Minn. Catholic School Deletes Student Editorials Defending Gays

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.

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.

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.

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.

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Information from: Minnesota Public Radio News, http://www.mpr.org

Comments

[Daktahgeo]

09:44 PM on 11/26/2010

Personally, I'm all in favor of the nation's students being able to post their high school newspaper articles on a sort of Wikileaks website... where the entire nation and its parents and students can read what the schools do not allow. THAT should wake up some of these SS troops' ideas of freedom of the press and speech! Does anyone have the know-how to do something like this? To heck with the churches' anti-Bill of Rights speech problems!

[Madbunny]

04:12 AM on 11/24/2010

Non issue. This is a religious school, they are allowed to teach their version of the world to students. Part of this, obviously is the religious part, they probably for example allow school prayer, and discourage students from praying to alternate gods at that time.

The school paper will a reflective of the school as a whole. While it might contain the odd bit here and there to stimulate discussion, it will be largely in line with the schools policy.

[Indigo1941]

03:24 PM on 11/22/2010

All that comes to mind is suprise that anyone expected open expression or freedom of speech or a standard of tolerance in a Catholic school. The Catholic church and its satellites do not teach tolerance. Why would one of their schools welcome it?

[LMPE]

10:29 PM on 11/21/2010

Is it a safe bet that this school would probably delete anything about pedophilia?

[Tails]

11:58 AM on 11/22/2010

Well, pedophilia isn't an issue, according to Catholic Church, Inc.

[Christopher Bowen]

01:07 PM on 11/21/2010

I am all for the students, and I hope they speak out again and again. In my own classes, I consider it a big success whenever the kids question what they're being taught. BUT, the Catholic church has every right to censor them. It goes against their teachings. It's what they offer parents and they have a duty to the parents to deliver. This is, though, for me, one big reason I am adamantly against a voucher system that would allow my tax dollars to go to a Catholic school system that spews this sort of throw-back to the Crusades. It's a real reason to rethink a push for vouchers.

Chris Bowen
Author of "Our Kids: Building Relationships in the Classroom"

[Madbunny]

04:13 AM on 11/24/2010

Agreed 100%.
Also, fanned for being like minded.

[Christopher Bowen]

12:35 PM on 11/24/2010

Thanks!

[MichaelangeloTheSinger]

07:10 AM on 11/21/2010

Great story!
Young people always surprise me,
but this is special.
Thanks.

[Ioan Lightoller]

01:53 PM on 11/22/2010

Yes, some of the young people starting to speak out are truly amazing. Hats off to them.

[genrel1248]

06:10 PM on 11/20/2010

The censored authors should be proud, they join the company of Galileo, Voltaire, Luther, and many other lesser known thinkers. Perhaps the student newspaper staff should heed the words of Abbie Hoffman who said the first responsibility of any good school newspaper should be to advocate the destruction of the school.

[Andy Clark]

04:13 PM on 11/20/2010

way to go- censor students that are exercising their free-speech and learning to extend their awareness beyond themselves... all because you don't agree with it. Tyranny.

[Big Game Hunter]

02:41 AM on 11/21/2010

Not that I'm on the school's side- but Free Speech doesn't give anyone the right to a forum. The school has the right not to publish, or to delete anything from their own website. That said, the STUDENT has the right to write a blog and say whatever he wants on it- even if it is criticizing the church, school, etc- and the school cannot retaliate against him for it.

[Andy Clark]

12:21 PM on 11/21/2010

I agree with this. Thanks for framing it better than I did- I was in a bit of a hurry!

[Madbunny]

04:15 AM on 11/24/2010

There are limitations to this. If the student were to write, for example a detailed dissertation on how he'd destroy the school or kill one of his classmates/teachers then you can be pretty sure that they'd be out, regardless of whether or not it was done outside of the schools venue.

[MadMaddie]

06:00 PM on 11/18/2010

This Catholic is shocked, shocked to see this double standard... uhm... not so much.
Just as The Church throws hissy fits about abortion in the U.S.,
ya hear not a peep about abortion being legal in Italy,
--the very nation completely surrounding the Vatican--.

[mmike1969]

05:45 PM on 11/18/2010

Nothing like CENSORSHIP to make everyone think alike right?!?

[Rachael Crawley]

08:36 PM on 11/17/2010

The RCC is going to drive itself into the ground, at least in the US and Canada.

[Bill J4321]

01:38 PM on 11/18/2010

fingers crossed!

[Ioan Lightoller]

03:25 PM on 11/18/2010

Fingers and toes!!

[Madbunny]

04:16 AM on 11/24/2010

we can only hope so.

[Jdaddy1951]

06:35 PM on 11/17/2010

Wonder if the editorials would have not been censored if the students had spoke out in favor of priest-child relationships?

[Nemosirus]

04:58 PM on 11/17/2010

Why are they even trying to censor these kids. Equal rights for gay people seem to be a priority and getting bigger and actions like this honestly just draw more attention to something they are scared to admit. I see actions like this as the death throes of a hopefully soon to be forgotten way of thinking. Christianity is about love. At least to those that are loving.

“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”

[Spank05]

03:28 PM on 11/22/2010

"Why are they even trying to censor these kids."

Probably because it's a Catholic school, lol, just saying.

Like any private school they're beholden to whomever is paying their bills.... in this case the parents that are paying to send their kids to a Catholic school.

In reality this would be bigger news if a Catholic school let this kind of thing go.

It's unfortunate, but it's the reality of the world we live in.

[Carmen Madonna Campos]

03:42 PM on 11/17/2010

what would Jesus do?

oh wait! i think we have a direct qoute for this:

Matthew 25: 40 ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

shame on you for censoring Jesus!

[Nemosirus]

04:59 PM on 11/17/2010

you tell em

[DonJM]

02:58 PM on 11/17/2010

Well, we all know there are NO gays in the Catholic Church! Right, Pope Benedict???

[Daktahgeo]

09:41 PM on 11/26/2010

"Absolutely," says Ratzie...as he pulls up his zipper, heh heh heh.