group through understanding, discussion, and refutation of this type of material.
 
While I am all for academic freedom and exposing student to a wide range of opinions and material- it looks like this novel might go a bit too far.
 
Scott Hahn and the university’s president, among others, used much stronger criticism. In fact, unless I misjudge his Catholic devotion, I suspect Dr. Hahn is even more deeply troubled by this than his comments indicate.
 
prayerrider said:
But just because the students can handle it, does that mean it should be assigned?
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Not ‘should’ be assigned, but could be assigned. And yes, I think it could be assigned as an advanced elective. I would even suspect that the book was included in a syllabus before students signed up for the course.

I think that the university’s bowing to the pressure that Church Militant brought is a worrisome sign. To me, it’s a signal that FUS is willing to shelf it’s academic standards. It gives the impression that FUS values a sheltered university experience for it’s students. That may be appealing to some parents and donors, but it’s not going to be good for it’s graduates.
 
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More likely that the administration is bowing to pressure from outraged faculty, parents, and students themselves. Personally, I’m grateful to Church Militant and Lifesite for bringing this to light. It’s not as if it would ever be reported in the secular news.

Are academic standards
at a Catholic university supposed to include blasphemous material? And the argument made elsewhere that displaying filth to Catholic students somehow better prepares them for the secular world is absurdly flawed.
 
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Blasphemy has no place at Catholic universities. And this is blasphemy. Teachers who assign blasphemy have no place at a Catholic university either. There are plenty of jobs out there for this professor, but he should find no place at a Catholic university. And this wasn’t even minor blasphemy but horrible, extreme blasphemy. If these college students need to be exposed to blasphemy they can find all they want without taking a class to introduce them to it.
 
However, in sounding the battle cry, they reveal their own philosophy of education, which is that teaching is about indoctrination, not about the posing of problems to students for growth in the capacity to dialogue and to be agents of history in the world.
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All education is indoctrination. The supposedly free minded secular universities are the most dogmatic about secular humanism and modernism.

The only reason the university responded to the outrage is because they know they live off of their reputation for decency and this serious ply endangers it. Notre Dame and Georgetown wouldn’t care at all about this book being taught. And that isn’t speculation as orthodox Catholics are, rightly, constantly outraged by what goes on at those schools.
 
exnihilo said:
And this is blasphemy.
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Have you read the novel in question? I have not, and I’m a stickler for reading a book before I will pass judgement on it. This goes back to my 20’s when I checked “The Last Temptation of Christ” out of the library before jumping to conclusions.
 
I’ve read more than enough direct quotes from the book to to know that it is highly and obscenely blasphemous. I’m guessing Dr. Hahn had to read more than I did.

I don’t need to watch an entire film that has pornographic excerpts for trailers to know that I will be committing a mortal sin to watch the whole thing, or to display it to others.
 
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The letter I see posted at least 3 times on Dr Hahn’s facebook page is the letter from Fr. Sean Sheridan, TOR. Maybe you could link the document written by Dr Hahn? I’m interested to read it.
 
Dr. Hahn’s comments on the letter are dated January 9th, and immediately follow the letter itself on Dr. Hahn’s FB page.
 
Both Jan 9th posts are the letter from the University President with a “Thank you” comment from Dr Hahn. I find no letter composed by Dr Hahn.

The letter from the University says:

“The professor selected The Kingdom for use in one elective class with five upperclassmen as a tool to contrast how Catholics and non-Catholics approach faith in literature.” etc.
 
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