Posted on 10/07/2021 3:01:16 PM PDT by Ennis85
When I heard that Spencer Klavan would be a speaker at the Classical Learning Test (CLT) 2021 Summit in Annapolis last week, I was surprised — shocked really — that a man who is openly homosexual would be featured there.
The fact that well respected Catholic intellectuals would also be speaking at the Summit, and that others are members of CLT’s Board of Academic Advisors, was troubling to me, as troubling as the big incongruency in Spencer’s life. I worried that the presence of Princeton Prof. Robert George, University of Dallas Prof. Jessica Hooten Wilson, and other well-known Catholic educators would give the appearance of approval of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. More specifically, I worried that young same-sex attracted Catholics witnessing the gathering would be free to conclude, “It’s OK to be a conservative, Catholic, AND an out and proud gay or lesbian.”
Oxford-educated Spencer’s conservative credentials are impressive. He is host of The Young Heretics podcast, an author at The Daily Wire, Associate Editor at the Claremont Review of Books, frequent guest on Candace Owens’ show, and son of Christian conservative Andrew Klavan. Yet Spencer has self-identified as ‘gay’ since high school, is currently engaged to be “married” to a man, and was one of the high-profile conservative gays at the Outspoken Pride 2021 gathering in Nashville in September. His future “husband,” Joshua Herr, serves as general counsel for The Daily Wire.
Klavan is among the rising number of gays in the Republican Party whose presence nowadays generally elicits nothing more than a shrug of the shoulders among many conservatives and Christians, including Catholics. The ranks of gay GOP members grew during the 2020 presidential campaign as they enthusiastically supported President Donald Trump, famously touted by homosexual former Ambassador and Director of National Intelligence, Ric Grenell, as “[t]he most pro-gay president in American history.”
A rickety bulwark against criticism of homosexuality and same-sex ‘marriage’
Spencer Klavan is brilliant. A gifted teacher, his podcasts explain what is often impenetrable prose of classic writers that is easily digested by non-academics, while not losing an ounce of the beauty, truth, and gravitas of their messages. As I’ve listened to Klavan’s podcasts and read his commentaries, I confess, I’ve fallen in love with his work. He’s right about so much, but he’s wrong about homosexuality and same-sex “marriage.”
So how can one claim to be a Christian, a conservative, and a classicist?
Klavan began counting himself a Christian at age 16 — at about the same time he “came out” to his famous Dad, Andrew Klavan — and was baptized into the Episcopal Church at age 18.
In a video interview conducted in October 2020, Klavan was asked to on about the Catholic Church’s teaching on same-sex “marriage” and homosexuality. His brief response revealed the bulwark against personal criticism he has built in his mind.
He explained that natural law theory and the Church’s interpretation of the creation of man and woman in Genesis incorrectly form the basis for Catholicism’s disapproval of gay relationships.
“I don’t think that that is an accurate portrayal of Genesis,” said Klavan. “Obviously things have developed after the fall [of man] in such a way as to permit, to make certain things licit that were not, at least, part of the relationship between Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.”
“I think it’s a wrongly-selective reading of Genesis that would say because Adam and Eve are commanded to be fruitful and multiply, a commandment that I affirm, therefore there is no such thing as acceptable, praiseworthy, romantic committed loving partnerships besides one man, one woman,” continued Klavan. “Many of the biblical heroes are polygamists, something that I don’t condone, I don’t condone polygamy, but I acknowledge that there are forms of sexual relationships that go beyond what happens in pre-lapsarian Eden.”
In other words, the fall of man — which separated humanity from God — somehow made homosexuality and genderless “marriages” okay with God, despite the discordance with nature and perversion of God’s clearly visible, knowable intention.
Klavan’s chosen protestant denomination, the U.S. Episcopal Church, began warmly accepting both homosexuality and same-sex marriages years ago, causing a rift with the Anglican Church while also playing a role in the sect’s plummeting membership.
