God’s purpose for sexuality Procreation, love, and justice

We are created … Human Male and female Gendered Sexual Social Heterosexual and homosexual

Sex and gender Biological sex (xy, xx, xxy and so forth) Gender (masculine, feminine, typical male and female social roles)

Sexual orientation Types of sexual desire – the object of sexual desire or eros Whom do you love? Sexual orientation may be as specific as orientation toward a single person or type of person Sexual orientation commonly refers to whether a person is emotionally, physically, and psychologically attracted to their own or to the other gender

Sex and society We enact our sexuality –Publically Through gender roles (mother, father, son, daughter) Through the ways we communicate our own way of being male or female Through the ways we communicate our own way of being heterosexual or homosexual –Privately Through our relationships in family and household

Natural purpose for sexual difference There is a natural purpose for sexual difference –Reproduction –Sexual reproduction (as opposed to asexual reproduction) evolved very early in the history of our planet –Sexual reproduction gives organisms very strong evolutionary advantages (relating to genetic similarity and difference – variety in a population enhances survival odds for the whole even if it does not enhance survival odds for the individual)

Natural law and sexuality In Church teaching, we consider God’s purpose for creating sexual difference –God did not have to evolve sexual difference (life on earth did not have to include fixed sexual reproductive features) –God did not have to evolve sexual reproduction (life on earth could have remained asexual or multisexual) –WHY WOULD GOD create life to include these features and characteristics?

God created them … Male and female We look to the wisdom of the ancient Israelites and their stories about the creation of the world God created us to share our sexuality with a partner –In an intimate union –So that we will not be lonely or alone –To share in God’s creating power

Sexuality is a gift Our sexuality (sex, gender, orientation, desire for love and companionship, our power to reproduce) is a gift from God who creates us In our sexuality – rightly exercised – we experience something of the joy and happiness of God’s eternal love for us

The result of our sexuality The results of our sexuality is also a gift –Children –Loving companionship & communion with one’s spouse –Family and community life Family is more than just mother / father / child –In Church teaching “family” also includes the extended family: grandparents / aunts / uncles / cousins

Gifts and responsibility In Church teaching, we seldom speak of rights All good things come to us from God as a gift and we do not deserve them and should not expect or demand them We have a responsibility to receive God’s gifts with humble gratitude, reverence, and awe

Life is a gift from God We do not so much have a “right to life” as we have the “gift of life” We have a responsibility to receive God’s gift of life with humble gratitude, reverence, and awe This is true of our own life and of every other person’s life Our DUTY is to RECEIVE and REVERE God’s gift of life (for God did not HAVE to give life to anyone)

An “ethic of life” In Catholic teaching, we hold an “ethic of life” –This means we receive and revere God’s gift of life for ALL people with awe –We uphold the value of God’s gift of life for all people (perhaps even, for all creation) –The lives of all are Gifts of God to them and to us –Our duty is never to stand in the way of God’s gifts of life

Ways we “get in the way” According to Church teaching, we sinfully “get in the way” of God’s gift of life to ourselves and others when we: –Prevent conception during intercourse –Use in vitro fertilization and certain other technologies relating to conception –Clone –Abort –Apply the death penalty or torture –Euthanize or assist a suicide

Quantity AND Quality of Life Because of our ethic of life, we have a duty to uphold the value of life as God’s gift at all times Upholding the value of life as God’s gift requires us to uphold the quality of life at all times for all people

Upholding the quality of life We fail to uphold the quality of life for all people at all times when we –Oppose universal health care –Oppose universal access to education –Pollute and contaminate the environment –Hoard food or water which are necessary for life –Support capital punishment and torture in most cases

Sexual ethics Within the Sacrament of Marriage To express love Open to possibility of reproduction (however remote)

Less than ideal – immoral or sinful – sexual activity Within the Sacrament of Marriage To express love Open to possibility of reproduction (however remote) Adultery Pre-marital sex Extra-marital sex Polygamy “Without God” Rape Sexual abuse Recreational sex “Make-up” sex Coercive sex For lust alone Non-vaginal sex Using artificial contraception After voluntary sterilization (vasectomy or tubal ligation) Withdrawal Masturbation Reproduction without sexual intercourse In vitro fertilization Surrogate parenthood Cloning Genetic engineering

A consistent ethic of life A “seamless garment” The “both/and” approach to life issues –Both the mother and the unborn child –Both the victims of crime and the victimizers –Both the soldier and the combatant –Both the terrorized and the terrorist What are the reasons for just punishment and lethal use of force?

Lethal use of force Never justified with respect to the powerless (infants, children, the aged) Justified only when life is immediately endangered and no other means of arrest or apprehension are available Justified only when a criminal is so likely to reoffend that they remain a real and credible threat even in the most restrictive incarceration

Capital punishment Catholic opposition to capital punishment rests on two key values –Restorative justice is impossible after the decease of the criminal (they are no longer afforded the opportunity to repent and reconcile) – mercy and reconciliation –We can not justly take the life of a person who has been rendered defenseless and unable to commit further, proportionate, future harm (incarcerated for life, disarmed, pacified) – just defense for society

Euthanasia Catholic opposition to euthanasia –Death is not to be feared, but not to be hastened; extraordinary measures do not need to be taken –Lingering death is not a reason to hasten death –We have a duty to provide palliative care (unusually high doses of morphine, e.g.) –We have a duty to provide ordinary means of care (food, hydration, oxygen, and bodily comfort)

Assisted suicide Catholic opposition to assisted suicide –Some people choose suicide only because they are depressed; while their primary illness can still be treated effectively –Our duty is to provide hope, care, and compassion to those who are in the final stages of life; not to cure them, not to kill them, but to assist them in their return to God