Lori D'Amico Val Buchanan, who is Gordon's director of community engagement, is very involved in Lynn. To name a few, I believe she is on Harrington's school council, the board of Lynn Arts, the board of Operations Bootstrap, and the board of Family & Children Services of Greater Lynn. Will LPS be severing ties with all of these organizations? What about some others that Val may be affiliated with? What about the supporting organizations of these organizations? The community partners and other affiliates? The CEO of Catholic Charities also signed the letter to the president, yet to my knowledge, LPS has not even mentioned severing ties with them. Can LPS pick and choose who they want to sever ties with because of this letter, or are they leaving themselves open for legal action? What about supporting organizations, community partners and other affiliates of Catholic Charities? Also, the decision was for LPS to sever ties with Gordon College, its students and employees. However, the decision does not mean the city of Lynn will be severing ties with Gordon, its students and employees, correct? So many answered questions!!
"TOLERANCE" DOESN'T PICK AND CHOOSE OR DOES IT?
Public schools and non-profits and/or private institutions are very different. Non-profits and private institutions can be affiliated with whomever they want but public schools can not be associated with discriminatory institutions (and it's not just about the recent letter written by Gordon College and let's stop saying and framing it as if it is; it's about their long history of discriminatory practices).
ReplyDeleteIt concerns me when individuals twist and misinform the public, particularly when it's elected officials who given their profession and education know better. For instance the Lynn Mayor knows better than to say two rights are conflicting here: freedom of religion and civil rights. That simply is not the case---no one's right to believe in a religion is being infringed upon here which is the right we all have but LPS, again as a public school, would be collaborating with a institution who in practice discriminates. As the Mayor of Salem stated:
“I am truly disappointed in the stance you have taken, which plainly discriminates against the rights of LGBT individuals, both on and off campus,” said Mayor Driscoll in the letter to President Lindsay. “These actions fly in the face of the City of Salem’s Non-Discrimination Ordinance, which prohibits our municipality from contracting with entities that maintain discriminatory practices. While I respect your rights to embed religious values on a private college campus, religious freedom does not afford you the right to impose those beliefs upon others and cannot be extended into a publicly owned facility or any management contract for a publicly owned facility, like Old Town Hall. Moreover, I hope you realize how hurtful and offensive these “behavioral standards” are to members of the greater Salem LGBT community, some of whom are Gordon alumni, staff and/or students.”
In Salem's Mayor's statement it's clear she understands the law and the distinction of public and private, separation between church and state, institutional discrimination/practice and beliefs. I am skeptical to say that the Mayor of Lynn doesn't understand it also; rather I'm real concerned that she in fact does and instead is playing with words and misguiding/misinforming the public with regards to the law in order to try get the outcome she'd like rather than the one the law imposes, the right outcome.
It is without a doubt a slippery slope. I can and have been on both sides of this issue.You are RIGHT in that this NOT a new instance generated by this letter. We are talking about policies that were in place long before the ink went to the paper. What I want to know was where were these protesters then. The SINCERITY of these OPPORTUNISTIC of these people who position themselves as CHAMPIONS OF CIVIL RIGHTS smacks of disingenuous hypocrisy.
DeleteSo what about the students of Gordon? They are not a private institution or non-profit. Why can't they still do their student teaching and observations in our schools? If it is simply because they are associated with the college, then all my questions remain because Val Buchanan is an employee of the college.
ReplyDeleteTouche!
DeleteThe students are Gordon College - they represent and signed their agreement promising to support Gordon's mission statement. The Mayor though wanted to vote against Charlie Gallo. Unfortunately Donna Coppola is always voting with the mayor these days.
ReplyDeleteWhat about employees of Gordon? Did they sign an agreement?
ReplyDeleteAnon 11:50
ReplyDeleteFirst your rant is too long. It's an opinion piece. I suppose you want everyone to eat organic wheaties too. This is America and while your opinion is valid, so is everyone else's.
I sense a vote to recind coming in the near future. I do not think the members who voted yes for this thought about all the consequences that could come from it. I am sure some of them are already rethinking and regretting their vote.
ReplyDeletePeople misinterpret church and state.
ReplyDeletechurch cannot control state
And state cannot deny church
Catholics are not anti gay. The church doesn't prohibit gay thought, for one.
The church prohibits unmarried sex, birth control, abortion, condom use, stem cell research. The church prohibits 'anti-creation' and promotes acts of creation. This doesn't make them discriminative for acting scientific.
Think about that.
Although I am not a lawyer or constitutional scholar, let me try and school some of you people. NOWHERE in the US CONSTITUTION does it call for a SEPARATION of church and state. There is only the guarantee that each individual will be able to practice his or her own religion. Excuse me if I'm wrong here I never had history in college since I got 6 hours credit from a CLEP test but I do believe the CONCEPT of the SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE comes from an early supreme court decision authored by MARSHALL (John not Thurgood) calling for a WALL OF SEPARATION.
ReplyDeleteThis policy is old. Look at timeline to understand why policy was created.
ReplyDeleteGordon College was a school for theology, for priests. Only in recent times has their curriculum opened for other courses. The majority of Catholic priests back then were gay and joined for celibacy. Which to some back in the day meant gay sex wasn't a notion of Hetero-sex in the eyes of God. This policy formed to cover all loop holes & keep students abstaining from sex. With the times, the policy could be updated to say no in married sex period. Sex between gay or heterosexuals.
Better communication goes a long way!
Stanley your forum is more civil than most politicians forum who jump to conclusisions
ReplyDeleteTHANKS!
DeleteMotion to recind at next meeting
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Would not be surprising. Wonder what kind of audience will be there. I can't wait to see the agenda!
DeleteGreat!
DeleteWhen will the item print the letter from Gordon's lawyer, stating there is a legal problem with the vote to punish an individual for a Question, on their personal belief. Notice not the belief of college. Ugly lawsuit, if
ReplyDeleteDid I not warn that? All of those lawyers sitting at that table and no one brought that up.
Deletemayor only lawyer who brought it up
DeleteAlthough I am very sure she is an expert on all things found on the Bar and she did VOTE to keep the relationship with GORDON, I don't think she specifically sited the simple reasons listed above, No matter I'm just busting lawyers in general. Even if she didn't do it for THOSE reasons, she still was the only one making the RIGHT call. Good for Judy on this!
Delete