Homosexuality and the American Public Life

by the American Public Philosophy Institute

A Book Review by Father John McCloskey

Homosexuality and the American Public Life, (Spence Publishing, Dallas 1999) is the first of two volumes based on papers delivered at a conference on homosexuality sponsored by the American Public Philosophy Institute at the Georgetown University Conference Center in June 1997. This was the first such conference to my knowledge ever attempted on the subject of homosexuality from the viewpoint of natural law and it was attended by no little controversy. In the papers a wide range of philosophers, theologians, social and political scientists, medical doctors, and political and religious commentators draw on their fields of expertise to outline the natural law case for the traditional view of marriage and sexuality.

The various authors of this book, although not all Catholic, give a wonderful example of the power of professional witness to the truth in a conflicted world. In the apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in America, The Holy Father points out the importance of the committed Catholic laity's making their voice heard on the crucial moral issues of the day which especially impact on the health of marriage and family. "Secularity is the true and distinctive mark of the lay person and lay spirituality which means the laity strive to evangelize the various sectors of family, professional, cultural, and political life" (No. 44). This plea echoes the words of Familiaris Consortio which says the laity should organize "to see that the laws and institutions of the state not only do not offend, but support and positively defend the rights and duties of the family" (No. 44).

At the very heart of the family is the reality of marriage both as a natural institution and sacrament as "the matrimonial covenant by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole life, by its nature ordered towards the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1601). As we approach the millennium, there has arisen for the first time in history an effort, mainly in Europe and North America, to redefine marriage in ways which violate divine revelation and natural law by separating the use of sexuality from both its procreative purpose and its expression of heterosexual love within marriage. This effort has met with some success and is poised for further advances to the great peril of society and culture.

This conference was a courageous effort of well-respected professionals, against the energetic and well financed efforts of homosexual activists who argue that their state must be recognized as normal and natural and to promote all the political and social consequences such recognition would bring with it. As the organizer of the conference, Dr. Christopher Wolfe of Marquette University puts it, "homosexuality is definitely a matter of public concern, since attitudes regarding it are intimately intertwined with profoundly important convictions about the nature of marriage, family, and sexuality." Contributors to this volume are generally united in certain fundamental claims about homosexuality.

First, homosexuality is indeed a "disorder" and therefore an affliction for those who suffer from it.

Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons, a noted psychiatrist whose expertise has been on the nature and treatment of excessive anger says, "that the most important relationship in which women and men deny their anger is the father relationship." Anger at rejecting peers or a distant father is extremely common among men who experience SSAD (Same Sex Attraction Disorder). This insight is of great importance in societies where the father is often times absent as a result of divorce or desertion or guilty of abusive behavior..

Dr. Fitzgibbons' particular goal in dealing with patients has been to help his patients understand and overcome their emotional pain caused by homosexual behavior in men such as weak masculine identity resulting from lack of athletic ability, poor emotional relationship with the father, and poor body image. His clinical experience shows too that secondary causes of homosexual behavior are a mistrust of women as a result of betrayal and a narcissism that produces preoccupations with unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love. One can see clearly how the affluent societies of the West have spawned such behavior.

Second, the causes of homosexuality are quite complex, but no fair scientific analysis of them shows that homosexuality is genetically or biologically determined. Dr. Satinover, a psychiatrist with an expertise in homosexuality, points out that "the genetic contribution to homosexuality is at most a disposition–it is not a cause." He also states that incidence of homosexuality is clearly influenced by mores. Where people endorse and encourage homosexuality, the incidence increases; where they reject it, it decreases. His essay points out that "it is premature (and will almost certainly prove to be incorrect) simply to state that homosexuality 'is' or 'is not' genetic, innate, psychological, chosen, or social."

Third, the practical experiences of many therapists and support groups suggest that a homosexual orientation may, in many cases, be reversed. Whether the orientation is settled or not, engaging in homosexual activity is not the right answer for those who experience same-sex attraction. Dr. Fitzgibbons tells us "healing is a difficult process but through the mutual efforts of the therapist and client, serious emotional wounds can be healed over a period of time...We have treatment for weak masculine and feminine identity, for mistrust of those of the opposite sex, for betrayal anger, for sexual addiction. Yet I admit there is little meaningful healing without the use of spirituality. If we combine spirituality and good psychotherapy, as in the treatment of alcoholism, we can expect resolution and healing for those who struggle with same-sex attractions and behaviors."

A contributor who relates the subject to spirituality, Dr. Janet Smith of the University of Dallas, is renowned for her scholarly and spirited defense of Humanae Vitae. She does a masterful examination of the proper use of human sexuality defined in Summa Contra Gentiles (Book Three, part Two). She shows clearly that Aquinas's teaching holds homosexual acts to be contrary to nature. "Moderns," she says, "are unlikely to understand and accept Aquinas's analysis because few share his view of man's ontological dependence on God. Few share his view that God wills each soul into existence and wants to share an eternity with every human being. Few share his view that sexuality has a purpose designed by God and that we must live in accord with that purpose. Nor do many share his view that all of us must carry some version of the cross...For Aquinas, homosexuality is simply one more of those disordered conditions; he would assure us that God's grace is available to assist us in being healed and in avoiding sinful behavior."

One section of the book deals with the "Law" with essays by Professors Arkes, Pakaluk, Bradley, and Coolidge. It has a particular resonance for those involved in public life who have to face up to the legal challenges in defense of marriage and family and the right of the state to legislate in such a way as to make it easy for citizens to be virtuous and to protect the common good.

This book is a excellent beginning for a spirited defense of the natural law and the common good by learned men and women who realize, as Dr. Wolfe says that : "these questions are at the heart of a civilizational crisis at the end of the second millennium. A cold war between the East and West has given way to a 'culture war' within the West...The weapons to be used must be those of reason that deliberates not merely upon the means to achieve arbitrarily posited human desires, but also upon human ends as well, and a reason that is not willfully closed to transcendent realities."

We have every reason to believe that with the proper use of "Fides et Ratio" God's grace will triumph. The Holy Father assures us that the blood of Christ "is the most powerful source of hope, indeed it is the foundation of the absolute certitude that in God's plan life will be victorious" (Evangelium Vitae, No. 25).