Homosexual Unions Versus An Anthropology Informed By The Truth About Man

By F. K. Bartels
6/29/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

It is only through an anthropology informed by the full truth about man that the question of homosexual union in all its aspects can be appropriately answered.

"All the evils which poison men and nations and trouble so many hearts have a single cause and a single source: ignorance of the truth -- and at times even more than ignorance, a contempt for truth and a reckless rejection of it. Thus arise all manner of errors, which enter the recesses of men's hearts and the bloodstream of human society as would a plague. These errors turn everything upside down: they menace individuals and society itself" -- Pope John XXIII

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GLADE PARK, CO (Catholic Online) -- There is no shortage of articles posted on the Internet that, in some form or other, argue in favor of unions between homosexual persons; i.e. same-sex unions. If one should desire to peruse the long list, the New York Times is the undisputed champion.

Proponents of homosexual unions who write there and elsewhere continue to argue from the same predictable positions of fundamental rights, basic human fairness, unjust discrimination, emerging consensus, and shift in public morality.

All of those positions are based on false premisses, and betray a serious failure to recognize the full truth about who man is. As the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church informs us, only "an anthropology corresponding to the full truth of the human person can give an appropriate response" to the question of unions between homosexual persons (No. 228). In other words, the various aspects of who man is, his purpose and destiny, the consequences of his abuse of free will, the purpose of the sexual faculties with their differences between man and woman, the meaning of marriage and those ends toward which it is ordered and so forth, all need be taken into account in order to understand why homosexual unions gravely contradict the truth about the human person.

Before continuing, it is important at the outset to note the constant teaching of the Catholic Church on human dignity: all people possess human dignity and are therefore to be always treated with the proper respect, which obviously includes homosexual persons. In fact, it is precisely because of the dignity of homosexual persons that they deserve to be informed about the real dangers homosexual unions pose to those involved individually and to society collectively.

Pope Benedict XVI wrote in his encyclical Caritas In Veritate: "To defend the truth, to articulate it with humility and conviction, and to bear witness to it in life are . . . exacting and indispensable forms of charity." Love of God for his sake and love of neighbor obligates the Christian to live by the truth, always and everywhere. That aim is twofold here: to defend the truth about the human person, and to defend the truth about the dignity of the institution of marriage, an indissoluble and permanent bond between one man and one woman, because charity demands it.

But let's look briefly at some of the typical arguments posited by marriage equivalency advocates. Take, for instance, the notion that homosexual persons have a "fundamental right to marry." This not only implies that homosexual unions are identical to heterosexual ones, but also suggests that homosexual persons have a right to engage in homosexual sex acts. But does the human person -- any person -- possess the "right" to engage in any sex act deemed to be desirable? Nope.

The natural law inscribed into the heart of every person and recognizable by reason, reveals that certain actions or inactions are opposed to true goodness and are therefore evil. Just as we know that murder is evil, so too we know that certain uses of the sexual faculties are disordered and run contrary to their purpose intended for goodness. Another way to think about this concept, is that some actions and/or inactions are opposed to the reality of man's existence and to his nature: if man willfully complies with these, then he is engaging in a self-dehumanizing action. If man combats the truth about who he is, he intentionally diminishes his dignity, and brings grave harm to not only himself but to society as a whole.

The homosexual person has no "right" to engage in homosexual sex acts any more than any other person has a "right" to incest, adultery, fornication or other disordered uses of free will with respect to the sexual faculties. The fact is, by choices of free will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, good or evil, the human person shapes his character and fathers his own being, either toward the good or toward its opposite: evil. The person who, for example, steals, is not merely a person who made a mistake but is a thief.

Another premiss we find in the argument in favor of homosexual unions is that there is more to be gained by capitulation than by resistance. The basic notion is, if same-sex unions were legitimized, then perhaps we could all agree on other important issues involved in the marriage equation. For instance, perhaps both homosexuals and heterosexuals could agree that cohabitation, extramarital sex, "trial marriages" and so forth are wrong. It's not unlike saying, "Let's all go along to get ...

