Sexual Ethics: A Theological Introduction

CHAPTER 2. Unitive Sexual Morality: A Revised Foundational Principle and Anthropology

47 CHAPTER 2 l Unitive Sexual Morality A Revised Foundational Principle and Anthropology Theologians who espouse the theology articulated in Gaudium et spes find in it a foundational principle for judging all human activity , including human sexual activity: the principle of the human person adequately considered. A reasonable question immediately arises: What does it mean to consider the human sexual person adequately? In response to this question, we first formulate a foundational principle of human sexuality; second, we expand on the morally significant dimensions of that principle; and third, we draw insight from these dimensions in our reconstructed definition of complementarity to formulate a comprehensive explanation of a“truly human” sexual act. In this process we seek to offer an alternative to the primarily procreationist sexual anthropology in a more adequately considered unitive sexual anthropology.We do so with some trepidation,because sexuality is far from an unambiguous reality. Like all the human appetites, sexuality can be used for good, and then it is loving, unifying, and maybe procreative; or it can be abused for evil, and then it is unloving, divisive, and destructive of life. According to the American bishops,“the gift of human sexuality can be a great mystery at times,” but the acknowledgment of mystery does not free theologians or the Magisterium from Unitive Sexual Morality 48 the task of attempting to penetrate the mystery and of determining the “nature,”meaning,and morality of sexuality and sexual acts in the context of human relationships.1 Gaudium et spes articulates a fundamental principle with respect to the essential meaning of human sexuality and sexual acts. [Conjugal] love is uniquely expressed and perfected through the marital act. The actions within marriage by which the couple are united intimately and chastely are noble and worthy ones. Expressed in a manner which is truly human, these actions signify and promote that mutual self-giving by which spouses enrich each other with a joyful and a thankful will.2 Our exegesis of this principle proposes a developed theology of the unitive purpose of human sexuality and sexual acts in a marital relationship, and inquires about sexual possibilities for persons other than the married heterosexuals Gaudium et spes and the tradition have in mind.The context of this latter consideration is not simply the physical acts themselves but the meanings of interpersonal relationship and the sexual acts that take place within this relationship.We also ask how sexual acts reach beyond the couple to impact their extended family and community. We note,first,an important distinction between sexuality and sexual activity.This distinction is expressed well by the United States Catholic Bishops: Sexuality refers to a fundamental component of personality in and through which we, as male or female, experience our relatedness to self, others, the world, and even God. Sex refers either to the biological aspects of being male or female (i.e.,a synonym for one’s gender) or to the expressions of sexuality, which have physical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions ,particularly genital actions resulting in sexual intercourse and/or orgasm.3 49 Conjugal Love and Sexual Intercourse Given our discussion in the previous chapter,we regret the implied equivalence of sex and gender, but sexuality is correctly described as intrinsic to the human person in whom there is no division between the physical and spiritual. This is an important recognition that banishes the dualism that has plagued the Christian tradition regarding human sexuality. Humans are created by God as sexual beings, embodied subjects whose spiritual and physical dimensions merge in a single being that expresses itself in a profound and holy manner in intimate human relationship and sexual acts. Sexual is an adjective that describes not only acts that human beings do but also the essential reality that human beings are. We can and may renounce sexual activity; we can never renounce our intrinsic sexual being. The sexual drive has three personal meanings: it is pleasurable,relational , and potentially procreative. Scientific research has demonstrated that sexuality influences our personality, our brain activity, our understandings of self and other, and our relationships.4 It also provides us with a means of personal communication that is carried out intimately and bodily in sexual acts. For the past one thousand years, the Catholic tradition has insisted that just and loving marital relationships and the sexual acts that both express and nourish them are sacraments,symbols of the loving relationships between God...