I am so glad we elected ordained clergymen to Duke Student Government.
These holy wise men have decreed that the Chapel should be used for same-sex marriages. In fact, it has become one of the main goals of the DSG President's agenda.
The first question I ask myself is why has this issue come up? Then I realize that I am at Duke and we love nothing more than to take obscure, meaningless issues and blow them way out of proportion. So let us not worry about why the Duke Issue Gods have raised this issue, it is not important. What is important, and scary, is that few have realized the difference between the secular anti-discrimination policy and the theological authority that controls the Chapel.
The campus has failed to crystallize this issue.
Frankly, that sickens me.
The key issue here is the difference between the Chapel and, say, room B101 of the Levine Science Research Center. Room B101 is a lecture hall, and a fairly nice one at that (trust me, I have spent countless hours there). It is used to teach anything from computer science to neuroscience. On nights and weekends it can be used for receptions. I would even bet that if I wanted to, I could rent it out, shoot a porno movie there, and get no objections from anyone. The University's anti-discrimination policy makes sense in this context. The room's use is governed by a unique set of rules that is equally applied to all. It is unethical to provide unequal access to the room due to gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
The Chapel is a House of God, similar to the Freeman Center for Jewish Life. The Chapel is a holy place where hundreds worship God every week. It is a symbol of the religious (and I say religious, not Christian) grounding of this University. As the ultimate religious symbol of Duke, its use is not and should not be controlled by snot-nosed DSG kids. Its use is the sole authority of the religious leaders who are charged with running the Chapel. These men do not function in our secular world. The oppressive shackles of political correctness do not weigh them down as they do the rest of us at the University. They are free to make decisions keeping only God in mind, and there are not going to be any porno movies shot in Chapel anytime soon.
Most letters to The Chronicle have focused on some people's belief that same-sex unions should be validated by our society's institutions. Few have stopped to think about the religious implications of unions done in the Chapel. Even fewer have recognized that they have no authority to dictate who should and should not get married there. Always quick to be self-righteous, always ready to pretend they care, Duke students yet again bitch and moan about something which they have no right to bitch and moan about.
Perhaps what pisses me off the most is the way DSG has handled this issue. All of the sudden it becomes a lead element of the DSG with no recent referendum and no mention of the issue in any DSG election. Who gave them ultimate moral authority? Did I miss a mass ordaining? I am amazed that these kids really have the audacity to think that they have a religious authority above and beyond those who run the Chapel. Why don't they ask the FCJL to host a bacon-double-cheeseburger barbecue? Because it is offensive to Jewish faith. Yet DSG does not think twice about pushing gay marriage on the campus's religious leaders. It is not DSG's place to advocate for this agenda. They did not even think to gauge student opinion on the matter by holding a simple referendum. Then again maybe DSG should not be holding more elections than it has to, looking at their three-year track record of controversy-laden elections.
The general issue of gay marriage is a fine topic for debate on a college campus. I welcome it. It is important for the gay rights movement and deserves to be discussed in an uninhibited and free manner, which a college campus is supposed to (but in this age often does not) provide.
The specific issue of using the Duke Chapel for gay marriage is one that is almost laughable. The use of the Chapel does not follow the rest of the University's rules. No, it follows a higher authority, one not influenced by the whimsy of the current times. God is the master of His House. And I am not going to argue with him.
Dave Nigro is a Trinity senior.
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