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1 - 7 of 7 Comments

DLL
11 months ago
FAITH IS A GIFT not just a Religion to be criticized than pulled apart by a leftwing agenda that is intolerant to sound teaching and advocates in the end,that Jesus is a myth. Christ is the way,truth and the life and the only way to God. God is Love,love never dies. A romantic person is a person of faith.If sex is pure love than all would be having sex,in every one of their relationships,as in having sex that is the only way to have love in a lasting and meaningful relationship!? One that thinks that way is dreaming! Destroyed relationships,Venereal diseases and abortion is the consequence of the sin of random sex,that one would call meaningful and so called fulfilling intimacy,or love(LUV). Believe what you will but faith in God is a gift. Sex may have the ultimate meaning now but at the advancement of age it becomes more of a matter of dysfunction (prostate and breast cancer) than as something to be romanticized. Priorities change in time,God is consistent in time and eternity,as God is the ultimate priority,as well as the highest standard for living. That is why we must all do the will of God and learn obedience to God,as that is the love that not only serves God,but in that same unselfish love,we all serve each other,just as Christ came to teach and to serve us all,to deliver us from all sin. Sin is dysfunctional and sin limits all loving relations. Sin is selfish behavior and cannot be an alternative form of love.
Joseph R Yungk
11 months ago
"they both favor irresponsible and deviant behaviour that destroys rather than builds strong character and healthy relationships. "

To me denying any romantic and/or physical love destroys and allows absolutely no room for a strong character or any healthy relationship. I have every right to deny your judgment on this as it is your religion and no longer mine.

Would you like to hear what the alternative is like? That was my original offer.
DLL
11 months ago
Mr.Yungk: though I am not a homosexual I have been called one by others because I believe in the virginity of both men and women until the time that they become married and decide to raise a family together. It is very depressing to be called a homosexual because one takes a firm moral stance. Growing up a confirmed homosexual must be a living hell. Men in our society are not perceived to be beings capable of self control. Fornication no matter what ones sexual orientation seems to be a males right of passage. Women and the womens liberation movement have embraced this as also a right of passage and to insure fornication as a way of life,abortion has become a woman's individual constitutional right. This is too bad. It is a time when no self control and personal discipline is a right and not a consequence of simply what amounts to a very poor choice. I can understand men and woman becoming homosexual because heterosexual behaviour has become extremely irresponsible and so much so that many families have become destroyed because of adultery. I don't understand the gay movement anymore than I understand the woman's liberation movement as they both favor irresponsible and deviant behaviour that destroys rather than builds strong character and healthy relationships. Morality is the best policy and the best choice for building strong and lasting relationships. Sex is a physical act so that procreation is possible and not a lifestyle or a way in which we identify ourselves to others because sex is a private matter not a public one. Love is love,sex has nothing to do with love,as sex is only a selfish form of self gratification without love.
Joseph R Yungk
11 months ago
I'd like to talk to those posting comments and the author about what it is like to be homosexual. Nobody in your church has ever agreed to this. I've asked countless clergy to let me tell them what it is like to grow up hearing that you are too disordered to have a relationship and the slurs that come out of that idea.

Please.

Any takers?
Gabriella
11 months ago
Why is it that the proponents of homosexual marriage need to fight so hard for our acceptance of it? - because it is unnatural, wrong and an abomination,. They know it, we know it but, because they deny the existence of the natural law, are blind and deaf to the Truth.
It is simply, a sin, and a sin has no future for it carries bad, rotten fruit.
JeanCatherine
11 months ago
Were now to the point where almost anything goes and will go.
DLL
11 months ago
What is natural,sacred, lawful,when laws designed by an agenda can be forced into effect that ultimately defy and deny the purpose of law itself?

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