Catholic Schools showing the Vagina Monologues

from a review of V-Day ^ | 2/7/05 | dangus

[dangus]

"Catholic" schools showing the Vagina Monologues: Loyola Marymount

St. Mary's College of California

Georgetown University

DePaul University

Saint Xavier University

Loyola University-Chicago

University of Notre Dame

Loyola University-New Orleans

St. Mary's College of Maryland

Holy Cross

Mount Holyoke

Boston College

Saint Louis University

College of Saint Mary-Nebraska

(Where is Abp. Bruskewicz?)

Marymount College of New York

College of St. Rose

University of Detroit/Mercy

Marist College

Mt. Saint Vincent

Fordham University

Marymount Manhattan College

St, John Fisher

University of Dayton

Lehigh University

St. Francis University of Penna.

Providence College

St. Benedict College

There are several other school son the list which may be Catholic; these are the only one's I was fairly sure of. But I'm not 100% sure of a couple, like Holy Cross. If anyone spots a school they do not believe to be Catholic, let me know.

Some other schools showing it which I thought *might* be Catholic are U. of Houston, U. of the Pacific, Concordia U. of River Forest, Augustana College, Drake U., Adrian College, Maryville University of Missouri, Manhattanville College, Univesity of Toledo, Bucknell U.

Apparently basketball and heresy correlate well with each other, for some reason. But don't blame the Catholics. The mainline Protestant schools are pretty much all showing it, also: Texas Christian, Miami, Boston U., Syracuse, Duke, Wesleyan, Southern Methodist, Nazareth, Pacific Lutheran, etc.

[newgeezer]

Aren't most of the people there studying for the ministry, interested in marrying a minister, or otherwise studying some faith-related subject ... hence the name "Bible College"?

The one I mentioned offers a Bachelors degree in Elementary Education. Fully accredited, too.

But, I didn't limit my list to Bible colleges; he did. I also mentioned Oral Roberts University. Certainly ORU appeals to more than just ministers and marrying.

At any rate, thanks for mentioning Baylor. It may be the best example of the point I was trying to make.

[Campion]

Essentially, your point is that the real Protestant colleges don't do junk like this.

And you're right, and neither do the real Catholic colleges.

Places like Georgetown and Fordham are barely more Catholic than USC is Methodist or Harvard is Calvinist. They still have a legal affiliation with a Catholic religious order, but when they hit a conflict between Catholicism and the world, they run like rabbits. In fact, they've officially committed themselves to run like rabbits in something called the "Land'O'Lakes accord", in the interest of "academic freedom" (that is, the "freedom" to become Catholic versions of USC or Harvard).

Notre Dame is better, but just barely.

This is what a real Catholic college's website looks like.

[SemiAutomatic]

It sickens me to think that there are so many people out there that would support banning The Vagina Monologues. Have you seen them? Have you bothered to look more deeply into a topic that you're so ready to condone?
The Vagina Monologues are not a staged performance of low-grade pornography, or sinful behavior, they are stories of women who have triumphed over the worst odds, survived countess horrors, and courageously continue to live their lives despite they many setbacks they've encountered. They are about women who can feel comfortable with who they are, who radiate spirituality and faith. Each member of every audience that goes to see them leaves the room with a renewed sense of spirituality that can only be achieve by the utmost inspiration, gained from the amazing stories of these women.
My high school produced a version of The Vagina Monologues, and I have to tell you, I'm so proud of them for it. The sense of strength it gave the women in the production was amazing. I've never seen anything like it.
By turning away from this production for "moral" reasons, without really learning about it, you have self-censored one of the most revolutionary and positive productions for women that I've ever seen. We need to take pride in our bodies, just the way God made them. We need to learn to love ourselves, just as He does. If God did not want us to celebrate our uniqueness, every piece, every inch of ourselves, He would not have made individuals, with different hearts, hands, feet, VAGINAS.
So, before turning from this powerful display of female strength, a testament to God's amazing presence on earth, take a chance to see it, learn more about it, experience its power.

[dangus]

Brand new to FR, huh?

Believe me, we know why it is an atrocity that Catholic University students are being FORCED AGINAST THEIR WILL with NO RECOURSE to watch this play. That anyone feels empowered by it, is truly sad. Not that they were empowered, but that their spirituality is so depraved that such depravity can elevate them.

Rule #1 around FR: Never presume ignorance on the part of critics. People around here know what they are commenting on.

[ken21]

for the pedagogy of cunning womyn.

[milford421]

"There are only about 10 authentic Catholic colleges left in the US, none of which are on this list."

I know the one you sited, then there's Ave Maria, FL, Univ. of Dayton,

What are the others?

[WhiteGuy]

Uhhh ok,

These are colleges, the students there are adults.

Perhaps those adults will have the opportunity to attend, or not, at their own discretion.

So what's the problem?

[dangus]

The issue is that this is what the universities in question have chosen to promote and fund.

[WhiteGuy]

"Catholic" schools showing" the Vagina Monologues

"The schools are "showing: this production?

Are their Theater Departments putting the play on, or is the play being allowed to be produced at the university campus?

Either way, so what? If the students don't wish to see it, they won't go.

I suspect that this production is "making the circuit" and university venues are the only option. It probably doesn't draw enough to be put on in the larger markets.

Bottom line: I think you're either overeating or trying to make some "point" about Catholic Schools.

[Carolina]

"There are only about 10 authentic Catholic colleges left in the US, none of which are on this list."

I know the one you sited, then there's Ave Maria, FL, Univ. of Dayton,

What are the others?

