I read an intriguing article today written by Catholic theologian Tim Muldoon about the attempts in our country to redefine marriage. In his article, he speaks of the current American assumptions about democracy and the meaning of marriage as being incompatible with the Christian understanding of the nature of human beings and their sexual relationships. He has some very interesting things to say about all of this, some of which create a bit of angst for me as I think ahead to the legislative and judicial battles going on to try to protect marriage as the union of one man with one woman.
I will try to summarize his thoughts.
The current American assumption about marriage is that it consists of two consenting adults establishing an economic partnership for their mutual benefit, and that such a partnership should be protected by law. All couples should be treated fairly and equally and there should be no legal difference between homosexual unions and heterosexual unions. To differentiate is considered prejudicial. Marriage, then, is a social contract that should reflect the majority of people’s understanding of such contracts.
The Christian view differs. Marriage is rooted, both philosophically and anthropologically, in what has become known as “natural law” which basically holds that there is an overriding order in the world and marriage reflects the ways human beings are to structure themselves to that order. Marriage theologically reflects the relationship between God and his people.
The Western view on marriage, especially in the 20th Century, has slowly become detached from this Christian view. To a large extent this has happened because of the sexual revolution, and the disconnect between sexual behavior and procreation. The contemporary view that unrestrained sex is normative places great pressure on women, with an increase of violence toward them. This contemporary view opens the door also to homosexual sexual unions.
Muldoon suggests that the Christian response to all of this will be a prophetic one… a position the Church has been in centuries before. He takes a rather pessimistic view as to whether our efforts to protect marriage in the legislature and courts will be successful.
Read his entire article at: Catholic Portal.
