Sexual morality

I see, not surprisingly, that in my dialogue with Ben Joseph it’s the issues of sexual morality that have attracted comment.

So I’ll say a little more on this subject. The Catholic objections to contraception, oral sex, and masturbation are all of a piece.

Based on an Aristotelian-Thomistic version of natural law ethics, the governing assumption is that procreation is the exclusive purpose of sex. Hence, any form of sexual expression which represents a frustration of that natural end is immoral.

But this line of argument is open to several objections. Even on its own grounds it either proves too much or too little:

i) There are various procreative arrangements in the animal kingdom. One typical arrangement is for the female to go into heat. She is only sexually receptive when she is in heat.

The male will impregnate the female, then leave her to raise the offspring on her own.

The male will impregnate any willing female.

Leopards are an example.

From this you could construct a natural law argument for male promiscuity. After all, it promotes the propagation of the species.

ii) Another variant is where the alpha-male has a harem of females. A young alpha-male will drive an aging alpha-male out of the pride, and kill off all of the cubs of the rival male.

Lions are an example.

From this you could construct a natural law argument for infanticide.

iii) Still another variant is where the female devours the male right after intercourse—or even during copulation. You find this romantic behavior among certain spiders and mantids.

No doubt there are many feminist theologians who would favor that particular model of sexual bonding.

v) Yet another variant is where the mother abandons her young right after birth. Ovoviparous snakes are an example.

vi) Then there are endoparasitic insects that plant their eggs inside a living host, which is consumed from within.

vii) In fairness to natural law ethics, it generally operates at a higher level of abstraction. Yet I don’t see why it should be so restrictive.

viii) Unlike female animals, women do not go into heat. While it varies in intensity, their sex drive is operative from puberty to menopause and well beyond menopause.

If we’re taking are cue from nature, why would reproduction be the sole purpose of sex if postmenopausal women retain their sex drive?

vii) And even during her childbearing years, the rhythm method presupposes that a woman is unfertile a certain times in the cycle, yet her sex drive does not go into abeyance at those times.

ix) It is also less than self-evident that using a natural object for a purpose other than its appointed end is intrinsically evil. The nose was not designed to be a natural platform for a pair of glasses, but Ben presumably doesn't regard corrective lenses as a grave sin against Christ.

So this appeal, while having an element of truth, needs to be considerably refined.

x) Even if the natural law argument were sound, I have no idea how, from natural law alone, Ben is able to say that contraception or masturbation or oral sex is a “grave sin against Christ.”

At best, you could only derive that category from revealed theology, not from natural theology.

i) Moving on to Scripture, I agree that birth control and oral sex outside of marriage are sinful, because sex outside of marriage is sinful.

But while procreation is one of the functions assigned to sex, it is not the only function.

ii) It’s clear from Canticles as well as passing references elsewhere (e.g. Prov 5:19) that sensuous pleasure and lifelong companionship are marital values.

iii) Another reason for marriage is the avoidance of sexual immorality outside of marriage (1 Cor 7). But that purpose is separable from procreation.

iv) Likewise, why would marriage be indissoluble, barring desertion or infidelity, once the wife passes her childbearing years, if procreation is the only licit purpose of marital intercourse?

We need to avoid two extremes: (i) the overvaluation of sex apart from childbearing, and (ii) the undervaluation of a sex apart from childbearing.

On the subject of masturbation, I’ve already discussed that issue:

http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2004/07/too-hot-to-handle-2.html

Scroll down to #9.