Homosexuality: ‘Dehumanizing’
The fact that classic writers appear to uniformly disagree with Klavan about homosexuality has not dissuaded him.
Plato thought homosexuality was “dehumanizing” and Socrates “loathed sodomy,” according to Catholic writer Robert Reilly, author of “Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything.”
Socrates and Plato, were unambiguous in their condemnation of homosexual acts as unnatural. In the Laws, Plato’s last book, the Athenian speaker says, “I think that the pleasure is to be deemed natural which arises out of the intercourse between men and women; but that the intercourse of men with men, or of women with women, is contrary to nature, and that the bold attempt was originally due to unbridled lust.” By its nature, lust is unbridled, irrational, and therefore destructive of what it is to be human. Giving in to it is therefore Dehumanizing.
Socrates said that a certain man was “no better off than a pig if he wanted to scratch himself against a [young male] as piglets do against stones,” Reilly further noted.
C.S. Lewis, the Christian apologist who Klavan views as the “greatest intellectual of the 20th century,” also disagrees with him about homosexuality. “The physical satisfaction of homosexual desires is sin,” wrote Lewis in a letter to a former student.
The relentless seeping in of homosexuality in Catholic education
“There has never been a better time to invest in the souls and minds of our nation’s kids!” exclaimed CLT 2021 Summit participant, Tony Kinnett, in a tweet.
https://twitter.com/TheTonus/status/1444336215772258305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1444336215772258305%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lifesitenews.com%2Fblogs%2Fclassicist-teacher-homosexuality%2F
While the effort to steep America’s young people in the classics is admirable, does living as a homosexual with the intention of “marrying” a member of the same sex undermine that effort, risking the corruption of their “souls and minds?”
Does Klavan’s presence at the 2021 Summit create a problem for Ave Maria University, Christendom College, Franciscan University of Steubenville, The University of Dallas, and Hillsdale College, which are among the 204 schools that recognize the CLT? The incongruities of his life stand in opposition to the fundamental truths these institutions hold dear.
The Catholic school superintendent of Denver, Elias J. Moo, was another featured speaker at the CLT summit; Michael Moynihan, Head of the Upper School at Opus Dei’s prestigious The Heights School in the Washington suburbs, is on CLT’s Board of Academic Advisors, as is Catholic University of America Professor Chad Pecknold.
The seeping in of homosexuality into conservative circles, whether it be within the GOP, the Catholic Church, or conservative education institutions, continues with little notice.
In February 2020, Fr. James Martin, S.J. — the most prominent clergyman arguing for the normalization of homosexuality and transgenderism within the Church — was “warmly welcomed” as he addressed 150 Catholic college and university presidents, urging them to promote “inclusion” on their campuses by promoting “LGBT-affirming liturgies,” permitting students to choose their own pronouns, and holding “Lavender Graduations.”
Klavan is not alone. Ambassador Grenell, FOX News commentators Guy Benson, Deroy Murdock, and Chadwick Moore, “Walk Away” movement founder Brandon Straka, outspoken pro-Trump activists Scott Presler and Christian Walker, and others — although brilliant, successful men — have not yet tapped into the intellectual curiosity and honesty necessary to reject the “born this way” lie which now defines them. Homosexuality remains a stumbling block, stalling their trajectory beyond political truth toward bigger, preeminent ones while also undermining their attempts to supplant liberal insanity with conservative principles.
In this way, their personal lives serve as obstructions, hindering the flow of maximum truth into the world as they continue to resist both science and nature. They cling to an impoverished self and worldview, leading to diminished personal lives and contributing to our pauperized American culture.
Klavan and the others could learn a lot from the intellectual honesty and integrity of Milo Yiannopoulos, who has left the world of sodomy and the cortege of lies and partial truths that follow in its train.
Yiannopoulos has accomplished more good during his year and a half as a chaste, dedicated follower of Christ than he was ever able to during his years as a famous gay conservative provocateur.
...but obviously not in 'conservative Christian' circles (for sound, biblical reasons). Funny how a little bitty comma can change things...
