The Basis for Morality

I had an interesting conversation yesterday with a colleague about the Church and moral teaching. If I understood correctly his position, he thought the “rules” that the Church teaches about moral behavior, especially in regard to homosexuality, are the creation of men and the results of these rules are discrimination and exclusion. Because of that, my friend chooses to exclude himself from the life of the Church.

There are two very different ideas in the world today about the basis for morality.

The usual contemporary view is that moral laws are man-made rules, created by human will and thus changeable by human will. The source of what is true lies within the individual, his or her experience and his or her will. Thus, what may be right and true for me is not necessarily right and true for someone else.

The traditional view is that the laws of morality are not made by human will but discovered through understanding the principles of human nature. Since human nature is essentially unchanging, so too the laws of morality are essentially unchanging. This view holds that just as there are unchanging principles of science (such as the basic principles of human anatomy, health, and physics) so too are there unchanging principles of moral behavior. This view has been held for centuries in human history, stemming back to the ancient Greeks and earlier. The Church and western philosophers have called this view the “natural law” to which we all are subject.

The natural law has certain characteristics. They include:

1. It is in the heart of every person, and while it may not be universally accepted or acknowledged, it is universally binding.

2. It will arise again and again in individual lives and in society. It cannot be destroyed.

3. It is unchangeable throughout history.

4 Application of the natural law varies depending on the circumstances and situations that change over the course of history.

5. It provides the necessary basis for civil and ecclesiastical law.

Of course, acknowledging natural law, the law of human nature, does negate the existence of civil law, ecclesiastical law, or divine law. Civil law are made by communities and are changeable. Ecclesiastical law are laws of the Church to govern its day to day existence and bring order and coherence to its life and mission. Divine law is supernatural and is revealed by God either to a people (i.e., the Ten Commandments) or to individuals (like one of the prophets).

The wonderful thing about the natural law and its expression in morality is it speaks to the extraordinary dignity of each individual and the extraordinary dignity of the human race. Moral teaching in accord with the natural law orients each of us and we as a people toward excellence, and magnifies that which is good, holy and true about who we are and what we are to become more fully.

We Catholics would say that it makes us sons and daughters of God. We share in divine life.