{"id":3486,"date":"2012-06-11T16:02:44","date_gmt":"2012-06-11T20:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=3486"},"modified":"2013-01-16T01:11:16","modified_gmt":"2013-01-16T06:11:16","slug":"how-critical-is-sexual-desire-to-human-identity-blogathon-812","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/06\/how-critical-is-sexual-desire-to-human-identity-blogathon-812.html","title":{"rendered":"How Critical is Sexual Desire to Human Identity? [Blogathon 8\/12]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

This post is number eight of twelve for the Secular Student Alliance Blogathon. \u00a0I\u2019m responding to comments in the \u201cGo Ahead, Tell Me What\u2019s Wrong with Homosexuality<\/a>\u201d thread all day. \u00a0You can read an explanation of the Blogathon and a pitch for donations (even if you\u2019re religious) here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At one point in the discussion, Ubiquitous was expanding on Thomist philosophy and laid out a \u2018prebuttal\u2019<\/a> (of which I\u2019m excerpting only one idea):<\/p>\n

In a hale and mature adult human, eyes are for seeing. If the eyes see poorly or not at all, there is something wrong. We call this disordered.<\/p>\n

In a hale and mature adult human, teeth are for chewing. If the teeth chew poorly or not at all, there is something wrong. We call this disordered.<\/p>\n

In a hale and mature adult human, sexual passions prompt us to sexual activity. If we are prompted poorly or not at all, there is something wrong. We call this disordered.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m not sure it\u2019s fair to say that if sexual passions don\u2019t prompt us to sexual activity that there\u2019s something wrong or disordered going on. \u00a0Especially for a church that values consecrated, celibate life. \u00a0If consecrated celibacy is a vocation<\/em>, then is it meant to be a constant\u00a0suppression\u00a0of sexual appetite or does it represent a transfiguration of intimacy?<\/p>\n

Jumping from tools and their functions to desires and their objects feels a little sudden to me. \u00a0A tool that doesn\u2019t work is useless. \u00a0A person without a certain desire (for marriage, for sex, for physical work, etc) seems perfectly whole, but just not suited to every role or vocation. \u00a0I can imagine certain drives that are absolutely critical to fulfilled human life (companionship with others, for example), but I don\u2019t know that I\u2019d place sexual desire on that list.<\/p>\n

Ubiquitous goes on to mention that only opposite-gender sex can serve \u201cthe survival of the species,\u201d but I don\u2019t know why everyone\u2019s talents should be specifically directed toward that goal (or, even if that were the duty of every human, why queer folk couldn\u2019t go into microbiology, and do their part there).<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post is number eight of twelve for the Secular Student Alliance Blogathon. \u00a0I\u2019m responding to comments in the \u201cGo Ahead, Tell Me What\u2019s Wrong with Homosexuality\u201d thread all day. \u00a0You can read an explanation of the Blogathon and a pitch for donations (even if you\u2019re religious) here. At one point in the discussion, Ubiquitous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[171,11,158,164],"class_list":["post-3486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blogathon","tag-lgbt","tag-natural-law","tag-sex-and-sexuality"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Critical is Sexual Desire to Human Identity? 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