Sexual Ethics

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Perspective/attitudes from the Church towards sexual ethics

- OT includes detail accounts of incest such as that concerning the two daughters of Lot in Genesis 19, whose incestuous relationship with their fathers has the intention of assuring his line: 'Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from other father'

- In Genesis 1 and 2 there is an understanding that sex is created by God and meant for procreation, it is seen as a good, however there were restrictions e.g. should not be practised in a sinful ways and adultery was forbidden ('you shall not commit adultery' Exodus 20:14)

- Adultery was seen as punishable by stoning as this was a society in which women were not equal to men, but had to be part of the household of a man

- Women should be virgins before marriage to ensure the man the children were his own and the line was assured

- However in the NT Jesus says very little about sex but it is clear that he challenges the view of the wife as the man's property - he promotes equality more than sexual relationships

- In Matthew 5 Jesus said 'you shall not commit adultery but everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery' and Jesus also forgave an adulterous women in John 8 - he says to her 'neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again'

- Paul writes in 1 Conrinthians that Christians should not let their bodily emotions control them, that sexual activity is to be kept within marriage, that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and should be respected

- He also writes in Ephesians 5 that 'Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord'

- Catechism - 'the vocation for marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator'

Sexual Relationships inside marriage

Sex is only for procreation

- Sex is permitted inside marriage according to the Church but only for the purpose of procreation

- e.g. Thomas Aquinas said that body parts have a specific functionsand shouldn't be used for anything other than these. Using sex organs for anything other than procreation is a sin against nature. This therefore rules out oral sex and contraception as well as non procreative sex

- However he makes an exception for married couple who can't have procreative sex due to infertility, it is therefore permissible for infertile couples to have sex without the purpose of procreating as it is obstructed by a glitch in the reproductive system that would under normal circumstances result in pregnancy

- Using contraception gives humans the power to decide when life is formed, but only God can do this. Without the procreative function couples may be more likely to have sex in non-marital situations and therefore sex becomes more promiscuous taking away the unitive quality

- The use of contraception also breaks the natural connection betwen procreative and unitive puposeses of sex therefore demoralises the act

- However Jack Dominian says the purpose of sex is a personal expression of reconciliation, healing and gratitude towards each other

Adultery - can it be morally approved

Yes

- Sacrificial adultery can be committed out of agape; a person can commit adultery if it is the only way to ensure the safety and love of their loved one

- e.g. Fletcher's story of Mrs Bergmeier who was imprisoned by the Russians and was separated from her husband and three children and the only way to get realeased is if they fell ill or if they were pregnant. Mrs Bergmeier pursuaded the guard to sleep with her and she was freed - Fletcher argues that in this situation, infidelity was the right thing and there are situations where adultery is the moral thing to do as it is done out of selfless love

No

- When someone gets married they make a sacred vow to their husband/wife to show their committment to one another

- 'Do not commit adultery' is one of the ten commandments

- Richard Wasserstrom said 'what makes adultery immoral is that it is the breaking of a promise and what makes is seriously wrong is that it involves the breaking of a serious promise'

Contraception

For

- Jack Dominion argues that sex has many purposes all of which serve to enhance the husband-wife relationship, he states love, procreation, pleasure and relief of tension are all important aspects of sex

- he considers non-procreative sex to be equally valid as procreative where both husband and wife are still creative as they glow and sustain each other

- most reform/protestant churches today hold that there is a distinction between sex for unitive purposes and sex for procreative and these are reflected in the way in which marriage is first considered to be for companionship and secondly for children - it is not contrary to marriage but as long as it is used responsibly as an aid to a loving relationship then it should be permitted

Against

- RCC teaches that each and every marriage act must remain open to the transimission of life - God instructs man to be 'fruitful and multiply'

- only exception is the rhythm method

- The Catechism states that human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of human conception therefore rejects abortifacients such as the morning after pill - Yet under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 the coil and morning after pill are considered contraceptives

Divorce

For

- Jack Dominian says that if two people cannot undertake the marital relationship then no marriage exists however long that may have been living as husband and wife

- Jesus would have understood that marriage would be destroyed by adultery e.g. Matthew 'whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery'

- Both Paul and Mark allow for divorce

Against

- The RCC teaches that marriage is supposed to be life-long, exclusive, unitive and procreative and is therefore indissoluble

- so for the catholic church any marriage which takes place after a civild divorce constitutes adultery because the couple are still married in the eyes of the church and of God

- Jesus also states in Mark that 'whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her'

Pre-Marital Sex

Pros

- allows couples in a long term committed relationship to demonstrate their affection for each other, strengthening their emotional bond prior to marriage

