It has become painfully apparent since Jan. 13 that our community is not yet the Christian witness we hope to be. Many have noted an element of community as well as individual culpability; consequently, I am writing in the hope that our community, each of us, be a witness of truth in love.
There are two positions which we, as a community, must reject in order to promote the happiness and fulfillment of all persons, especially those with homosexual inclinations. The first is the tolerance of any kind of threat, violence or prejudicial behavior toward any person. We recognize that true Christian witness not only rejects prejudice but in its fullness participates in relationships of friendship freely given and freely received, especially among those in most need of our love.
The second is the reduction of sexual orientation to a quality comparable to race or ethnic background in regard to nondiscrimination. We should know and bear witness that as Christians we see sexuality as a gift more dignified and precious even than the gift of language and culture. As a universal and visible sign that human beings are ordered toward communion with one another in love, our reduction of sexuality to any other quality would put at great risk our capacity to love our friends and neighbors with wonder and gratitude at the whole of their person.
Creation is a free act on the part of our Creator; its only motivation is love. The nobility of sexuality comes from its cooperation in this entirely free act. Therefore, unlike ethnicity, human sexuality is to be carefully used, with freedom in love, rather than enslavement to desire. The inclusion of "sexual orientation" to the clause implies that it does not require us to exercise our moral freedom and that human sexuality does not in some way demand our choice in how we receive and cherish our gift.
As our community mourns this betrayal of safety and peace, let us take a moment to consider that freedom rests not in speaking and acting in any manner at all, rather only in a manner worthy of the gifts we have received.
Sarah Johnson
junior
Lyons Hall
Jan. 24
