au naturel

it is claimed that natural law can be compromised...

while it is true that aristotle had only his senses
with which to acknowledge the presence and actions of nature
his thoughts cannot be easily disregarded

"modern"  man tends to look at nature through
a synthetic series of designed scientific lenses and techniques
with the presumption that we know so very much now///
but do we?

edward osborne wilson states that we only know about 10% of
all the existing species on the planet

certainly we know more about insect life than aristotle ever did

aristotelean realism states quite simply
in refering to laws governing the observable world
that each thing is determined by its essence
that it becomes what it is and it is what it becomes
and this being and becoming are for all practical purposes eternal
and things are what they are by their given beingness of what they are
they all the things can be nothing other than what they are
and what they are determines the way they will propogate
 or shall we say continue to be
and for all practical purposes for all we know that is the way they were designed  
 ( i doubt aristotle ever used the word    'design'   
i simply think it accounts quite practically for what it presumes to mean )

other phenomena
not just flowers
a rose is a rose is a rose i suppose
and a bee is a bee
and a tree is a tree
and the succeding generations of trees will be very much
like the trees from which the seed was assumed
and trout as well
and loons
yes loons have always been loons as far as we know
and they have danced through the eons in complete loonacy

the seasons indicate a rhythm and from year to year they rhyme

the basic things which everyone agrees are more or less standard in the world
the clouds etc. will always be the clouds etc.

the magnetic polar determinations of the swirling of smoke and water

the tides the waves of the sea

all sentient animated beings participate in the propogation of their species
to which each animate thing belongs and this tends to reproduce the species in
consistent patterns of ongoing similarity,,,,given the species this could be either directly or indirectly...given the species it can be no other way

man has learned to tamper with this
there is a whole industry of artifical insemination
a whole industry of legally protected murder

human beings propogate in much the same way as other mammals birds insects fish
of course style and preference come into play as do social arrangements and seasons
as do environmental factors
and the management exercises of modern sex play come into play
but given the natural way of things -most humans-   the vast majority of humans
enter into a very natural complimentary arrangement of nuptial life

it is only the human beings the only species on the planet
who are given the ability to exercise the will
 in relation to  sexual interaction...
some will argue that human intuitions regarding sex are
 but
left- over programming from prehistoric animal based activity...

man is a rational animal
but often irrational

man is a ritual animal

man is a pathetic animal

man is a philosophical animal

man is a childish animal

man is an amazing animal

man is a pleasure hungry animal

man is simply erect

it will be argued that human beings given to attraction
and the pursuit of satisfaction in the realm of sexuality
a physical attraction which involves common or same gender
which carries with it absolutely no chance of actual reproduction
do so naturally

others will argue these are learned patterns
or as i would say
failure to learn patterns

there is every indication in the natural world that
the anatomical forms inherent within the physiological makeup of each member of each species
which determine their involvement in the continuation of the specific species
are present to our observation and that these organs are given their identity
whether colloquially or scientifically and are determined by their basic functionality

ethics which presume to exist and formulate
moral imperatives which ignore the basic realities
the observable predictable patterns and forms
inherent in  the observable world
are tools of injustice

any reflection upon moral obligations must at some level take into account
either explicitly or implicitly
the given presence of natural contingencies

it might be argued that homosexual  (  i use this term in its purely scientific sense )
inclinations are observable in the animal kingdom
literally the term homo -  sexual  is a reduction of a concept that cannot exist without heterosexual determinants
animals are driven to procreate they are not driven to get comfortable with a mate
although some animals mate for life among the animals which mate for life
 there is absolutely no record of homosexual relationship
animals  -being extremely limited in intellectual tools
get it wrong sometimes
we can grant them that
it is no problem they get it wrong they smell something they go for it they get it wrong
they aren't trying to make a case for anything other than the possibility of getting it right

humans tend to be involved in the formation of conscious being
utilizing intellect imagination agility artistry and charm
as well as various dark tendencies
all of which combines to create a certain tension which results
for most people in some comprehension of right and wrong

granted there are exceptions... but very few

technology a legal system designed to accomodate the freedom of the individual
various reductionist sophistries which serve to orient the mind to mere self-serving ends
various patterns of pleasure management massive efforts to co-ordinate the various
skills and tendencies of 7 billion people a growing scientific self-confidence in relationship to the perceived control of nature the human ability to destroy life as we know it the human ability to tamper with human life in its most fragile state  all this suggests to some people that we can manage the freedom of same gender relationships which go into constituting something akin to marriage

why would ethics based on natural law contradict that?
this is a vey good question

if we posit with thomas aquinas that the primary principle of natural laws is that they cannot be compromised by man we are then presented with a moral challenge of a binding nature
(i suppose we could  imagine controlling a volcano by dropping a hydrogen bomb into the mouth of a volcano but then of course certain issues pointing to wisdom immediately arise)

it may be said that civilization as we know it develops from this awareness that certain things in nature bind us...later that was understood as being bound to god

a moral judgement based on natural law begins with very basic elements
say in sexual moral judgement
there is the immediate awareness now available by photography inside the womb of detecting
the gender of a fetus..this moment used to be a liturgical moment associated with every birth the announcement of gender...perhaps sometimes there would be an expresson of uncertainty

nevertheless it is natural law which posits the initial observable indication of gender

the reproductive organs are situated in close proximity to the functioning of waste removal from the body...this is natural law
it is important to distinguish one function from the other
that distinguishing is a moment of acknowledging natural law
once a distinction has been made then there comes a learned principle
and humans go through a learning period that is quite different than the other animals
most animals are learning the cycle of reproduction within a year of their existence
for humans it takes quite a few years   perhaps between    12  and    30  ( we even must realize that for some this lesson is never fully learned )
nonetheless
the learning takes place that there is  a relationship an essential relationship
between the reproductive organs and certain social possibilities with other human beings
it is also true that the principle of pleasure comes into play
and pleasure is her own teacher quite often
yet moral grounding which offers human beings the certainty of
basic human good and the possibility of nurturing the continuation of
ones family ones human family is then rooted in the primary awareness
of the relationship between the natural exsitence of reproductive organs
 like
the
vagina and the penis and the satisfaction of this most basic intuition

can it go wrong
of couse
can learning be deficient
of course
will pleasure exert her own methods
to be sure

yet it would be a sad comment on humanity were the whole of civilization
given an endorsement to a physical practice which so egregiously defies
the basic principle of natural law as it manifests itself in the human body

it will be good for everyone to read
THE THEOLOGY OF THE BODY
by  POPE JOHN PAUL II

i will conclude with an analogy
fire is basic to human nature
we don't know when this happened
very early in the developement of the human intelligence
perhaps more than a million years ago humans knew fire
it was a  learning curve
they    -our ancestors
had to learn to capture fire
to begin fire
to sustain fire
to use fire in constructive ways which facilitated survival
and they also realized quite certainly the destructive possibilities of fire
and the injurious possibilities of fire

given this it follows that at some point a child
is introduced to fire
a child might learn painfully that fire burns
a child will look in wonder and feel the warmth of fire
a child will observe the use of fire in preparing food

a child might then begin to manifest pyromaniacal tendencies
quite normal really the desire to use fire and perhaps create spectacles
to apprehend the power therein
(  i'm reminded of a recent 4th of july when a nephew went absolutely berzerk around fireworks  )
upon observing this tendency in a child a parent must exert both wisdom
and prudence and discipline

humans are the only creatures who can bring the will to bear
upon appetites and attractions
to will the good is not to provide a context for pleasure and satisfaction only
but to insist that any context for sexual life sustains the common good over and above the individual good for good must carry with it the universal agreement inherent in natural law