Sexual ethics are part of social justice

Many people, including the Pope, are saying that the church should devote more attention to social justice as opposed to to sexual ethics.  First Things editor Matthew Schmitz, a Catholic, reminds us that sexual ethics are part of social justice.

From Matthew Schmitz, Social Justice and Sexual Ethics | Matthew Schmitz | First Things:

Pope Francis would have us worry about Christian teaching on sex only “when there is not injustice in this world.” I don’t suppose that will be any time soon. Whatever the timetable, he’s right to put Christian sexual teaching in the context of social problems. That’s one of the places where it’s always been properly located. Christ’s teaching on chastity and divorce transformed marriage so that men had obligations to their wives that pagan society never would have admitted. Paul’s opposition to sodomy broke up the pederastic exploitation of Greco-Roman society.

Given this history, it’s strange that Francis often seems to see Christian teaching on sex as distant from—even counter to—solving social problems. His attempted revision of Catholic teaching on divorce and communion is one such example. His admittedly off-hand and inconclusive comments on AIDS and Africa might be another.

Just as I do not see how enabling men who discard their wives and children battles a throwaway culture, I don’t see how declining to criticize a contraceptive regime that views chastity as impossible will do much to stanch the spread of AIDS. A focus on broader social issues should make Christian teaching on sexuality seem more compelling—not narrow, obscurantist, and irrelevant, as Francis often seems to see it.