History will judge that the scourge of the 20th Century was the creed of relativism which staunchly proclaims that there are no truths to be known about anything. No truths about humanity, physics, biology, society and especially no truth relating to God.
Of course, the result is a destructive search for artificial diversification which assumes that the relevance of anything or anyone arises randomly according to the circumstances in which persons or things are situated.
If there are no truths to be known, then artificial diversification possesses a certain logic to it, since the relative significance of persons or things is imposed rather than discovered.
For this reason, the clarion call which secularists espouse for greater awareness and sensitivity to diversity is more a political strategy to impose certain codes of acceptable speech, thought-policing and punishments targeted against those who do not accept or support politically correct ideologies.
For in reality, secularists want their artificially constructed diversity programs and campaigns to demand the thought and behavior of their choosing, their intention not being to actually foster acceptance of greater variety but rather the imposition and ascendancy of their ideology and agendas.
Of course, the what artificial diversity may be in vogue at any one time -- at present it is homosexuality and gender identity -- there is no foundation for such in Catholic belief and tradition which is, by its very definition, universal and directed at the whole of humanity. As Saint Paul admonishes us to remember: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28).
The diversity which our secular culture cherishes is one defined by groups, where an elite few are politically empowered to select the category.
As Catholics, however, we are committed to respecting the individuality of all persons, who are without exception created in God’s image and therefore enjoy a sacred dignity.
That is why it is particularly disappointing that relativism (sometimes disguised as pluralism) and group diversity are now the mantras of Catholic universities just as much as state institutions.
Some Catholic universities are actively striving to attract more gay and lesbian students, professors, and staff, provide public forums for them.
And this is the saddest aspect of their unnecessary and destructive ideology. Its propagators do not reveal simple joy in the wondrous multiformity of God’s Creation but a dogged determination to make the world conform to a standard that they, the enlightened and righteous few, have thought up.
Pope Francis was on point when he castigated the “spirit of adolescent progressivism” which seductively suggests that it is always right, when faced with any decision, to move on rather than remain faithful to one’s own traditions: “Still today, the spirit of worldliness leads us to progressivism, to this uniformity of thought.”
Negotiating one’s identity, the Pope declared, is squarely impossible, because it is a gift from God, a grace that must be recognized and nourished but that can be rejected or changed only at one’s own peril.
Sadly, more and more Catholic universities (under the direction of increasing numbers of lay Boards of Directors) are abandoning the search for truth to which they have been called. Thus they betray the mission and legacy of the university, which since its inception has been to unite rather than to divide knowledge.
They substitute empty slogans for the direction laid down by Jesus Christ as the fount of truth for us and for all time.
Diversity is by no means a Catholic value. It is a fact, a gift we have received and that we should not artificially distort in order to follow a siren song that only intends to establish a uniformity imposed by the opponents of our faith and morals.
As believers, we Catholics are rather guided by the eternal truth of the One, the Good, and the Omnipotent Creator.
For Catholics, the diversity of Creation, which is our gift and legacy, can never be relativized, and certainly not by politically secular groups or agendas.
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