Human Sexuality and Homosexuality
Abortion and Homosexuality are Western vices. Our concern has been drawn to recent news reports that plans are afoot to legalise abortion as well as to recognise homosexuality. Do these machinations reflect our core values or are we perchance falling prey to what Pope Francis refers to as 'ideological imperialism' of the West?
Ideological Colonization
Time and again, the Holy Father warns us about the dangers of ideological imperialism or domination. Some Western countries have legalized same sex marriage, example: recognizing homosexuality as a licit lifestyle. But this union can never be considered marriage. Sadly, they do not stop there. They export it to other countries, perhaps, coercively in exchange for some financial assistance or loans to respective governments.
The American scenario looks bleak. Matt Slick reports how homosexuality is promoted in movies, television, magazines, schools, etc. Social reengineering is well underway. Yes statistically, only 3% of the US population are homosexuals. Christians, on the other hand, occupy a far higher percentage, 70% yet they are not fairly represented in the media. Instead, Christians are routinely portrayed as bigots, narrow-minded idiots, hypocrites and worse. Why? Because, there is little tolerance and equality from the left for those who disagree with them.
The social attitude ofAmerica is slowly being engineered to accept liberal sexual behaviour while condemning and silencing those who disagree. Since behaviour follows belief, what is to stop our increasingly liberal society from acting on its silence-the-opposition attitude and become more and more harsh in its dealings with Christians? Nothing. In fact, there are increasing calls to get Christians kicked off of social networks for speaking out against homosexual marriage.
Truth about Human Sexuality
What is the meaning of human sexuality? What does it mean to be feminine or masculine? In, Familiaris Consortio, Pope John Paul II affirmed: "As an incarnate spirit, that is a soul which expresses itself in a body and a body informed by an immortal spirit, man is called to love in his unified totality. Love includes the human body, and the body is made a sharer in spiritual love" (n. 11). Human sexuality is geared towards love between complimentary sexes.
"God created man in his image; in the image of God he created him; male and female, he created them" (Gen 1: 27, 5: 1 - 2). According to the Scripture, therefore, the image of God manifests itself, at the outset, in the difference between the sexes. Humanity expresses itself in maleness and femaleness. Human sexuality is objectively based on the physical reality of the human body. It is not malleable nor pliable that could be transformed according to our fancy.
It could be said that human being exist only as masculine or feminine, since the reality of the human condition appears in the difference of the sexes. Hence, far from being an accidental or secondary aspect of personality, it is constitutive of person identity. Each of us possesses a way of being in the world, to see, to think, to feel, to engage in mutual exchange with other persons who are also defined by their sexual identity.
According to the Cathecism of the Catholic Church: "Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul. It especially concerns affectivity, the capacity to love and to procreate and in a more general way the aptitude for forming bonds of communion with others" (CCC 2332).
The roles attributed to one or the other sex may vary across time and space, but the sexual identity of the person is not a cultural or social construction. It belongs to the spesific manner in which the image of God exists. Human sexuality determines the way the person acts, reacts and loves. It has an objective physical basis and not merely psychological.
Homosexual Tendencies
There are persons who suffer homosexual tendencies. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that homosexuality's "psychological genesis remains largely unexplained" (CCC 2357). But one thing is clear: it has no genetic basis. Nobody is born homosexual.
The American Psychiatric Association affirmed that there is a ample evidence that same-sex attraction has many different causes. These lead to significant childhood and adolescent emotional pain and psychological problems. Among males these could include a weak masculine identity, social isolation and loneliness, peer rejection or a poor body image and in females, a mistrust of male love or a weak feminine identity. No one can say "this is the cause" for same sex-attraction as though there were a single cause, but an individual can come to understand the origins of his or her own same-sex attractions through insight gained in therapy.
Men and women experiencing same-sex attraction may rightly feel that they "have always felt different", but that does not mean they were born that way. Children are born either male or female, but they have to learn what it means to be a man or a woman. They have to identify with - and be accepted by - their same-sex parents and peers.
If they are going to grow up psychologically healthy they have to feel safe and comfortable with their masculinity or femininity. If, for whatever reason, their fail to pass successfully through this essential development stage, they may in adolescence develop same-sex attractions.
There has been a massive campaign to hide this information from the general public and from those who sincerely wish to be free from same-sex attraction.
Church Teachings
Distinction must be made between those who have same sex attraction (SSA)and homosexuals. SSA is not immoral in itself and frequently their condition involves a difficult trial. While secular society has labeled such individuals as "gay" or "lesbian", the Church does not use these terms in official documents.
Although these words are common terms in current speech, they do not describe persons with the fullness and richness that the Church recognizes and respects in every man or woman. The human person can hardly be described by a reductionist reference to his or her sexual orientation. A person is bigger than his or her sexual orientation.
"The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition" (CCC 2358).
Having a certain tendency is one thing, given in to a unnatural tendency is quite another. Homosexuals, strictly speaking, are those who engage in homosexual acts, which are "intrinsically disordered," as the tradition of the Church has always declared. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith teaches that such acts "are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved" (Declaration Persona humana, 8; CCC 2357). This clear moral evaluation of acts must in no way prejudge those persons who have homosexual tendencies (SSA).
Furthermore, these persons "are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection" (CCC 2359).
Lawmakers' Moral Responsibility
Legislators have a grave moral obligation since laws have intrinsic educational force. Once a legislation has been passed and promulgated, it inevitably impacts on people's minds. Their reasoning leads them to think "what is legal is moral". This is not always true. Not everything legal is morally good. It would be so if it respects the authentic good of man. Moral goodness springs from the very nature of things and is deeper and prior to any positive law.
Thus, lawmakers must ensure they pass just and ethical laws. Legalizing an unnatural and sinful condition would deform people's consciences. In this regard, members of the parliament must be conscientious law makers since the responsibility of molding the minds of the citizens is in their hands. Let us pray so that they do not enact unethical legislations, such as laws authorizing abortion, homosexual unions, divorce, etc.