;^)
You missed the point of what Paul was teaching. Read every word. There is a qualifier there. See if you can find it. Let me know when you figure it out. Hint: it’s six words.
Typical liberal response. All scripture is God breathed. Liberals will find any excuse to reject scripture.
Virtue signaling.
“But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolator, reviler, drunkard or swindler. Not to even eat with such a one.”
You must be very lonely or very naive. ;)
^ ^ ^ ^
“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’”
I Corinthians 15:3 (NASB)
Our Lord did instruct the disciples to not tolerate evil in the congregation (Matthew 18:15-17) but to confront a brother in error, first alone, then with one or two witnesses, then to the church, then if the first and second and third attempts fail, “let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”
It has been said that Satan’s greatest trick is convincing so many people he doesn’t exist, but thankfully you’re here to remind us he’s still around.
Thank you for that.
Toleration and treating people kindly is one thing.
But then it moves into homosexuals becoming K-12 teachers and propagandizing our kids. And then parents are not to question this.
"If you tolerate this, your children will be next!"
Liberal, seriously?
I am a strict literal Constitutionalist. I am a lifelong registered Repbulican; I cast my first vote ever for Renaldus Magnus; I have never cast a vote for a liberal; I have never cast a vote for a democrat; I listened to at least 99.999% of Rush Limbaugh’s radio shows and loved everyone of them; I’m anti-gay marriage; I’m against allowing or even acknowldging the Transexual BS; I’m against all welfare spending; I’m as pro 2A as anyone; I supported Donald Trump for President from day one; I am a total 100% MAGA Patriot; I served in the US Navy and took the oath. So you’re barking up the wrong tree on this one.
Besides I said they were Paul’s words, and they are, the Bible says so.
You’re a total Dolt.
Seeing a lot of Universalist “Theology” (in quotes on purpose) on social media lately. There is no sin, all will be saved - heresy IMO
My thought is he should debate a Chabad rabbi, about the truth of the Torah on homosexuality. Only problem: Orthodox Jews don’t discuss sex. Not quite sure how’d they’d handle a discussion on the truth of 18:22. Of course, Chabad accepts that 100% of the Torah is true - G-d’s words.
Earlier in this thread you claimed that Paul didn’t write it.
You a Fed.
Too concerned about your cover credentials.
You should never give a rip about what anyone thinks of you here.
This place does not matter.
This is a test.
Then this homosexual man doesn’t know/read the Bible. He only knows/reads homosexual misinterpretations.
“Toleration and treating people kindly is one thing.”
Thank God you’re so enlightened.
“But then it moves into homosexuals becoming K-12 teachers and propagandizing our kids. And then parents are not to question this.”
How do you propose to get to know who all the gay teachers are in order to ban them from teaching? Do you propose to maybe tatoo them on the forearm as they’re discovered? I mean how far do you want to go? Maybe build camps for them like we did to Americans of Japanese descent. Should we decree that they should not be allowed jobs, or that they can’t shop at grocery stores.
The fact is most gay people that you meet in your everyday life, you will never even know.
There's no getting around God's explicit condemnation of homosexual acts:
“...his angels were cast out with him”? Not demons? Are those fallen or sinful angels?
Yes!
The mainstreaming of the homosexual lifestyle is a VERY REAL issue.
I hope you aren’t downplaying issue.
No I don’t want homesexual teachers teaching my grandkids. Can we outright ban them; no.
I also don’t want flagrant open men or women who brag about their promiscuous hetrosexual orgy lifestyle teaching my grandkids.
Yes we all know nice homosexuals who don’t appear to bother anyone.
But it turns quickly into diversity policies at large employers and governments where that lifestyle is forcibly made equivalent to normal marriage . And any questioning means job loss or harassment .
Yes I can in one hand be:
—be nice and not harass homosexuals
—but stand firmly against that lifestyle being forcibly pushed in our society
So, you don’t believe the Bible? How about the Torah?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.