Safe-sex. Even an elementary school child is familiar with
this term. It seems that the numerical majority in our
culture, including not a few "religious" leaders, have
adopted the position that the best way to prevent sexually
transmitted disease and "un-wanted" pregnancy is through the
use of contraception. However, the Catholic Church and
others whose moral teachings are not guided by opinion polls
and prevailing trends, but by the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
have a radically different solution to these problems. The
reasons for the difference lie not only in the immediate
matters of concern, avoiding pregnancy and disease, but also
in the overall understanding of the nature of human
sexuality and its relationship to human perfection. For
those who see sexuality as completely open to any type of
self-fulfilling or self-gratifying expression, then the
minimization of certain unwanted effects seems quite
reasonable. In fact, this would be one of the few
"requirements" for good-that is morally licit-sex! Under
this rubric, mutually consensual sexual activity by
heterosexual married couples, homosexuals, bisexuals,
"swinging" couples, unmarried couples, threesomes,
foursomes, etc., would all be equally "moral" as long as no
one got pregnant (unwillingly) or no one contracted a
potentially life-threatening disease, such as A.I.D.S. In
this view, sexual activity has no other purpose than the
immediate satisfaction of desire. Committed relationships
which respect the natural differences between male and
female and foster human maturity are not required here. If
you feel like it, do it, but be careful. Hence, we hear over
and again the "safe-sex" mantra.
The Church rejects this false understanding of the human
person. She not only teaches that the use of contraceptives under any and all
circumstances is immoral, she also teaches why this is so. The principle reason
is that all human beings are called to live according to the dignity of their
nature. This nature is definitively and normatively characterized by the sexual
differences that exist between male and female. This nature also reveals the
purpose of human sexuality. Men and women are drawn to each other, as are other
members of the animal kingdom, to propagate their species. The crucial
difference with human beings is their intelligence. All that human beings do is
to be directed by the proper understanding of who they are and how they are
called to live. This means that human sexuality has the added dimension of
knowledge and love. Human beings are called to love each other as persons. In
graced moral sexual activity, this love reaches a natural (and spiritual) peak.
Husband and wife, in the virtuous sexual embrace, give themselves totally to
each other in a manner that is completely respectful of their bodily and
spiritual integrity, while at the same time inclusive of their psychological,
emotional, and spiritual welfare. The totality of this mutual surrender demands
absolute commitment on one hand, and by the very structure of the human body in
its reproductive capacity, this surrender also demands that human sexual love
complete itself by being open to new life. Thus, heterosexual, lifelong,
exclusive, and fruitful marriage is the only setting to achieve this, even in
the face of inclinations and pulls to other forms of sexual expression.
This is because sex is not just a capacity for intensely,
although temporary, good feelings. Human sexuality is the highest sharing in the
natural gift of creation that human beings are called to have. Sexual union is
how God has designated that husbands and wives, made in His image and likeness,
bring forth new life. Husband and wife do not create this life, they pro-create
it. In order to be able to do this, the human person must be spiritually
equipped for it. This preparation comes through the virtue of chastity which the
Catechism of the Catholic Church defines as "the successful integration of
sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and
spiritual being" (CCC, #2337). By means of this grace of chastity, the human
person, married or single, is enabled to live a life of sexual discipline.
Hence, not only is the question about "safe sex" answered, but also a radically
counter-cultural view of human sexuality, based on an accurate understanding
human nature and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is put forward so that the human
person always strives for holiness and integrity of life. Ultimately, the
Church, faithful to the Scriptures, the teachings of Christ and his apostles,
and to a continuous moral tradition, teaches that only non-contracepted married
sex is morally good sex, and that no sex is always to be chosen over morally and
spiritually bad sex!
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