Traditional viewpoints were re-evaluated at the Creighton Gay-Straight Alliance event, “The Bible and Homosexuality: A Critical Reflection” on Nov. 13.
Theology Professor Todd Salzman gave the presentation, the second part of a two-part series. The first part was the movie “For the Bible Tells Me So” shown on Nov. 12.
Beth Straley, Arts & Sciences senior and Creighton GSA’s vice president for educational programming, organized the series.
“I saw the movie on my own this summer and I thought it would be a great program, but I didn’t want to show the movie and leave it hanging or try to lead a discussion without knowing very much on the topic,” she said. “I knew Dr. Salzman had written papers on Christian sexual ethics and was knowledgeable on the topic, so I invited him to speak.”
Salzman examined a few of the most common Bible passages used to discriminate against homosexuals and argued they have been misinterpreted.
“Why do we choose some scripture to follow literally and not others? Jesus never addresses homosexuality, even when referring to Sodom and Gomorrah– the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is inhospitality,” he said.
“Nowhere in Scripture are monogamous, loving, committed, homosexual relationships addressed.”
He also said in the Bible writers’ culture there was no concept of homosexual orientation. They thought everyone was heterosexual and some people just chose to perform homosexual acts.
They also held the Homunculus Theory, which said only the male provided life and the female was simply an empty vessel. As scientific understanding of homosexuality has changed, Salzman said, so should Catholic teaching on the topic.
Salzman’s main argument against Catholic teaching was it is “grounded in biological complementarity.” The Catholic Church teaches homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered,” because every sexual act has to be open to the transmission of life.
Even though the acts are disordered, a homosexual orientation is not, Salzman said. He wondered if biology was the best foundation for sex.
“All humanity is disordered, why single out homosexuals?” he said. “Do we want a sexual morality grounded in biology or in principles of love, justice, compassion and mutual respect that come with a monogamous, committed relationship, both homosexual and heterosexual?”
Salzman was clear from the beginning that his presentation was theology, not catechesis.
“Theology studies catechesis,” he said. However, he did say he would like to see the Catholic Church develop its stance on the issue.
“There needs to be more dialogue and openness to discuss this issue at the various levels within the Church in order to develop the teaching.”
Salzman’s presentation may have started that dialogue here at Creighton.
“There was a healthy debate at the end and it involved students; it created student dialogue and that’s great,” said Chapman Scarborough, Business junior.
“This is a Jesuit university based in Catholic tradition, and lots of students and faculty seem to use that tradition as a basis for discrimination against GLBT students,” Straley said. “It was great to get a compassionate and educated speaker to educate people why that shouldn’t be a basis.
“We [GSA] hope to bring more campus-wide programs to further education. That’s GSA’s main focus – hoping to educate people to make their own decision on the issue.”