CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – I have not been able to stop thinking about drag queen bingo, a welcoming event for new students on the UW-Madison campus. The Gender and Sexuality Center on campus hosted the event – bingo with four drag queens.
I can’t help but wonder what would happen if a religious group on campus put out a counter-message. They would immediately be classified as hateful, close-minded, and not welcoming to those who are different. You see, in this world, decadent deviant behavior is automatically good. Calls for restraint and self-control are bad.
There is a Lutheran chapel that serves UW students. Their space is open for coffee and tea, and as a quiet study place, and for worship on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Suppose, hypothetically, their chaplain gave a message to students that’s a counterweight to the normalization of drag queens. Perhaps the message would go something like this:
“For many of you, this is the first time in your life that your parents won’t be looking over your shoulder every day. You decide how late you will stay up, how much time you’ll devote to studying, how often you go to the bars, and how you interact with other students. I would urge you to think carefully about your choices.”
Social media, Hollywood, our popular music, other students – even some adults on campus – spend a lot of their time trying to normalize deviant behavior. I’d advise you of this: some of what passes for normal here is not normal. And a wise student, even a younger person, knows the difference.
You’ll be told that going to bed with someone you’ve just met at the bar is normal college behavior. It isn’t. You’ll be told that exploring the gay, or drag, or LGBTQ lifestyle is normal during your college years. It’s a time for questioning. No, it isn’t. There are moral constants that do no change.
Will your behaviors and choices be perfect? No, of course not. And if you give your life to Jesus Christ, your sins – every one of them — will be forgiven. You should take great comfort in that.
My prayer for each one of you is that when you graduate from here and return to the real world, that you don’t look back on your college years and feel icky about that. Those feelings don’t wash away so easily… they linger with you. I pray that you make good choices, and when you leave that you are comfortable with who you are.
There are many people here who are trying to redefine normal. Be careful.
Chris Conley
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