In the past year, our Georgetown community has seen a lot of tension among ideas, identities and institutions. There has been much ink spilled over diversity and tolerance, and we have witnessed violence erupt in several hate crimes allegedly motivated by anti-gay bias. From those incidents to the insensitivity of The Hoya’s April Fools’ edition last spring, intolerance has gnashed its vicious fangs all around campus.Amid the chaos and the pain, we have been left, heads swirling, trying to establish who we are and what our community stands for. This past Wednesday, that complex task became that much more difficult when the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington gave the D.C. Council an ultimatum: Revise a proposed same-sex marriage law, or the Church will discontinue all social service programs.

For myself and other Catholic Georgetown students, the D.C. Archdiocese’s stance provokes the question: How do we stand with our fellow Hoyas who are LGBTQ while still serving and having pride in our Church? The answer – if there is one – won’t come easy.

On the one hand, gay rights have become the largest civil rights issue of our time. Many young Americans, products of a pluralistic and open world, support same-sex marriage and anti-discrimination legislation on the basis of sexual orientation. Among this population are many young Christians and members of other religions, myself included. Many in our generation assert that, because of the dignity of every human being, every individual deserves equal rights – including marriage rights – under the law. We are sometimes quick to view those who disagree as ignorant or intolerant.

Given this position, it’s easy to attack a faceless institution like the Roman Catholic Church for its stance on homosexuality. Some point out the hypocrisy of its stance; others recall the Catholic priest sex abuse cases, slamming the Church as a corrupt organization that harbors pedophiles. A recent column in The Huffington Post went so far as to label the Church an “evil” organization. Such ridiculous and irrelevant accusations are not only insulting, but also hurtful.

Isn’t it possible that the Church has a legitimate reason for its position? We need to listen to its arguments before we start shouting. The proposed bill grants same-sex couples the ability to marry while also prohibiting discrimination regarding employer benefits for couples on the basis of sexual orientation, a fair and worthy law. But, given the Church’s position on homosexuality, Archdiocese officials have expressed a fear that this mandate would force it to compromise its convictions on homosexuality, by extending employee benefits to same-sex couples. In a way, the Church should be commended for standing up for its beliefs and for defending its right to religious autonomy.

That is not to say, however, that I agree with the Church’s position. This strategy will only harm the 68,000 people in D.C., including one-third of the city’s homeless population, who depend upon its charitable services. In addition, the Church augments social service funding with $10 million of its own money. Without this independent funding, what will the city’s more than 6,000 homeless men, women and children do? The timing only complicates the issue: As we approach another frigid winter, many more people could be left out to suffer in hypothermia season because of this political fiasco.

Where, then, does this leave us? To condemn the Church and drive them to renege their contract with the city, or to continue to deny a certain minority group equal rights? For many of us at Georgetown, the confrontation is especially tough given how much our identities rely on both ideologies. That is to say, we pride ourselves on our religious roots and on our commitment to justice for all, and we can’t cut ties with either without losing a part of who we are.

I won’t pretend to know what the next step is or where we should go from here, but what is most important to remember is that we must recognize and respect the individual differences that enrich our community. We must remember that any view that contradicts ours is not harbored by an impersonal, barbaric or cruel enemy, but a fellow member of the Georgetown community who sees the world in a different light; often, it is a classmate or friend whom we may otherwise agree with. Before we blast the opposing side, we must try to understand the position they are coming from; only then can we begin to move forward.

Conor Finnegan is a sophomore in the College. He can be reached at finneganthehoya.com. On the Road appears every other Monday at www.thehoya.com.

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