Posted on 05/09/2014 5:31:05 AM PDT by sitetest
Boston, Mass., May 8, 2014 / 05:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Harvard chaplain says a student group's plans to re-enact a satanic black mass on campus has elicited a strong response, and he is encouraging the Catholic community to engage in prayer and witness.
Fr. Michael Drea, senior chaplain at the Harvard Catholic Student Association, told CNA on May 8 that he has seen “a huge groundswell from Catholics on campus, as well as alumni” protesting the black mass re-enactment, which the priest characterized as “absolutely ludicrous” and extremely offensive.
~ snip ~
With this aim in mind, the Catholic community is planning a Holy Hour at 8 p.m. May 12, to coincide with the black mass. The Holy Hour will take place at St. Paul’s Church, the university parish and Catholic campus ministry center on the edge of campus where Fr. Drea serves as pastor.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnewsagency.com ...
Please read “The Screwtape Letters” by C. S. Lewis.
I'm pretty sure they'd “support” the right of any independent group of students to do whatever they wished, as long as they didn't break the law (and even then,...). Especially if it didn't cost them any money, LOL.
On campus? Gets a little dicier. Recognized student groups can generally get space at no cost on campus for their meetings and events. They'll need to follow whatever codes of conduct Harvard imposes, and I'm sure that’d include no Koran burning. Probably no “black masses,” either.
But this is being held in the bar in the basement of Memorial Hall. The bar is a commercial enterprise, and it has been privately rented by this group.
The bar (The Cambridge Queen's Head) appears to be owned and/or operated by Harvard College's Office of Student Life. I don't know what restrictions are placed on private functions. I assume the place is covered by relevant laws concerning public accommodations, and thus I don't know whether or not the bar management would refuse a bunch of Koran-burners, whether they COULD refuse a bunch of Koran-burners, and just what the relationship is between the actual bar management and the Office of Student Life.
I've been digging around for contact information for the Office of Student Life, but had to go out for a while and haven't found anything, yet. Maybe others might pick up the thread.
But think a couple of moves down the line before acting.
As a Catholic, to me, this would fit any reasonable definition of “hate crime.” But I'm kind of opposed in principle to the very idea of “hate crimes.” Something is either legal. Or its not. If it's not legal, then the offenders should be prosecuted, and that should be sufficient. No “enhanced” punishment, no infliction of greater harm against the offender because I disagree with his agenda. If it IS legal, I'm not crazy about making it illegal because it's a “hate crime.”
Of course, we're in the realm of private entities and private actions, not government action, not what is lawful or unlawful.
But increasingly, many conservatives are finding ourselves labeled “hate groups” committing “hate crimes” and “hate speech” because we are pro-life, or pro-family, or against the homosexual agenda, or have doubts about the reality of anthropogenic global warming, or, heck, are Republicans.
At Harvard, there are many conservative groups that operate pretty much unmolested, whether on or off campus. I have not heard of the abridgement of the ability to meet in places of public accommodation that are available to all comers willing to pay the rental fee. I'll try to investigate further, but folks need to ask the question: “If Harvard permits renting out the Queen's Head to the Anscombe Society (or similar), do we want to set a precedent by forcing them to cancel the rental to this group?”
sitetest
I need to go run some errands, but here is a link to a page with the names, e-mail address, and phone numbers of the contacts at the Harvard College Office of Student Life:
http://osl.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k65178&pageid=icb.page295552
If folks are going to write/call, I'd recommend starting with Stephen Lassonde, the dean, or Teresa Lilly, the general manager of the Queen's Head.
sitetest
A Harvard chaplain says a student group's plans to re-enact a satanic black mass on campus has elicited a strong response, and he is encouraging the Catholic community to engage in prayer and witness.
Perhaps your distinction that this is taking place in a bar in the basement of Memorial Hall is significant. That it is a separately contracted commercial enterprise allows them more leeway in their behavior. However, I'm guessing that their contract has provisions (1) that requires them to follow the directions of the Harvard University and (2)that keeps the ownership of that location in the hands of Harvard University.
Short of actually scheduling a Koran burning, we will never know if it would be disallowed or not.
My money says it would be.
On what basis would I deny this program designed to demonstrate how to degrade an entire class of students (Catholic/Christian)?
I would deny it because it promotes an environment of discrimination, hate and security concerns.
“Short of actually scheduling a Koran burning, we will never know if it would be disallowed or not.”
Nah. Restaurants answer inquiries all the time. You don't have to book to ask the questions.
“On what basis would I deny this program designed to demonstrate how to degrade an entire class of students (Catholic/Christian)?
“I would deny it because it promotes an environment of discrimination, hate and security concerns.”
These concerns of yours sound quite similar to the arguments put forth to try to prevent the Anscombe Society from putting on an event at Stanford earlier this year. Just google “anscombe society stanford” and look at news items.
