{"id":2085,"date":"2013-01-23T09:04:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-23T09:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/robert-george-warns-of-catholic-oppression-over-marriage\/"},"modified":"2013-01-23T09:04:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-23T09:04:00","slug":"robert-george-warns-of-catholic-oppression-over-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/robert-george-warns-of-catholic-oppression-over-marriage\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert George warns of Catholic oppression over marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Washington D.C., Jan 23, 2013 \/ 02:04 am (CNA<\/a>).- A Princeton law professor has predicted increasing persecution of Catholic teaching on sexuality, amid accusations by a New York scholar that such teaching creates a culture of rape.<\/p>\n

\tIn a Jan. 17 email to CNA, Professor Robert George of Princeton University warned of rising oppression against those who oppose a redefinition of marriage.<\/p>\n

\tSuch persecution includes an increase in \"the use of 'anti-discrimination' laws to violate the freedom of religious institutions and religious individuals to honor their beliefs about marriage and sexual morality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tGeorge's comments came amid claims by one scholar that Catholic teaching on human sexuality contributed to the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old Indian woman on a Delhi bus one night in December. The woman died from her injuries days after the attack while undergoing treatment in Singapore.<\/p>\n

\tIan Buruma, who is a professor of democracy, human rights and journalism at Bard College in New York, told CNA on Jan. 21 that Pope Benedict XVI\u2019s \u201cnarrow views on proper human relationships reinforce the idea in other, more violent, men that women outside those traditional relationships are 'loose' and thus deserve what is coming to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHe argued that the Pope\u2019s tacit criticism of same-sex unions in a Christmas address to the Roman Curia supports sexual aggression and rage by promoting fear of sexual liberty.<\/p>\n

\tWhile he acknowledged that the Pope\u2019s speech \u2013 which was delivered after the violent attack took place \u2013 did not directly influence the rapists, Buruma said that \u201carguments such as the Pope\u2019s reinforce sexual norms that incite men to violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201c(T)he rapists, coming from a deeply conservative rural Indian background,\u201d he said, \u201cassumed that the only right place for a young woman was in the family home as a mother and wife.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tBuruma criticized the Holy Father in a Jan. 14th article in the Daily Star for promoting what he described as a culture of rape.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI would argue that his speech actually encourages the kind of sexual aggression that can result in the savagery that took place in New Delhi,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\tThe professor suggested that restricting sexual activity to heterosexual marriage could prompt sexual repression. \u201c(T)he more sex is repressed and people are made to fear it the greater the chance of sexual violence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tThe address that Buruma referenced, delivered by the Holy Father on Dec. 21, did not specifically reference homosexuality, but rather called for the strengthening of the family.<\/p>\n

\tThe Pope warned that the human family is disintegrating \u2013 especially in the West \u2013 because false understandings of human freedom see sexuality as a mere \u201csocial role\u201d to be chosen rather than a biological reality of nature to be accepted.<\/p>\n

\tDescribing father, mother and child as \u201ckey figures of human existence,\u201d he warned that a distorted understanding of sexuality loses a proper view of male and female as being the foundational \u201cessence of the human creature.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe defense of the family is about man himself,\u201d Pope Benedict affirmed.<\/p>\n

\tScholars in recent months have increasingly warned of persecution for those who do not affirm all sexual practices as being equal. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\tProfessor George cautioned in a July 2012 article for the online journal Public Discourse that anything less than full support of same-sex marriage is increasingly labeled as \u201cbigotry\u201d and is being \u201ceradicated\u201d from the public square.<\/p>\n

\tIn his email to CNA, George said that this attitude has already attacked the private sphere.<\/p>\n

\tBusiness owners, adoption agencies and workers in several states have already been threatened, pushed out of their industries or forced to violate their consciences in order to operate their businesses, he said.<\/p>\n

\tGeorge pointed to public school teachers and government employees who \u201chave been subjected to disciplinary action and threatened with termination of employment\u201d for expressing their biblical views on marriage, even in personal forums such as Facebook.<\/p>\n

\tHe added that unless society changes its acceptance of religious beliefs, this trend will likely continue in the future.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cSoon you will see pressure against the tax exempt status of the Catholic Church and other religious organizations that teach that marriage is the conjugal union of husband and wife,\u201d he said, adding that there will also be efforts to deny accreditation to academic institutions \u201cbecause of their teachings on marriage and sexuality.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington D.C., Jan 23, 2013 \/ 02:04 am (CNA).- A Princeton law professor has predicted increasing persecution of Catholic teaching on sexuality, amid accusations by a New York scholar that such teaching creates a culture of rape.<\/p>\n

\tIn a Jan. 17 emai…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nRobert George warns of Catholic oppression over marriage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Jan 23, 2013 \/ 02:04 am (CNA).- A Princeton law professor has predicted increasing persecution of Catholic teaching on sexuality, amid accusations by a New York scholar that such teaching creates a culture of rape. 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