Catholic schools, safe environment, safe sex... saves lives?

They not only teach them but give approval to those who practice them... (adapted from Romans 1:32)..


I think it is fairly obvious that the cultural changes we see today have been facilitated in great measure in and through education.  For decades higher education has been the leader in effecting the cultural revolution, forming the educators who would influence and teach primary and secondary students.  (That is not to deny media has been the other big player in reshaping morality.)
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Up until the last two or three decades or so, Catholic schools have been fairly well protected from the blatant disregard of traditional morality one almost expects to see at universities and colleges.  I think that is all rapidly changing with the 'safe environment' programs and training making its way into primary and high school curriculum today.  Thus it begs the question, are we protecting our kids or hurting them even more?
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Eponymous Flower blog posted some frank reflections on a local situation related to safe environment in Catholic schools, which I will get to later.  First, some background on the controversy he discusses here:
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ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. -- Editorials in a Catholic prep school's student newspaper about same-sex marriage and gay teenagers are sparking debate about free speech in Minnesota.
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Student-written opinion pieces in the newspaper at Benilde-St. Margaret in suburban St. Louis defended gay teenagers and criticized a DVD by Minnesota's Catholic bishops that denounced same-sex marriage.
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The editorials and the nearly 100 comments they generated were deleted from the newspaper's website over the weekend. The principal says they created confusion about church teaching and an intensity that made an unsafe environment for students.
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Some comments praised a gay student's courage for writing about his experience. Others said the editorials shouldn't have been published at a Catholic school. - Source
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And the reason the gay student wrote what he did:
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"There's so many suicides in the news. And I felt very frustrated that my voice couldn't be heard, and that there were all these things that I see as injustices all the time that I didn't feel like anyone else was recognizing," said Simonson.

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The student's essay reads in part:
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"You fear looking the wrong way in the locker room and offending someone," he continued. "Politicians are allowed to debate your right to marry the person you love, or your right to be protected from hate crimes under the law. Your faith preaches your exclusion -- or damnation. And no one does anything to stop it." - Source 
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Eponymous' take on the controversy:
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"The whys and the wherefores of the newsworthiness of this piece are an open question, a sort of cognitive disease of the nation, [...]
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Many of the editorials and coverage are concerned about "free speech", while at the same time condemning the Archbishop for exercising his own free speech.   One editorial asks if a safe environment is being created for homosexuals in Catholic schools.  A better question to ask is, "is a safe environment being created for Catholicism in Catholic schools?"   Archbishop Nienstedt and the school administration of this allegedly Catholic school seem to think that public opposition in defense for moral depravity on the part of its students to the Church's teachings and a safe environment for Catholicism  are mutually exclusive." - Eponymous Flower
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So what is my point with this?  I'm not sure - but I believe safe environment programs have to be based upon Roman Catholic moral teaching and age appropriate - and not a cover for promoting or nurturing immoral lifestyles.  I also believe it is a Catholic schools moral responsibility to censor student newspapers and publications which do not conform to Catholic teaching.  Gratefully, the principal of Benilde-St. Margaret acted appropriately in this situation.

Why do 'straight' men go to parks?

Is that dad's picture in the paper?
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So anyway, why do 'straight' men engage in gay sex?  It's a controversial question, and a huge mystery to every wife, son or daughter, friend, parishioner, and anyone else who has ever discovered that someone they thought they knew, sometimes even their significant other - the straight guy - engaged in anonymous gay sex in public parks, rest stop toilet facilities, the men's room at the airport, or even in the office building stairwell downtown.
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Loneliness or gayness?
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A friend asked me that question.  I'm no expert - no psychiatrist or therapist - but I have to say I think the activity is often more about loneliness and maybe a sense of powerlessness than anything else.  Of course it is also very real sexual temptation, possibly overwhelming - which is what real therapists like to call sexual addiction. For some guys, sex outdoors is like peeing out doors - it's sort of rebellious. 
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That said - outdoor sex has always been part of homosexual 'underground' culture, a carry over from the old days of never speaking the word - I've seen Elizabethan illuminations illustrating outdoor homosexual encounters.  I think an element of gay culture just enjoys the adventure, the stalking, hunting-gathering dimension of the process.  I also think an element of gay culture sees it as a way - consciously or unconsciously - to exploit closeted gay men and their otherwise straight counterparts troubled by homosexual temptation.  Today this is an unpopular thing to suggest and activists would say it is a lie - but I think many out front gay types really enjoy this type of anonymous encounter such cruising areas enable.  
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To be sure the behavior is a nuisance crime, and disgusting to encounter, and unthinkable for decent people.  It happens however.  I seriously doubt that men like the local priest recently in the news, is a predator.  I doubt these types would ever be interested in minors or kids.  I think more often than not these guys are simply seeking same sex intimacy, along with a sort of 'hands on' affirmation of their manhood and person - strange as that may sound.  That doesn't discount a sort of obsessive-compulsive pull of sexual temptation and taking advantage of an opportune location and encounter however.  In other words, I think in general it is a sin of weakness rather than malice.  We need to remember an otherwise good man, especially one who is fiercely battling temptation can fall in an instant. 

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It goes with out saying such behavior is sinful and when performed in public, it not only offends moral sensibilities, it is also a civil offense.  Yep, it is deviant behavior.  I'm not approving it or making excuses for it - just offering some possible insight on an otherwise perplexing problem.
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I don't know any way out of this type of thing except by conversion, prayer, the sacraments, and perserverance.  Therapy can help, especially to understand what emotional problem underlies the acting out - but I believe in free will - with God anything is possible.

And other really dumb things educated people say.

Yesterday on The View (I did not watch it!) - a friend told me Sarah Silverman was on with her new shtick about selling the Vatican.  Evidently she believes the Pope should sell off all the art and treasures of the Catholic Church and give the money to the poor.  How do you even respond to that?  I'm always surprised educated people still say such dumb stuff.  That is such a stupid old yarn - makes no sense - it's just a load of kool-aid stand economics.
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Later in the day I read that Episcopal bishop, Gene Robinson, responding to a question posed by CNSNews.com  at the National Press Club on Tuesday, regarding St. Paul's letter to the Romans wherein he condemns homosexual acts, explained:
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"St. Paul was talking about people that he understood to be heterosexual engaging in same-sex acts," said Bishop Robinson. "It never occurred to anyone in ancient times that a certain minority of us would be born being affectionally oriented to people of the same sex. So it did seem like against their nature to be doing so.”
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“The other thing about St. Paul,” Robinson said, “is that he was also speaking out against a practice known to him and both the Roman and the Greek world, and would have been known in the Palestinian culture there of an older man taking a younger boy under his wing, using him sexually, and so on. No one’s—that’s child abuse. No one is arguing for that today. We would all be against that. We would all agree with St. Paul on that.” - Source
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I'm always surprised educated people still say such dumb stuff.  Makes no sense - it's just a load of amyl-nitrite-revisionist exegesis.