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The Baptist Minister
Father Roger Schmit is the Catholic priest in Laramie at the time of Matthew Shepard’s murder. Unitarian minister Stephen Mead Johnson considers Father Roger to be the next left-most minister in town after himself. Father Roger holds a vigil for Matthew without hesitation after his beating, and generally seems to be accepting of LGBT people despite the fact that the Catholic Church officially disapproves of homosexuality. He condemns all violence against LGBT people—which, according to him, includes homophobic slurs and hate speech—and in doing so he expands the readers’ understanding of what violence can mean or look like. Father Roger shows how the same religious doctrine (such as Catholicism) can be read in many different ways and models the possibility of taking part in a traditional religious community while also being an ally to LGBT people.
Father Roger Schmit Quotes in The Laramie Project
The The Laramie Project quotes below are all either spoken by Father Roger Schmit or refer to Father Roger Schmit. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 2: Two Queers and a Catholic Priest
Quotes
I thought, “You know, should we…call the bishop and ask him permission to do the vigil?” And I was like, “Hell, no, I’m not going to do that.” His permission doesn’t make it correct, you realize that? And I’m not knocking bishops, but what is correct is correct.
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You think violence is what they did to Matthew—they did do violence to Matthew—but, you know, every time that you are called a fag, or you are called a…dyke…Do you realize that is violence? That is the seed of violence. And I would resent it immensely if you use anything I said…to somehow cultivate that kind of violence…Just deal with what is true. You know what is true. You need to do your best to say it correct.
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Act 3: A Death Penalty Case
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I think right now our most important teachers must be Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney. They have to be our teachers. How did you learn? What did we as a society do to teach you that? See, I don’t know if many people will let them be their teacher. I think it would be wonderful if the judge said, “In addition to your sentence, you must tell your story.”
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Get the entire The Laramie Project LitChart as a printable PDF.
Father Roger Schmit Quotes in The Laramie Project
The The Laramie Project quotes below are all either spoken by Father Roger Schmit or refer to Father Roger Schmit. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 2: Two Queers and a Catholic Priest
Quotes
I thought, “You know, should we…call the bishop and ask him permission to do the vigil?” And I was like, “Hell, no, I’m not going to do that.” His permission doesn’t make it correct, you realize that? And I’m not knocking bishops, but what is correct is correct.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
You think violence is what they did to Matthew—they did do violence to Matthew—but, you know, every time that you are called a fag, or you are called a…dyke…Do you realize that is violence? That is the seed of violence. And I would resent it immensely if you use anything I said…to somehow cultivate that kind of violence…Just deal with what is true. You know what is true. You need to do your best to say it correct.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3: A Death Penalty Case
Quotes
I think right now our most important teachers must be Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney. They have to be our teachers. How did you learn? What did we as a society do to teach you that? See, I don’t know if many people will let them be their teacher. I think it would be wonderful if the judge said, “In addition to your sentence, you must tell your story.”
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