Chung Yuan Christian University in Taoyuan yesterday issued a statement opposing the legalization of same-sex marriage.
Marriage, by its holy nature, should consist of one man and one woman; one husband and one wife, adhering to “nature’s rule of ethics,” the university said in the statement.
A family put together by a father and a mother is a value that should be protected, as it forms the bedrock of family ethics, it said.
Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times
Based on the Christian doctrine of holy matrimony and “gender equality,” the university does not approve of same-sex marriage and is against amending laws governing marriage, it said.
With respect to the needs of same-sex couples, the university is in favor of formulating separate laws to protect their rights, it said.
The university, which claims to be founded on the principles of Christianity and “unconditional love,” hopes to create a learning environment that upholds its students’ right to education and extends care through holistic education, it said.
“Chung Yuan Christian University urges like-minded educational facilities and organizations to unite in defending family and marriage values,” it said.
The statement was met with mixed responses from netizens.
A netizen going by the name “naturefly” said that if love can be used as the sole premise to legalize same-sex marriage, it can also be used by members of the public as a pretext to “do as they please,” leading to a range of social issues.
Netizens on the Professional Technology Temple (PTT), the nation’s largest online bulletin board, criticized the university, leaving comments such as: “Chung Yuan is a cram school” and “It is just trying to grab the limelight.”
“I am a student at Chung Yuan. However, I am not a Christian and I disagree with my university,” netizen royaljoy1 said.
Attorney Han Shu-lo (韓書洛) said that while he can relate to Chung Yuan’s stance defending “Christian values,” the university should not have proposed that a separate law be made regarding same-sex unions.
Citing as an example the “separate but equal” doctrine adopted by some US states prior to the civil rights movement to justify racial segregation, Han said that promulgating a separate act for same-sex unions would result in a “pseudo-equality” that was seen in Alabama before the 1960s according to a law that allowed black students to take school buses on the condition that they had separate seating areas.
“If a separate law is made, ‘separate but equal’ would end up being ‘separate but unequal,’” he said.
Chris Wang (王思捷), a former reporter for the Taipei Times who graduated from the university, criticized his alma mater, calling the statement “disgraceful.”
“The school might have felt compelled to declare its position on the issue, because it is founded upon the Christian faith, but it needs to understand that it is a higher-education institute first and foremost, and it has no right to represent all its faculty and students on this matter,” Wang said.
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