The Quest to find a Uniform Human Nature
My religion paper discussing Homosexuality under the arguement of Natural Law.
Natural Law is a theory of moral judgements derived from the nature of human beings. Natural Law provides the foundation for the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church which was proposed by Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century. Aquinas argued that Natural Law was the moral code that humans naturally embraced. From this theory, the purpose of human life remained unclear. Aquinas believed that to attain the privilege and purpose of human life included to live, to reproduce, to learn, to have an ordered society and to worship God. These values support the morals and ethics of the church. However, this theory only applies if human beings possess a fixed uniform human nature.
Individuality is an expression of personal freedom and choice. Aquinas’s Natural Law presents certain individual traits including homosexuality as abnormal due to the majority of humans are heterosexually inclined. Sex has been a controversial debate throughout Earth’s turbulent history. According to Christian belief, sex was ordained by God for the purpose of bringing children into the world. Contradictory to this statement, human beings are known to express sexual act for reasons of physical pleasure rather than creation. Yet if one was to agree with Aquinas’s theory, preforming sexual acts for pleasure would be considered sinful. If reproduction is the sole reason for sex, homosexual inclination would not only be forbidden but perverted. Natural Law demonstrates that humans must possess a uniform human nature, which leaves the issue of personal individuality desolate and inessential to the human race.
It may be argued that sexual acts were made pleasurable for good reason. In accordance with Christian theory, God created Earth and thus humans. Consequentially, God inevitably controlled the human nature. It then must be factual that sex can be used for procreation and pleasurable desire. The performance of a sexual act traditionally consummates a marriage vow. Marriage is described as a loving act shared between two individuals and thus sexual intercourse must provide emotional satisfaction as well as physical pleasure when the initial sexual act is consummated. Therefore the unitive aspect of intercourse signifies that there exists a deep personal need to love and be loved.
Renowned lecturer, Dr Peter Vardy argues that there is no single human nature and that some are inclined towards homosexual relationships while others are not, then morally the act cannot be so judged right or wrong. Hence this argument claims that no action or belief can morally be marked as either right or wrong. Therefore currently heinous acts of murder and crime could not be differentiated from charitable acts of kindness and love, if Natural Law was a judgemental foundation. Therefore in conclusion, until scientist can create a genetic program which enables a uniform structured identity to be shared among human beings, Natural Law will remain a theory rather than a basis for analysing fact.
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