It is a cruel and humbling fact of faith that religious sensibility does not curb the genetic predisposition of humanity to the allures of power, prestige, and violence. Faith is not a genetic condition. The desire for righteous behavior is not enough to live a life of holiness and love for the abused and oppressed.
Such must I introduce the difficult and extremely important topic of reflection for this week at Daily Theology, entitled “Sexual Assault and Higher Education: An Octave of Theological Reflection.” Many of the authors, listen below, will not only write about higher education generally, but about Catholic higher education. They may write about how such places fail to live up to their calling as Catholic when it comes to sexual crimes that occur on campus, in dormitories, by students, every day. They may also, explicitly and implicitly, write about hope. Not the wispy hope of a transcendental romantic, but the tangible hope that accepts anger, depression, suffering, and perceived weakness as a sign not of frailty but of an actual person in relationship with God.
Hope also, perhaps, that all systems of higher education will one day value the care of its abused students as much as they do development, expansion, and Division I sports.
I look forward to being part of the conversation with you.