- Promiscuity is where people have casual and multiple sexual encounters, which form an act utiliatrian perspective providing pleasure and happiness for a great number of people

- It can expolit both its unitive and procreative function still, bringing people together with the potential for new life, many couples have children together without being married

- pre marital sex goes hand in hand with cohabitation and has the strength of allowing couples to explore the entire magnitude of living together before embarking on a life long committment

- Pre Marital or 'casual sex' can be approved without condoning rape as Jim Danaher put forward a view of 'moderate significance' where he argues sex requires 'some sort of reciprocal emotional bond, but not necessarily a deep or long lasting emotional committment' and believes that casual sex fulfils this criteria therefore rape can be condemned

- human freedom, autonomy and informed consent are the most important principles of sex

Cons

- allowing per marital or 'casual sex' might lead to condoning rape e.g. David Bentar has suggested that approving of casual sex means that rape cannot be havily condemned, as sex is not considered as a significant action in itself therefore implying that rape is no worse than the physical harms it inflicts

- RCC emphasises man and women expressing their sexuality within a marriage union and purpose of sex is reproduction

Cohabitation

Cons

- Philippa Taylor argues that sex within marriage is morally superior to cohabitation. She claims that cohabiting couples are more unstable and are six times more likely to break up and experience a greater fear or rejection due to the lack of committment

- Cohabiting couples statistically suffer higher rates of alcoholism, have higher abortion rates and a higher rate of preganant women smoking

- men who cohabit suffer a higher rate of suicide, however does the insecurity of cohabitation lead to suicde? or are men that are already depressed with suicidal tendencies unable to commit to marriage?

- Taylor also suggests cohabiting couples tend to have a higher rate of STDs and cancer beacause they are more promiscuous

Homosexuality

Against

- Roman Catholic Teaching proves to be against homosexuality due to OT passages e.g. Man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife and they become one flesh (Genesis), "Be fruitful and multiply" however the NT holds that it is the quality of the relationship that matters

- Catechism states it's hostility towards same sex relationships 'gravely disordered'

- It is unnatural;- natural sex is procreative sex and it is unnatural is it cannot lead to babies - however heterosexual couples often undermine this but Thomas Aquinas answers this by saying that it is acceptable if the lack of procreation is an 'accident' but this is not wholly convincing as homosexualiy may be caused by a bilogical 'accident' of genes or hormones

- It is unhealthy;- more likely to lead to STDs e.g. appearence of AIDs among the homosexual communities in the 1980s and they are more subject to stress and suicide e.g. a 2014 survey revealed that 44% of 17 - 24 year olds who were lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender had considered suicide - however so long as people are aware of risks and consent they are free to make their own choices

For

- social and cultural attitudes have become increasingly liberal and tolerant even to the point where it has influenced certain churches towards their beliefs and customs about same-sex marriage

- e.g. 1967 homosexuality was decriminalised and by 2004 civil partnership act was passed as well as 2014 same-sex marriage law and in 2012 80% of people accepted same sex marriages - now the episcopal has a gay bishop and even the catholic church now accepts gay priests

- Animals display homosexual behaviour;- it has been observed in 400 species including bonobo apes, same sex mating between penguins - attack natural law's assumption that nature intends sex is purely for reproduction, not a moral choice but a natural instinct - however this could be seen as being anthropomorphic as we don't know what animals are experiencing and the resemblance to human behaviour can be misleading

- Homosexuality is ancient in human civilisation;- e.g. Plato praises love between men and says it is superior to heterosexual love, Alexander the Great enjoyed homosexual relationships however doesn't show it is moral

- Human sexuality is a spectrum;- some people spend most their lives heterosexual, raising a family, then become gay later in life, some occupy middle ground comfortable with a range of sexual experiences - however Christians would refute this by claiming that human experience is a blend of good and evil and that even the best people have a sinful side to them and it is up to them to use their free will to make the right moral choices in life in order to become closer to God

Secular ethical approaches

Relevance of the Church's teaching/beliefs in modern society

- outdated rules e.g. no sex outside marriage

- irrelevant

Strengths and Weaknesses of changing social attitudes

Contributions from ethical theories in making decisions on sexual ethics

- Natural Law;- any sexual activity that does not include the potential for conception is unnatural

- Utilitarianism;- argues for 'responsible behaviour' rather than condemning certain types of behaviour as being sinful , wrong or evil - promotion of 'consensual sex'

- The Kantian principle would argue that no-one should become a means to an end any would condemn any sexual activity that was conducted in a context of coercion or manipulation