(Found here).
We write as Christian pastors who are privileged to serve as bishops of The Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Newark and in the Diocese of New Jersey in order to express our grief, alarm, compassion and outrage over the suicide of Tyler Clementi. We join our voices with the voices of all those concerned in Ridgewood, where Tyler grew up, at Rutgers University, where he was a freshman and across our nation. Another gay young person has died by suicide. This tragic loss of a promising life would appear to be directly related to an invasion of Tyler’s privacy and a violation of his personal life. Much remains to be considered by law enforcement authorities and the courts in order to determine whether this is also a case of bullying, a felony or a hate crime ”“ or a combination of the three. Whatever that legal determination may be, we join with other Christian and religious leaders, with the LGBT community and with all people of good will who take their stand against hatred, bigotry and bullying; against every expression of physical and verbal violence; and against any violation of the dignity of LGBT persons. When the rights of any ”“ especially the members of vulnerable groups who have so often been scapegoated ”“ are threatened, the rights of all are endangered.
We want to call attention to another, potentially deeper, issue here. It is the invasion of intimacy. Intimacy is a holy place within every human being; an innermost sanctuary where we develop our ultimate beliefs and values, nurture our closest relationships and maintain our deepest commitments. No one has the right to disclose that intimacy for someone else without consent. Such a violation is tantamount to the desecration of a sacred space. It is, in fact, a sacred space. It is the territory of the soul.
Technology, however, now provides tools to record, seize and disclose the most intimate matters of our lives without our consent. Identities can be stolen, hearts broken and lives shattered. Technology has placed powerful tools in human hands. Will they be used for building-up or for breaking down our neighbor? Tyler Clementi’s death certainly poses some important legal issues, but it also raises some critical moral concerns. Hubris has outstripped humility. And that is a serious problem. We can do better. We must do better, with God’s help.
In our Episcopal tradition, whenever we reaffirm our faith in worship, we are given a challenging question: “will you respect the dignity of every human being?” And we answer, “I will, with God’s help.” It is an important commitment. Whatever our religious tradition, we can agree on the need to respect one another’s dignity. With God’s help, we can stand together and stand up against bullies who would damage and destroy the lives of LGBT persons, their partners and families and friends. With God’s help, we can offer safety, support and sanctuary to all LGBT persons who are at risk. With God’s help, we can remind our society that every LGBT person is made in the image of God. The world needs our witness.
The Rt. Rev. Mark M. Beckwith, Bishop of Newark
The Rt. Rev. George E. Councell, Bishop of New Jersey
Oh, my. Perhaps a little editing might improve it.
… Another [deleted – unnecessary] young person has died by suicide. [add – We do not yet know what caused] This tragic loss of a promising life [deleted – speculative]. …
Whatever that legal determination may be, we join with [deleted – unnecessary] all people of good will who take their stand against hatred, bigotry and bullying; against every expression of physical and verbal violence; and against any violation of the dignity of [any] persons. When the rights of any [deleted – unnecessary] are threatened, the rights of all are endangered.
…
…
Tyler Clementi’s death [as well as the more recent Duke Powerpoint and Favre incidents] certainly poses some important legal issues, but it also raises some critical moral concerns. …
In our Episcopal tradition, whenever we reaffirm our faith in worship, we are given a challenging question: “will you respect the dignity of every human being?†And we answer, “I will, with God’s help.†It is an important commitment. Whatever our religious tradition, we can agree on the need to respect one another’s dignity. With God’s help, we can stand together and stand up against bullies who would damage and destroy the lives of [any] persons, their [deleted – unnecessary] families and friends. With God’s help, we can offer safety, support and sanctuary to all [deleted – unnecessary] persons who are at risk. With God’s help, we can remind our society that every [deleted – unnecessary] person is made in the image of God, [although it seems that some choose to behave otherwise]. The world needs our witness.
[blockquote]”Intimacy is a holy place within every human
being…”[/blockquote]
Intimacy is between two human beings and the Lord.
The unfortunate young man was visiting hard core pornographic sites and apparently “hooking up.” Is this dignity? Is this intimacy?
Whatever he was doing, he did NOT deserve the bullying and invasion of privacy that led him to suicide.
Most states have laws against videotaping/recording/filming/etc people without their permission (unless they are in a public place where there is no expectation of privacy). Tyler had a clear case where he could not only have had the roommate (?) expelled, but also arrested! The parents can still make a case, to which now can be added a wrongful death lawsuit.
The violation of privacy and deliberate attempt to embarrass Mr. Clementi are utterly wrong.
The Scriptures do not describe homosex as a “sacred space”.
I’ve never seen a suicide yet that was not a multi-factorial event.
Prayers for his friends and family…
The trouble with the TEC statement is that it takes a complex issue and treats it as if it were a simple, obvious black and white case, which it clearly is not. The statement then is lying by omission, a common enough problem, but in the case at hand, it does the solution more harm than good. But the is TEC, and it is hard to avoid the conclusion that they are trying score points in a game where they have come up on the losing side often. Larry
Desperate for relevance, attention, and some shred of positive publicity, the vultures feast on the bones of others.
For shame.
[i]Shame.[/i]
I would have agreed with you earlier, Libraryjim, but not any more. This is more complex than I had thought, for it appears that he had spent a lot of time with porn and had previously been minicammed, that his response to the latest event was neither violent nor frightened to death. He may have been timid, but he was hardly an innocent. HIs suicide can hardly be wrongful death for its cause is really hidden. TEC doesn’t choose to understand this (but that shouldn’t surprise us.) Larry
“Whatever he was doing, he did NOT deserve the bullying and invasion of privacy that led him to suicide. ”
Of course not. The young man’s death was an absolute tragedy. No one has said otherwise.
But for a so called bishop of the Church to equate a “hook up” with “sacred space”, whether same sex or opposite sex, is more than a little disturbing.
Two very, very confused bishops.
Recreational, premarital, dorm sex is indeed the desecration of a sacred space, the human body, which should be the temple of God.
God will not dwell in a defiled temple.
One upshot of the Clementi mess is that the entire system, of which Clementi and his roommate are merely pieces on the board, is in serious disarray and desperately in need of structural redesign. And this means that the administration will need cleaning out, simplifying, and a sound purging so that its integrity can be restored. Merely punishing the roommate and the girl will do nothing; it is the equivalent of punishing the messenger. Are the sheep in the fold foul? Remember Chaucer’s jibe,. “Whoever saw a shitten shepherd and a clene sheepe.” I take this as a rule. Larry