Two high school student representatives from the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property posted a video on Nov. 8 that included unauthorized interviews of Georgetown students celebrating OUTober’s Coming Out day.
The students represented TFP Student Action, the division of the group that works to promote traditional Catholic values in college campuses. Along with the video, the students also posted an article that criticized Georgetown’s failure to uphold traditional Catholic doctrine and falling victim to “rampant relativism”.
According to Tyler Pierce (COL ‘15), one of the students who was filmed, the TFP representatives would not identify themselves. They claimed to be working on a class project when they interviewed students at the GU Pride, while citing Church doctrine and calling homosexuality an “intrinsic disorder”.
Thomas Lloyd (SFS ‘15), president of GU Pride, said that the TFP representatives continuously harassed students as they came out of the Coming Out door. “They [questioned and] got footage of everyone whether or not they wanted to be filmed,” Lloyd said. “That was really awful.”
Though the interviewed students are blurred in the video, they are identifiable to many members of the Georgetown community.
“They did not do a good job of protecting anonymity of students at a time when their anonymity might be essential to their family well-being, their mental well-being, their emotional well-being,” Lloyd said.
Director of Media Relations Rachel Pugh escorted the TFP students to the front gates despite the students’ claims to free speech. Afterwards, they continued to linger on the steps of Lauinger Library and interview faculty and students.
Assistant Vice President for Communications Stacy Kerr clarified that media outlets filming on campus must obtain permission from the University to film on campus, which the TFP representatives did not do.
“We expect camera crews to be respectful of any individual’s wish not to be filmed by asking permission to interview individuals on camera and explaining the purpose of the interview,” she wrote in an email to the Voice.
The University does not intend to take further action on TFP’s violation of University policy. TFP refused to comment when asked about the video.
“The video is offensive to our LGBT friends and should not be considered representative of those student groups that defend and promote the Church’s teachings on marriage and the family. Students have a right to hear the Church’s teaching presented with charity and prudence,” Andrew Schilling (COL ’14), outside guard of the Knights of Columbus, wrote in an email to the Voice. “This video does neither.”
Since this article did not include a link to the video, which many might wish to see for themselves, I’m including a link to it:
http://www.tfpstudentaction.org/what-we-do/news-and-updates/i-saw-the-smoke-of-satan-at-georgetown-on-coming-out-day.html
God bless the TFP student for being truthful about the harmfulness of sin.
Just a reminder…
We read in the Book of Genesis: “God created man in His image; in the Divine image he created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them, saying: ‘Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.’” (Gen. 1:28-29)
The same was taught by Our Savior Jesus Christ: “From the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother; and shall cleave to his wife.” (Mark 10:6-7).
Genesis also teaches how God punished Sodom and Gomorrah for the sin of homosexuality: “The Lord rained down sulphurous fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah. He overthrew those cities and the whole Plain, together with the inhabitants of the cities and the produce of the soil.” (Gen. 19:24-25)
If this Catholic school would have been following the Catholic doctrine, none of this would have happen. TFP, well done, shame on you Georgetown.
I agree that we should take a critical look at the Bible and how it should apply in the real world. Here are some examples.
Exodus 21:7
“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go free as male slaves do.”
Exodus 35:2
“On six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be sacred to you as the sabbath of complete rest to the LORD. Anyone who does work on that day shall be put to death.”
Leviticus 11
7 “and the pig, which does indeed have hoofs and is cloven-footed, but does not chew the cud and is therefore unclean for you.”
8 “Their flesh you shall not eat, and their dead bodies you shall not touch; they are unclean for you.”
Let’s put these verses in context.
According to Exodus 21:7, if I ever have a daughter, it’s okay to sell her! Man, the Bible sure knows how to run an economy. It even gives workers holidays! It’s a shame that I should put my dad to death for working on the sabbath, but you just gotta to what Exodus 35:2 tells you to do. According to Leviticus 11:7 and 8, I really shouldn’t be playing football. That’s probably something we need to let those heathens at Notre Dame know about as well.
That’s right shame on Georgetown, and shame on all of us as well! Looks like we can all follow the bible/sentence people to death/enslave/not play football some more.
You are the one taking Bible quotes out of context. It’s funny how liberals fight tooth and nail for the right to murder unborn children (abortion) yet well up with fake indignation about “slavery.”
Homosexuality is an abomination against God and human nature. It was and always will be a sin. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of it.
““We expect camera crews to be respectful of any individual’s wish not to be filmed by asking permission to interview individuals on camera and explaining the purpose of the interview,” she (Assistant Vice President for Communications Stacy Kerr) wrote in an email to the Voice.” These students are adults are they not? The place where they were filmed was public was it not? No one person interviewed was forced to be interviewed. C’mon folks! Put on you “big boy clothes” and grow up!
As for Mr. Andrew Schilling, people also have the right to be called out for the hypocrites that they are when it comes to promoting lifestyles that fly in the face of Catholic moral teaching.
If anyone is feeling uncomfortable about all this, there’s a reason. It’s called “your conscious” and it’s letting you know it’s having an issue with what you’re doing, believing or saying. I, for one, a’m glad that someone is forcing the issue and making people think.
It is so refreshing to read the voiceof the above reasoned remarks. ThankGod we still have people of reason and respect for the church. I am so sick of these people who think they can do as they wish without any condemnations.Whatever happened to sin.!!??