*Sightings* 7/26/10

Classroom Controversy

— Martin E. Marty

Anyone who spends over a half century at the center and the margins of
higher academe, as I have, knows better than to get involved with tenure
disputes or hirings and firings of faculty. The further away from the scene
of conflict one is, the dimmer the vision; the closer one is, the more the
dust of battle obscures vision. So while using a particular issue and
university to examine some points, I won ¢â‚¬â„¢t suggest proper outcomes. The
case does help us understand why and how certain kinds of disputes are
complex and sticky.

So, to a scene and event: The University of Illinois at Champaign fired
adjunct professor Kenneth Howell after the friend of an  ¢â‚¬Å“offended student ¢â‚¬ 
e-mailed Robert McKim, the religion department head, charging that Howell
had engaged in  ¢â‚¬Å“hate speech, ¢â‚¬  if not in class, then in an e-mail in which he
contributed further to a classroom controversy. The issue was his teaching
of the Roman Catholic teaching that homosexual activity is sinful, a
position with which he agreed and which he propounded with his endorsement.

Step back now, during the reviewing, and let ¢â‚¬â„¢s see. First, not to include
religion studies in higher education curricula is a problem for education
and for the citizenry. Religion, in the narrowest and broadest senses,
informs most complex human activities, including war-making and
peace-making. So include it. Second, teaching religion in tax-supported
institutions often occurs at the edge of controversy and conflict, since
different individuals and groups in any public will criticize almost any
presentation, including the least controversial. (Teaching it in private
higher education settings also can be controversial, but we can pass that by
for now.)

Next, phenomena related to human sexuality inevitably come up in discussions
of religion, since faith communities and their leaders care so much about
it, and the general public has interests and fights about it. But it is
almost impossible to discuss religion  ¢â‚¬Å“neutrally, ¢â‚¬  meaning  ¢â‚¬Å“fair-mindedly ¢â‚¬ 
in the eyes of all, including interest groups. Giving an accounting of what
a particular religious community or tradition teaches about something
central to a faith is necessary, even urgent, if one is to understand its
many features. Had Professor Howell tried to teach about Catholicism, which
was his assignment, without getting into Catholic teaching and practice
dealing with sexuality, it would represent a failure to educate well.

Having a professor identify herself or himself with such a teaching becomes
a matter of  ¢â‚¬Å“how ¢â‚¬  it is done. The vast majority of religion professors know
how to protect the integrity of their students, their subjects, their
school. Awareness of this in a conflicted, pluralistic society should lead
professors to be careful about propagandizing (which is not educating) for
or against a tradition. The Illinois case is complicated by the fact the
position held by Howell is, shall we say, irregular, since the Catholic
diocese of Peoria funds the chair and has interests that may not match that
of regularly appointed and funded members of the religion department. Step
back from that fact, and you still have a good illustration of how
precarious is the perch of those who teach religion in state schools.

When all is done and said, however, there is no way to assure that at all
schools, in all classes, all professors will do all this well. If a student
over-reacted and Howell over-acted in the case of a controversial teaching,
it is important to back off and, yes, review and re-review fateful decisions
about legality, propriety, fairness, and effectiveness of teaching. Don ¢â‚¬â„¢t
envy the Illinois administrators who have to review their own actions and
arbitrate among conflicting interests. But also we can pause and note once
again how religion, long considered marginal and irrelevant, stirs people on
all sides of societal issues in the arena that is the public university. This
will not be the last re-reviewing that we are likely to observe, as
religious communities and their foes heat up.

Martin E. Marty’s biography, current projects, publications, and contact
information can be found at www.illuminos.com.

*Sightings* comes from the Martin Marty
Centerat the
University of Chicago Divinity School.

Attribution

Columns may be quoted or republished in full, with attribution to the author
of the column, *Sightings*, and the Martin Marty Center at the University of
Chicago Divinity School.