Ironically, while a Koran-burning, or a symposium promoting traditional marriage might actually provoke violence from Muslims or homosexuals, it's doubtful that this “black mass” will provoke any Catholics to violence. “Security concerns” may be a bit overblown.
But, if you want to let Harvard know how you feel, and not just rag on them on the Internet, I've provided you with some contact information.
sitetest
I think this will damage the PR of Harvard considerably; there is little to no way that the public will overlook this and with more coverage, I am certain that more potential donors and students will get disgusted and alumni will be embarrassed and ashamed of this.
I think Harvard’s sports program all by itself has a couple billion in its endowment fund.
The University at large has something like 33 billion dollars. Why should I think that it cares what others think? It cannot be hurt for a long, long time.
It is probably more important to put negative comments on a variety of websites.
It seems most important to influence top Christian students into going elsewhere.
I think Harvard’s sports program all by itself has a couple billion in its endowment fund.
The University at large has something like 33 billion dollars in endowment. Why should I think that it cares what others think? It cannot be hurt for a long, long time.
It is probably more important to put negative comments on a variety of websites.
It seems most important to influence top Christian students into going elsewhere.
Thank you very much for the ping. I am grateful for your work here, in following this story.
It won’t be hurt, but Harvard, like the rest of the Ivies, are losing their prestige; as evidenced by the entertainment industry, money is easy to make, but a reputation it not.
One of the reasons for Harvard's fairly long-term (377 years and counting) success is that it's pretty careful about its image.
Although it doesn't hurt, Harvard doesn't owe its success to its $33 billion endowment. That's backwards. It owes its $33 billion endowment to its success.
As well, you might be surprised if you call them. Most of the administrative folks my family has encountered at Harvard are polite, well-intentioned, good at listening, and often motivated to do better. On an individual level, they are usually highly-competent and fairly humble, willing to admit error and fix mistakes. Polite calls to the folks I suggested may produce more results than you realize.
“It seems most important to influence top Christian students into going elsewhere.”
Ever since the anti-Christ was received in its demonic splendor at Notre Dame, I've contemplated this idea. At first, it seemed reasonable, even correct, that we should punish these schools by “withholding” our children, so to speak. Over time, I came to the conclusion that this is mostly wrong, and, to some degree, intrinsically evil.
First, on a practical level, if we encourage “top Christian students” to go elsewhere, it's doubtful anyone is going to notice. Harvard had roughly 35K applications this year for roughly 1660 spots. They rejected over 94% of applicants. They announced their yield today: 82%. In other words, nearly everyone offered a spot at Harvard took it. It's been that way for some years. Their applicant pool, their admit rates, their yields, have been steady or getting stronger for years, now. They could have filled their class three times without sacrificing the quality of their student body. So it is with all the top tier schools. If we “secede” from them, they're not going to miss us.
Second, on a practical level, nearly every university in the US is infected with many of the same toxins that infect Harvard. In fact, Harvard is a relatively conservative-friendly place compared to Brown, or Stanford, or William & Mary, or even Rutgers.
The list of “conservative” colleges and universities is relatively modest, and none compare to the top schools in our country in terms of opportunity for academic rigor. For the very best Christian students (and I'm not talking top 10%, but rather the top 1% - 2%), sending them off to a conservative college may be a disservice.
Perhaps even a sin.
I don't remember Jesus telling us to hide our light under a bushel basket, or burying our talent, hiding from carrying our cross. I don't remember Him telling us to go where it is comfortable, where we will be affirmed, and to avoid places where we may be challenged, where the need for proclaiming the Gospel is great, where there are large numbers of indifferent, or even hostile pagans.
Now, I agree that not every academically-top Christian student should should go to a top-tier school. Most Christian students, like most people generally, in the current era, are insufficiently grown-up at age 18 to go to college at all. Most have not been taught, trained, and reared intellectually, morally, psychologically, philosophically, spiritually, prayerfully to be sent out into the wider world where demons roam seeking the ruin of souls.
It isn't their fault. It isn't primarily their failure. It is the failure of communities and churches, and most of all, of Christian parents, who have not girded their sons and daughters as warriors, who have allowed them to believe that the earth is a benign place, and human society a benign thing where one is permitted to flower, to blossom, to grow and be enveloped in a see of love from his or her fellow man.
Christian life is about following Christ, and Jesus told us that he who is unwilling to carry his cross daily is unworthy of Him. In carrying our crosses, we will fall, far more than three times, but if we endeavor to walk with Him, He will pick us up, help us brush ourselves off, and continue on the Way.
Life is hard.
It is only children reared knowing these things, understanding these things, living these things, who should be let out of their locked-from-the-outside bedroom doors into the wider world.
