When I heard that Spencer Klavan would be a speaker at the Classical Learning Test (CLT) 2021 Summit in Annapolis last week, I was surprised — shocked really — that a man who is openly homosexual would be featured there.
The fact that well-respected Catholic intellectuals would also be speaking at the Summit, and that others are members of CLT’s Board of Academic Advisors, was troubling to me, as troubling as the big incongruency in Spencer’s life. I worried that the presence of Princeton Professor Robert George, University of Dallas Professor Jessica Hooten Wilson, and other well-known Catholic educators would give the appearance of approval of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. More specifically, I worried that young, same-sex-attracted Catholics witnessing the gathering would be free to conclude “it’s OK to be a conservative, Catholic, AND an out and proud gay or lesbian.”
Spencer Klavan is brilliant. A gifted teacher, his podcasts explain what is often impenetrable prose of classic writers that is easily digested by non-academics, while not losing an ounce of the beauty, truth, and gravitas of their messages. As I’ve listened to Klavan’s podcasts and read his commentaries, I confess, I’ve fallen in love with his work. He’s right about so much, but he’s wrong about homosexuality and same-sex “marriage.”
So how can one claim to be a Christian, a conservative, and a classicist?
In a video interview conducted in October 2020, Klavan was asked about the Catholic Church’s teaching on same-sex “marriage” and homosexuality. His brief response revealed the bulwark against personal criticism he has built in his mind.
He explained that natural law theory and the Church’s interpretation of the creation of man and woman in Genesis incorrectly form the basis for Catholicism’s disapproval of gay relationships.
“I don’t think that that is an accurate portrayal of Genesis,” said Klavan. “Obviously things have developed after the fall [of man] in such a way as to permit, to make certain things licit that were not, at least, part of the relationship between Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.”
The fact that classic writers appear to uniformly disagree with Klavan about homosexuality has not dissuaded him.
Plato thought homosexuality was “dehumanizing” and Socrates “loathed sodomy,” according to Catholic writer Robert Reilly, author of “Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything.”
C.S. Lewis, the Christian apologist who Klavan views as the “greatest intellectual of the 20th century,” also disagrees with him about homosexuality. “The physical satisfaction of homosexual desires is sin,” wrote Lewis in a letter to a former student.
Does Klavan’s presence at the 2021 Summit create a problem for Ave Maria University, Christendom College, Franciscan University of Steubenville, the University of Dallas, and Hillsdale College, which are among the 204 schools that recognize the CLT? The incongruities of his life stand in opposition to the fundamental truths these institutions hold dear.
The seeping in of homosexuality into conservative circles, whether it be within the GOP, the Catholic Church, or conservative education institutions, continues with little notice.
Full story at LifeSiteNews.
“…he has built in his mind.” Stopped reading there.
Is this guy any different than Pelosi who’se done the same regarding abortion and homo marriage?
Is it okay to be a conservative, Catholic, AND an out and proud gay or lesbian? Answer No… Sodomy a blight on the human race and the Church
Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.
Be celibate, avoid sinful sexual activity and get psychological and spiritual help for your disordered sexual identity.
The mainstreaming of homosexuality is doing no favors to those caught in it’s grip, a homosexual lifestyle is anything but gay.
Speaking of LifeSiteNews, are you aware of the prayer need for Mary Catherine Westin?
It is not uncommon at all for young people to be wrong.
Even old people make mistakes.
I am not gay but I assume if he lives a life of sin as a gay man, he will experience the punishments that go along with that.
Just like heterosexuals who commit sin do.
We are all just people. The rules don’t change for any person.
He is intellectualizing something that he knows is wrong.
This kid is a grifter, like his father. Con$ervative.
Drip…drip…drip. Gradualism is just part of the plan for this group. Eventually there will be very little resistance to this lifestyle. Liberal gays…conservative gays? It just will not matter anymore. And that is exactly the plan. Frankly, I could care less about anyone’s sexual orientation, and I would prefer that they not care about my straight heterosexual sexual lifestyle.
With my husband of course.