Saint Louis University, a Catholic school in Missouri, claims to pursue “truth for the greater glory of God,” as motivated “by the inspiration and values of the Judeo-Christian tradition.”
Those statements beg a question: Why are some Saint Louis University students and administrators doing everything they can to stop a conservative Catholic speaker from amplifying core Catholic teachings on gender and abortion on campus?
Conservative podcast host and author Matt Walsh is slated to speak at SLU through Young America’s Foundation’s campus lecture program on Dec. 1. His topic: the Left’s attempts to redefine marriage, gender, and life.
However, many on campus aren’t happy with Walsh’s impending arrival. A student organization titled “SLU Sluts” berated the host organization, the SLU College Republicans, for daring to ask in a viral video Walsh’s favorite question: “What is a woman?” An investigation into the College Republicans quickly followed, and SLU found the group guilty of “inappropriate conduct.”
The school has thrown everything it can at the student organization to ensure that the event is not a success. From enforcing inconsistent audience limitations and social distancing to banning College Republicans from advertising the event and trying to require Walsh to wear a mask while speaking, it’s safe to say SLU doesn’t have much time for free speech.
More than 1,000 students and faculty members have even signed a petition urging the administration to cancel the event. In their letter to SLU President Fred Pestello, they accuse Walsh’s rhetoric on transgenderism and abortion of “instilling fear” and being a “threat to women and the LGTBQIA+ community.” They even go so far as to accuse him of not being “representative of the Jesuit education.”
How rich.
Catholic doctrine teaches that abortion is wrong. It also teaches that men and women are uniquely created in the image of God and cannot magically switch sexes. So why is it controversial for a Catholic to reinforce those enduring beliefs?
Words are not violence. They do not make students unsafe on campus. If some SLU students don’t agree with Walsh’s Catholic views and find them offensive, that’s fine. No one is forcing them to go to the event. But the basic question remains: Are basic Catholic teachings now too controversial to be spoken on a Catholic college campus? Has society fallen so far that the root of our religious teachings must be censored to appease a vocal minority on the Left?
The only way the Left’s weaponization of Jesuit values can be stopped is by bringing more true Catholic voices to the forefront of the debate surrounding gender and abortion. That’s what we’re doing here.
Kara Zupkus is the national spokeswoman for Young America’s Foundation.
