May 20, 2005
Outrageous
A Catholic school named Saint Jude Educational Institute, in Montgomery, AL, is yet another example of the complete misogyny of a lot of people who bill themselves as "compassionate" and/or "pro-life". They banned a student from graduation because she was pregnant.
Indeed, they had told her back in March that she was no longer allowed to even attend the school. The school claimed that it was for "safety", though it's not clear what kind of safety risk a pregnant 18-year-old would cause. And their refusal to even list her in the graduation program belies their real intentions: to pretend she didn't even exist.
They can't even claim that it was for any sort of moral reason; the father was allowed to continue going to school and to participate in graduation. It's just misogyny, pure and simple.
Worse, it's an extremely anti-life policy. By telling girls that visible pregnancy is grounds for dismissal (aka the "you-show-you-go" policy), the school is practically pushing them into the abortion clinic. It is FUCKING OUTRAGEOUS that a Catholic institution has policies so actively encouraging of abortion. (The misogyny is something we've come to expect from the Catholic Church, although this is more egregious than usual.)
"The fact that Cuba is poor may have something to do with the US
blockade and with the state-controlled economy; the fact that everyone
appears to eat all right and to have clothes and full, free medical
care, however, does have to do with the social and economic priorities
of the Cuban government." --Anis Memon
Posted
by blahedo
at 11:48am
on 20 May 2005
Argh! I know. I just wanted to throw something at my computer screen when I read about this.
It is this kind of misogyny that has made me think the claims by the church to be compassionate or forgiving are patently ridiculous. They can forgive Cardinal Law enough to let him speak on a stage with all the world watching, but they can't forgive one woman of her sin enough to let her graduate with her class. I can't even begin to understand how they justify to themselves allowing the father and not the mother to graduate. Did they rationalize that maybe she doesn't really know, since she is a slut after all, any premarital sex implies promiscuity.
Almost: they are in fact claiming that the father "has not been determined". Also, the pregnant girl's father consented to the dismissal, which apparently made it okay.
Of course, this nasty misogyny is not unique to Catholics. Many a Baptist school would have done the samething, but I seldom hear Baptists callingthemselves compassionate. They call God loving, but that is not quite the same thing.
Other Catholic schools have expelled women who got married but not pregnant. Nasty message there, too, but not quite kill your baby and we will let you stay in school nasty.
I agree this is an outrageous policy to use a graduation ceremony to punish and humiliate the girl. Similarly, it was disturbing that Cardinal Keeler decided to boycott the Loyola of Maryland commencement because pro-choicer Rudy Guilliani was the featured speaker.
These two incidents are just as disturbing as those where activists try to silence graduation speakers who talk about God in their remarks.