But those that have been so trained, we should be sending them to the Harvards! The Notre Dames! The Stanfords! They are the light of the world! It is precisely where these young folks belong!
Even if all they do is live their lives honestly and plainly, each day trying to love God, follow Him, and obey His Law, they make a difference!
In the last 100 years, each time we have been challenged in our cultural institutions, we've thrown up our hands in disgust, shaken the dirt from our sandals, and moved on. And now we wonder why we've lost our cultural institutions! We wonder, how did places like Yale or Duke get so corrupt? Because every time a decent, God-loving conservative walked away from the institutions commanding the heights of our culture, those institutions became, by definition, a little more liberal, a little less decent.
You're not going to harm Harvard by running them down (mostly undeservedly) on the Internet. You COULD help them be a little bit better than they are if you reached out directly to them, and gave them your perspective on things.
And if you know someone who is young and is quite brilliant and academically at the top, as well as a good, strong Christian, you'd help us all to encourage him or her to go to the best school that will let him or her in.
We have no chance at all of recapturing our culture if we do otherwise.
sitetest
You’re welcome.
I have no doubt that your insight into how Harvard would respond to criticism is the voice of experience and reason. I might try it.
As far as pointing top Christian students elsewhere, there is also some wisdom in heeding your call not to lose what little presence in those institutions that Christians do have.
On the other hand, the only way to achieve an alternative, independent voice is build one of your own. There are many notable conservative Catholic and non-Catholic denomination institutions of higher education that are great in their own right. Some are regularly listed among the top educations in the country.
How would they best be strengthened? Send them the best minds, the best students, the best innovators, the best instructors that the body Christian has to offer.
There was a time when Harvard football reigned supreme.
I have seen and experienced enough in my own walk to know the reality of things - I have read enough of other people’s experiences and known a few who used to be into witchcraft and heard their conversion stories. There is no doubt in mind as to the veracity of their testimonies but even moreso to the length of God’s arm to drag people up out of the depths!
Thank you for your post. Nice to know how far people can be redeemed.
“I have no doubt that your insight into how Harvard would respond to criticism is the voice of experience and reason. I might try it.”
If you do, I'd be interested in the results.
“As far as pointing top Christian students elsewhere,...”
I agree with you. Some of our young folks should be “face-out” to the world, others should be “face-in,” helping to build, or re-build our own institutions. There's room for both!
Notre Dame is a case in point. After the anti-Christ received his honorary degree from Notre Dame, my two sons were so enraged at the university that I had to twist their arms to apply when it came time. “Better an honest pagan school like Harvard than a faux Catholic school like Notre Dame,” said my older son.
But Notre Dame was academically excellent in the various fields at which they were looking, and thus, I required that they each apply. However, neither chose Notre Dame. I'm fine with that.
But two young ladies in one of the homeschooling families with which my kids grew up both went off to Notre Dame. Faithful, devout, and wickedly smart, I'm confident knowing that they improved the place, even if only a little bit, helping to reclaim the institution's Catholicity. I know a clutch of folks who went to, or are associated with Notre Dame, students, alumni, faculty, staff, and they are reclaiming this institution for Christ. One day at a time. One action at a time. Two steps forward and one step backwards.
It may take a generation or two, I don't know. But it is God's work these folks are doing.
I see analogous things at Harvard, individual Catholics and other Christians giving witness each day. I often make use of my son as an example because, well, I know him better than anyone else at the place. But there are other strong Christian young men and women on campus. Harvard has an active Knights of Columbus council (of which my son is an officer) that “commits” all sorts of “hate crimes” (in the liberal orthodoxy) including raising money for pregnancy aid centers, rallying publicly for traditional marriage, working with other campus groups to promote other pro-life and pro-human agendae.
As for Harvard's official reaction? Do what you want, just try not to get in people's faces about it, try to be polite, and DON'T BREAK THE LAW.
Harvard Pro-Life actually is given meeting space for its regular meetings and events on campus in one of the upperclassmen resident houses, and at times is fairly active.
This, by the way, official granting of space, appears to be something denied this “Extension School Cultural Studies Club.”
Harvard is a pagan kingdom, to be sure, but the pagan kings are relatively-benign to those who do not share in the “state religion.”
It is a good place in which to evangelize.
sitetest
In Obamaland, Islam and Satanism are now protected and promoted religions while Christians are persecuted.
Will Harvard, in his commitment for freedom of expression, allow a ceremony centered around the desecration of the Koran, using it in a profane sexual ritual, or defecating and urinating on it?
Would Obama and Holder allow the desecration of the Koran with impunity as they are allowing the desecration of the most sacrosanct act of the Catholic Church? Will Obama put in jail those involved in the black mass as he put the Coptic Christian who dare to criticize Islam in a youtube for the Muslim persecution of Christians?
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