Followers

Monday, November 8, 2010

RATIONALIZING HOMOSEXUALITY

Rationalizing Homosexual Love


This is an attempt to justify the morality of homosexual love by arguing its naturalness.


I. The Main Argument against Homosexual Love

“Homosexual love is immoral because it is unnatural.”


To properly understand the context of this main argument, we have to divide the discussion into two parts: (1) the morality of the ‘natural’; and (2) the essence of ‘heterosexual love’.


Sub-argument one: What is natural is moral.


The natural is that which is truthful and rightful since it is grounded on the ‘end’ proper to any being. This ‘end’ is defined as perfection. Thus, to follow the natural is to follow perfection.


Example: It is natural for a chick to become a chicken since by becoming a chicken the chick reaches its individual perfection.


Sub-argument two: Heterosexual love is moral because it is natural.


Heterosexual love permits the conjugal union of man and woman for the generation and education of human species (Natural Law). The naturalness of heterosexual love is based on its ordination towards pro-creation. Thus, to follow pro-creation is to follow the perfection of inter-personal love.


Implication of two sub-arguments: Homosexual love is immoral because it is unnatural. It is unnatural because it cannot pro-create.


II. The Error in the Main Argument

Now, let’s try to address the logical flaw by stating that the morality of inter-personal love can be understood by looking at either of the two facets:


1. The ‘sexual fit’ between the persons involved, that is, that the man is for the woman and the woman for the man; and


2. The love that binding the persons involved, that is, the objective aspect of inter-personal love.


III. Justifying Homosexual Love

Ando so, let’s justify the morality of homosexual love by establishing this main argument:


“Homosexual love is moral inasmuch as the love binding the persons involved follows the objective aspect of inter-personal love.”


Sub-argument: Homosexual love is moral if it perfects both the lover and the beloved.


If love is the movement of the self towards the good to attain perfection, then the objective aspect of inter-personal love (whether heterosexual or homosexual) consists in the perfection of both the lover and the beloved. Perfection entails the cultivation of character, which can only transpire in reciprocal love.


To make this part clearer, we have to consider the development of authentic inter-personal love in four phases:


1. Inter-personal love as attraction.

The lover is attracted to the beloved through his/her physical attributes. Beauty is the essential ‘mover’ of attraction since human beings are naturally attracted to that which pleases the senses.


2. Inter-personal love as desire.

The lover now wants the beloved. Desire is marked by self-centredness insofar as the lover sees the beloved as being good for himself/herself. With desire, the lover’s assessment of the beloved shifts from physical attributes to non-physical attributes like character and intelligence.


3. Inter-personal love as recognition.

The lover now sees the entire self of the beloved—what he/she truly is. This phase combines both the physical and the non-physical attributes of the beloved to form a clearer picture of his/her personhood. If desire is highlighted by choice, recognition is highlighted by acceptance.


4. Inter-personal love as reciprocity: the authentic love.

The lover and the beloved now engage in mutual relationship. Reciprocity follows self-transcendence insofar as the ‘good for the lover’ mindset is transformed into the ‘good for the beloved’ mindset.


In this light, it is only through an ‘other-centred’ perspective that reciprocity can transpire. Reciprocity provides authentic meaning to inter-personal love since it paves the way for the convergence of two persons. This convergence is both exclusive and intimate.


Through reciprocity, both the lover and the beloved become selfless since they aim for the good of each one. Through selflessness, they are able to cultivate their character and become better persons. This is the objective aspect of inter-personal love, that which makes it natural.


Conclusion: Homosexual love is natural if it follows this path to authentic love. By being able to do so, it then becomes moral.



**********

You may be surprised how different this is from the way I write. Well, it's because it's not me who wrote this. The Kid wrote this for me. A few days ago, I asked him to write something for me. This is the one he came up with. It's supposed to be about our relationship.


It made my nose bleed a little, but he's been patient with me, explaining this whole thing.


But he did end up writing something shallow for me. But I'll post it in my other home. :)

10 comments:

Mugen said...

Parang school paper lang ha! Sweeeeet!

kaloy said...

Good stuff - too good to pass comment on, so here goes:

The 'naturalness' of heterosexuality springs from the idea of the propagation of specie - hence, the justification of the morality of the the man-woman relationship by virtue of child bearing and rearing. The same naturalness pushes all other types of relationship into the closet - thus, homosexual displacement. This 'displacement' meanwhile legitimizes judgment of man-man or woman-woman relationships as immoral.

So, from my viewpoint, there is a dire need for assertion of the homosexual Self through a deconstruction of the concept of 'naturalness' as not dependent on the physicality and ability of men of produce offspring.

Ergo, i agree with the kid... hehehe... :)

rudeboy said...

Well, I'm late to this party. Shoulda read the post when it first came out.

*Shakes fist at censorship*

citybuoy said...

censorship? lol

i need a kleenex. i didn't understand it.

Guyrony said...

However good the argument, this is more of twisting premises.

Which is quite debatable.

iurico said...

Ikaw na!

Ikaw na ang may jowang nangangabog ng jutak!

hehe

Anonymous said...

This is my way of saying just how happy I am to be in this relationship.

Happiness truly needs goodness for it to be real; and I know that I have found true love since we both help each other become better persons.

I love you and I'll do everything to make this work :)

rudeboy said...

@ Nyl : Backstory. The piece had been deleted (by author's request) when I first read this entry. And now it's back. Yay.

Mmmm. All I can say is Justify My Love.

And yiiiiiihiiiiiii @ "Anonymous"' comment above.

Lone wolf Milch said...

basta whatever you are homo man or hetero ay marunong ka magmahal

Anonymous said...

very objective, theoretical. but his post on the comment section is LOVEly. lucky you engel. love to the both of you