RELIGIOUS and political conservatives should chant "not gay" at football games in "support for our natural heterosexuality given to us by God." This claim was made in a recent guest Opinion column in The Cavalier Daily by a "Catholic" who believes in natural law. Unfortunately, the column utterly fails to appreciate some key aspects of the Catholic Church's teaching on sexuality.
First, the Catholic Church teaches that every human person, from conception to natural death, has an intrinsic and inviolable dignity. Therefore, one should never advocate any type of violence, harassment or unjust discrimination against any person. The Church teaches explicitly that all homosexual people "must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided." (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2358) Shouting "not gay" at football games and wearing clothing which states something to the same effect are unjust forms of discrimination against homosexuals and contribute absolutely nothing to the Church's witness regarding human sexuality.
Second, the Catholic Church does not consider a homosexual orientation, in itself, sinful. What the Church does proclaim is that any and all sexual action outside of marriage between two persons of the opposite sex is morally wrong. In light of this teaching, the Church has stated that sexual acts between persons of the same sex can never be morally licit.
Why is this the case?
While the Church acknowledges that persons are characterized by a range of desires, she insists that those desires must be ordered to the good life. In particular, sexuality should always be ordered toward something outside of the self, and marriage is the institution that best allows a couple to connect human sexuality to the service of others and the common good.
More particularly, the Church teaches that sex belongs in marriage because marriage provides the most committed context for enjoying emotional and spiritual unity with a beloved, and because it is the ideal context for the bearing and rearing of children. Accordingly, homosexual sex, premarital sex and adulterous sex are sinful in part because they are not oriented towards procreation and/or a lifelong form of unconditional love.
The Church's wisdom in this area has been vindicated in a range of social scientific studies. For instance, as the Princeton Principles on Marriage (signed by University. professors such as James Ceaser, Steven Nock, Steven Rhoads, and Robert Wilken) point out, a large body of social science shows that married couples enjoy more fidelity, sexual satisfaction and happiness than cohabiting or otherwise sexually active couples; likewise, a similarly large body of research indicates that children do best when they are reared in an intact, married household. So, the Church's position is supported not only by Scripture and Tradition but also by secular social science.
In conclusion, we stand behind any and every person's right to reasonable self-expression, especially in the religious realm; however, we do not support instances of unjust discrimination regardless if persons "feel" as if they are taking a stand against some practice. As Gandhi said, "Intolerance betrays want of faith in one's cause." The point is this: one does not take a principled stand in support of traditional moral principles by shouting out "not gay" at football games. Moreover, one does not "witness" to others by wearing articles of clothing which undermine the Christian belief in the love of God for all His people regardless of their sin. Rather, one takes a stand for moral truth by being a faithful, reverential, charitable and Eucharistic witness to all peoples on behalf of Jesus Christ and the teachings of His Church.
Fr. Luke Clark is a Catholic campus minister at St. Thomas Aquinas Church. Paula Rondon is Chairperson of the Catholic Student Ministry.
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