The Tribune has written numerous articles regarding the controversy of the university’s decision to revoke sponsorship of FemSex. The staff editorial from the Nov. 24 issue called for “university administration to have an open discussion about its decisions regarding FemSex.” The article desires the university to explain which portions of the FemSex syllabus were “contrary to Marquette’s mission.” In this article, I hope to clarify the aforementioned concerns and explain why I believe Marquette made its decision to revoke sponsorship.

To provide context, Marquette’s mission is to pursue knowledge, faith, excellence and truth for “the greater glory of God and the common benefit of the human community.”

After reading FemSex’s proposed syllabus for spring 2013, I have chosen to address two issues. I know that more could be said, but I am limited by length considerations. The first issue is the proposed topic for week five of class: safer sex. The course directors wanted to examine “the uses and misuses of various safer sex devices,” contraception and abortion. There are two forms of contraception and “safe sex” approaches approved for use by the church: abstinence and natural family planning. The church provides the following two reasons for its teaching.

First, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sexuality is a gift given to us from God to be used within the context of marriage for “the good of the spouses and the procreation of offspring.” Conjugal love involves the totality of each spouse giving completely of him or herself to the other for a deeply personal unity that can only be achieved within the confines of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. Physical and chemical means of contraception inhibit the totality in giving oneself to the spouse because they are not open to the fruits of the conjugal act, namely conception.

Second, several of the physical and chemical contraceptive agents are abortifacient agents. Abortion is an intrinsic evil because it kills a beloved child of God who has never sinned. Life begins at the moment of conception as we hear God tell us in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you.”

The second topic of which I am confident the university would have disapproved is week eight’s topic: masturbation, orgasm and pleasure. The course directors’ proposed discussion included “sharing experiences and generating ideas for technique.” The church teaches that seeking pleasure through masturbation is a blatant offense against God. As discussed earlier, sexuality is a gift from God and, as such, should never be abused for self-gratification. Pope Francis has warned the faithful to resist the false idol of pleasure because idols distract from God and corrupt minds. Instead of seeking God in all things, we begin to push him aside in our quest to obtain the false idol.

I hope this will clarify why FemSex goes against Marquette’s mission and Catholic teachings, bearing in mind the answers can go much deeper than a 500-word article will allow.

Matthew McDonald is a second-year dental student in Marquette’s School of Dentistry.