Faith and Family College Guide 2005-2006

Faith and Family contacted Catholic institutions of higher learning and gave them a survey asking each about their oath of fidelity and adherence to the Mandatum. Click on the link to see the ones that made the authentically Catholic list. Not very many. One that wasn't included that I've seen on every other list is Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.

[Carolina]

So what's the problem?

They are claiming to be Catholic. That's the problem.

[Carolina]

Providence College withdrew from the V-Monologues. Read Fr. Shanley's letter here

The back cover of my paperback edition of The Vagina Monologues asserts (1) that its principal aim is to be “a celebration of female sexuality in all its complexity and mystery” and (2) that it has been “hailed as a bible for a new generation of women.” I would argue that both of these claims are false. First, far from celebrating the complexity and mystery of female sexuality, The Vagina Monologues simplifies and demystifies it by reducing it to the vagina. In contrast, Roman Catholic teaching sees female sexuality as ordered toward a loving giving of self to another in a union of body, mind, and soul that is ordered to the procreation of new life. The deeper complexity and mystery lies in the capacity of human sexuality, both male and female, to sacramentalize the love of God in marriage. Any depiction of female sexuality that neglects its unitive and procreative dimensions diminishes its complexity, its mystery, and its dignity. Moreover, to explore fully the dignity of woman requires not only a consideration of female sexuality, but also of the capacity of women for intellectual, artistic, moral, and spiritual activity; none of these dimensions are featured in The Vagina Monologues.

Second, the description of the play as a “new bible” is an indication that its depiction of female sexuality is meant to displace the traditional Biblical view that inspires the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. The two positions are deeply and diametrically opposed. Nowhere is this clearer than in a monologue wherein the alcohol-fueled seduction of a sixteen-year-old girl by a twenty-four-year-old woman is described as resulting in “salvation” and “a kind of heaven.” What is thus characterized in traditional religious language is instead abusive, demeaning, exploitative, and morally wrong according to the true Bible. Precisely because its depiction of female sexuality is so deeply at odds with the true meaning and morality that the Catholic Church’s teaching celebrates, The Vagina Monologues is not an appropriate play to be performed on our campus. Therefore the college will prohibit the production of The Vagina Monologues.

[dangus]

It's worse than you imagine possible, apparently. Some courses are MANDATING attendance. All the colleges listed, IIRC, are providing funding for the performances.

[Nihil Obstat]

Thank you for that link.

[Carolina]

You're welcome. The question became very important to us since our eldest goes off to college in the fall. We read John Paul's Ex Corde Ecclesiae and felt a tremendous burden to help our son find the right school. To quote John Paul:

A Catholic University's privileged task is "to unite existentially by intellectual effort two orders of reality that too frequently tend to be placed in opposition as though they were antithetical: the search for truth, and the certainty of already knowing the fount of truth".........

...........It is the honour and responsibility of a Catholic University to consecrate itself without reserve to the cause of truth. This is its way of serving at one and the same time both the dignity of man and the good of the Church, which has "an intimate conviction that truth is (its) real ally ... and that knowledge and reason are sure ministers to faith"(7). Without in any way neglecting the acquisition of useful knowledge, a Catholic University is distinguished by its free search for the whole truth about nature, man and God. The present age is in urgent need of this kind of disinterested service, namely of proclaiming the meaning of truth, that fundamental value without which freedom, justice and human dignity are extinguished. By means of a kind of universal humanism a Catholic University is completely dedicated to the research of all aspects of truth in their essential connection with the supreme Truth, who is God. It does this without fear but rather with enthusiasm, dedicating itself to every path of knowledge, aware of being preceded by him who is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life"(8), the Logos, whose Spirit of intelligence and love enables the human person with his or her own intelligence to find the ultimate reality of which he is the source and end and who alone is capable of giving fully that Wisdom without which the future of the world would be in danger.

[WhiteGuy]

It's worse than you imagine possible, apparently. Some courses are MANDATING attendance. All the colleges listed, IIRC, are providing funding for the performances.


I'm sure you're mistaken. Universities typically don't mandate extra-curricular activities.

Perhaps drama students are required to participate in theater productions or something along those lines.

[dangus]

>>I'm sure you're mistaken. Universities typically don't mandate extra-curricular activities.<<

That's simply very, very false. Hell, nowadays most SCHOLARSHIPS and ADMISSIONS mandate outside-the-classroom activities.

>> Perhaps drama students are required to participate in theater productions or something along those lines. <<

Go do a search on the topic. Attendence has been required for everything from Theology classes to sociology classes to women's studies classes.

[milford421]

Thanks for posting the guide for me.

[Zionist Conspirator]

How about blaming the Catholics and the mainline Protestants? Emmaus Bible College isn't showing it. I doubt you'll see it at Oral Roberts or Bob Jones universities, either.

Isn't it amazing that these "heretical" schools whose theology has "no roots in the past" can stand steadfast against modernity so easily while the "infallible and apostolic church" seems indistinguishable from the Unitarian Universalist Association?

While I don't share their theology 100% percent, I will always be grateful that I grew up under the cultural aegis of Bible Belt Fundamentalism. Every other form of chr*stendom is a dead fish rotting from the head down.

[Zionist Conspirator]

Yes, but a "bible college" withstanding the temptations research univesities face isn't all that impressive. It's kind of like applauding the Amish for not watching Sex and the City.

Wow. That's some swipe.

I guess "bible colleges" and the Amish are just silly. Who could pay them any mind with those find upstanding US Catholic bishops out there?