St. Paul, that great teacher of the Catholic Faith enjoins us: “As for lewd conduct or promiscuousness or lust of any sort, let them not even be mentioned among you; your holiness forbids this. Nor should there be any obscene silly or suggestive talk; all that is out of place. Instead, give thanks. Make no mistake about this: no fornicator, no unclean or lustful person—in effect an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with worthless arguments. ydatThese are sins that bring God’s wrath down on the disobedient; therefore have nothing to do with them.” [Ephesians 5:3-7] So are we so sophisticated, so urbane that we can scoff at St. Paul as unenlightened and backwards? Are we embarrassed by the standard of conduct he sets? Do we swallow the line that holiness is not wholeness and that to “really live” you have to indulge every imaginable appetite without restraint? Really, exposing ourselves to all the trash in the Vagina Monologues reveals us to be spiritual children fascinated with potty talk rather than mature adults who recognize the beauty, dignity and purpose of the human body as fashioned by the Heavenly Father. The dispute over the Vagina Monologues has created an open rift between Father Jenkins and Bishop John M. D’Arcy. That’s not good example for the young. “Like father, like son.” That kind of example will raise a generation of dissident Catholics. It undermines Father Jenkin’s authority as well because if a student does not have to listen to a greater authority such as the bishop he certainly does not have to listen to a lesser authority as Father Jenkins. Some day Father Jenkins may find himself pleading with students to adhere to values he holds dear as the truth only to be ignored as irrelevant. --Tom Uebbing, ND '72